{"id":111528,"date":"2026-09-23T09:43:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T07:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pikon.com\/?p=111528"},"modified":"2026-09-22T09:44:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T07:44:34","slug":"7-sap-bdc-use-cases-practical-examples-for-your-day-to-day-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pikon.com\/en\/blog\/7-sap-bdc-use-cases-practical-examples-for-your-day-to-day-business\/","title":{"rendered":"7 SAP BDC Use Cases: Practical examples for your day-to-day business"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"111528\" class=\"elementor elementor-111528\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f8618a1 e-ecs-flex e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"f8618a1\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;ecs_container_type&quot;:&quot;flex&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6cd92ae elementor-toc--minimized-on-tablet elementor-widget elementor-widget-table-of-contents\" data-id=\"6cd92ae\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;exclude_headings_by_selector&quot;:&quot;.bdt-ep-advanced-icon-box-title, .no-table-of-content&quot;,&quot;headings_by_tags&quot;:[&quot;h2&quot;,&quot;h3&quot;,&quot;h4&quot;,&quot;h5&quot;],&quot;container&quot;:&quot;.elementor-widget-theme-post-content&quot;,&quot;no_headings_message&quot;:&quot;No headings were found on this page.&quot;,&quot;marker_view&quot;:&quot;numbers&quot;,&quot;minimize_box&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;minimized_on&quot;:&quot;tablet&quot;,&quot;hierarchical_view&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;min_height&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_tablet&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_mobile&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]}}\" data-widget_type=\"table-of-contents.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-toc__header-title\">\n\t\t\t\tInhalt\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--expand\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__6cd92ae\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Open table of contents\"><i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fas fa-chevron-down\"><\/i><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--collapse\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__6cd92ae\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Close table of contents\"><i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fas fa-chevron-up\"><\/i><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-toc__6cd92ae\" class=\"elementor-toc__body\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__spinner-container\">\n\t\t\t\t<i class=\"elementor-toc__spinner eicon-animation-spin eicon-loading\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1912d56 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1912d56\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">What are the typical use cases for SAP Business Data Cloud?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b7ae50a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b7ae50a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">The monthly closing process is approaching. Controlling has the actual figures from the ERP system, Sales is updating its pipeline in the CRM system, and the latest forecast file is being sent back and forth between several stakeholders by email. This leads to an obvious question for management: \u201cHow is our result developing, and which figures can we rely on?\u201d<\/p><p>This situation is by no means unusual. Many companies have plenty of data, but only limited access to a common, business-oriented and transparent view of that data. Information is spread across SAP and non-SAP systems, KPI definitions may differ slightly, and every new analysis starts with searching for the right data, merging files or coordinating with IT.<\/p><p>This is exactly where <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pikon.com\/en\/solutions\/sap-business-data-cloud\/\">SAP Business Data Cloud<\/a><\/strong>, or <strong>SAP BDC<\/strong> for short, comes in. It is neither a single reporting application nor a new data warehouse. SAP BDC is a cloud-based data and analytics platform that brings together data management, analytics, planning, machine learning and AI within a common framework. Its goal is to make data from different sources available in a way that preserves its business context and allows business departments, analytics teams and AI applications to use it consistently.<\/p><p>The key concept behind this is <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pikon.com\/en\/blog\/whats-behind-sap-business-data-cloud-data-products\/\">data products<\/a><\/strong>. Instead of building new tables, extracts and calculations for every report, data is provided as reusable, documented and governed building blocks. A data product for \u201cIncoming Orders and Order Backlog\u201d, for example, can then use the same business definition in the Sales dashboard, demand planning and an AI-supported risk analysis.<\/p><p>But what does each component of SAP BDC actually do? Which <strong>SAP BDC use cases<\/strong> make sense, and how can companies get started?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0fea2d2 e-ecs-flex e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"0fea2d2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;ecs_container_type&quot;:&quot;flex&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-86e84f3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"86e84f3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">SAP BDC explained simply<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-869e1cf elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"869e1cf\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">SAP BDC forms a <strong>bridge<\/strong> between <strong>operational data sources<\/strong> and their <strong>use by business departments<\/strong>. Sources can include traditional SAP systems such as SAP S\/4HANA, SAP BW or SAP SuccessFactors, as well as CRM systems, online shops, production systems, market data or other non-SAP data sources.<\/p><p>Several components work together to turn this data into reliable information. Not every company needs every component from day one. However, understanding how they interact helps to clarify their respective roles:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-782f9b1 e-ecs-flex e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"782f9b1\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;ecs_container_type&quot;:&quot;flex&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-97cec36 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"97cec36\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<table><tbody><tr><td width=\"130\"><p><strong>Component<\/strong><\/p><\/td><td width=\"157\"><p><strong>Simply put<\/strong><\/p><\/td><td width=\"323\"><p><strong>Typical role in the use case<\/strong><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"130\"><p><strong>SAP Datasphere<\/strong><\/p><\/td><td width=\"157\"><p>The business data foundation<\/p><\/td><td width=\"323\"><p>Connect, combine and model data, and enrich it with semantics, authorisations and data quality rules<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"130\"><p><strong>Data products and BDC Catalog<\/strong><\/p><\/td><td width=\"157\"><p>The reusable data service<\/p><\/td><td width=\"323\"><p>Describe data in technical terms, make it searchable, assign it to a responsible person and make it available for various applications<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"130\"><p><strong>SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC)<\/strong><\/p><\/td><td width=\"157\"><p>The working environment for business users<\/p><\/td><td width=\"323\"><p>Analyse data, use dashboards and stories, and plan, add comments and compare scenarios<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"130\"><p><strong>SAP Databricks<\/strong><\/p><\/td><td width=\"157\"><p>The workshop for large volumes of data, data science and AI<\/p><\/td><td width=\"323\"><p>Prepare data, perform complex analyses, and develop and operate machine learning and AI models<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"130\"><p><strong>SAP BW, Private Cloud Edition<\/strong><\/p><\/td><td width=\"157\"><p>The bridge for existing BW landscapes<\/p><\/td><td width=\"323\"><p>Protect existing BW investments and gradually make BW data available as data products<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"130\"><p><strong>SAP BDC Cockpit and Intelligent Applications<\/strong><\/p><\/td><td width=\"157\"><p>Management and an accelerated starting point<\/p><\/td><td width=\"323\"><p>Manage BDC components and provide preconfigured business data products, models and analytics content<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cd447a3 e-ecs-flex e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cd447a3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;ecs_container_type&quot;:&quot;flex&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f656d72 elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"f656d72\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a2e852e e-con-full e-ecs-flex e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"a2e852e\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;ecs_container_type&quot;:&quot;flex&quot;}\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-513b0f0 e-con-full e-ecs-flex e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"513b0f0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;,&quot;ecs_container_type&quot;:&quot;flex&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1841f5a elementor-position-left elementor-widget__width-initial no-table-of-content elementor-vertical-align-top elementor-widget elementor-widget-image-box\" data-id=\"1841f5a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image-box.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image-box-wrapper\"><figure class=\"elementor-image-box-img\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1240\" height=\"1753\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pikon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SAP-BW4HANA-zu-SAP-Datasphere-DE-4.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-93595\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pikon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SAP-BW4HANA-zu-SAP-Datasphere-DE-4.png 1240w, https:\/\/www.pikon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SAP-BW4HANA-zu-SAP-Datasphere-DE-4-212x300.png 212w, https:\/\/www.pikon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SAP-BW4HANA-zu-SAP-Datasphere-DE-4-724x1024.png 724w, https:\/\/www.pikon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SAP-BW4HANA-zu-SAP-Datasphere-DE-4-768x1086.png 768w, https:\/\/www.pikon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SAP-BW4HANA-zu-SAP-Datasphere-DE-4-1087x1536.png 1087w, https:\/\/www.pikon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SAP-BW4HANA-zu-SAP-Datasphere-DE-4-600x848.png 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1240px) 100vw, 1240px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"elementor-image-box-content\"><h3 class=\"elementor-image-box-title\">Checklist \"Fom SAP BW or SAP BW\/4HANA to SAP Datasphere\" <\/h3><p class=\"elementor-image-box-description\">Our checklist helps you find the right migration path from SAP BW or BW\/4HANA to SAP Datasphere.\n<br><br>\n<a class=\"cta-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pikon.com\/en\/doc\/from-sap-bw-or-sap-bw-4hana-to-sap-datasphere\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Download<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2affc6a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2affc6a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><strong>The interaction can be explained using a simple example:<\/strong> A company wants to identify <strong>at-risk customer orders<\/strong> at an earlier stage. SAP Datasphere brings together orders, inventory, delivery dates and customer information and gives them a consistent business meaning. The resulting data product is described in the Catalog and made discoverable to authorised users. In SAP Analytics Cloud, Sales sees an exception dashboard with prioritised orders. If large volumes of data, complex forecasts or machine learning models are added, SAP Databricks can use these data products for more advanced analyses. The result, such as a risk score, can then be displayed in the SAC dashboard.<\/p><p><strong>It is important to note:<\/strong> The platform does not replace business ownership. It can harmonise data, document rules and promote reuse. However, ensuring that material master data is maintained correctly, defining what \u201crevenue\u201d means or determining who is responsible for a KPI remain organisational tasks. This is precisely why data governance and a common language between business departments and IT are so important.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4ec4122 e-ecs-flex e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"4ec4122\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;ecs_container_type&quot;:&quot;flex&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-beb27ce elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"beb27ce\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">7 SAP BDC use cases from practice<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3d7426a elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3d7426a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Finance reporting: A common view of financial performance and liquidity<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-27c1cab elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"27c1cab\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><strong>The starting point:<\/strong> Controlling, Accounting and Management work with similar, but not always identical figures. Actuals come from the ERP system, planned figures from separate applications, forecasts from files, and additional information such as bank data or exchange rates from other sources. As a result, the monthly closing process can quickly become a reconciliation exercise.<\/p><p><strong>The SAP Business Data Cloud use case:<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a007e99 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a007e99\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<table><tbody><tr><td width=\"115\"><p><strong>BDC component<\/strong><\/p><\/td><td width=\"495\"><p><strong>Role in the specific use case<\/strong><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"115\"><p>SAP Datasphere<\/p><\/td><td width=\"495\"><p>Harmonises financial, planning and, where applicable, external data. It models consistent KPIs and relationships, for example for the P&amp;L, cost centres, cash flow, contribution margin and accounts receivable ageing.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"115\"><p>Data Products\/ BDC Catalog<\/p><\/td><td width=\"495\"><p>Provides, for example, data products for the P&amp;L, cash flow or outstanding receivables, including their definition, data origin, currency or refresh status, access rights and business ownership.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"115\"><p>SAP Analytics Cloud<\/p><\/td><td width=\"495\"><p>Provides management dashboards, variance analyses, detailed reports and, where required, planning or forecasting views.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"115\"><p>SAP Databricks<\/p><\/td><td width=\"495\"><p>Optional: Supports forecasting and pattern recognition, for example to predict incoming payments or identify unusual payment patterns.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4eec711 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4eec711\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><strong>The benefit:<\/strong> Instead of discussing where figures come from, Finance can focus on variances and actions. Consistent KPI definitions reduce recurring reconciliation efforts and provide the basis for an integrated view of financial performance, liquidity and risk.<\/p><p><strong>A suitable starting point:<\/strong> A management dashboard for liquidity or a harmonised contribution margin analysis for a region, company code or product group.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-16b30f4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"16b30f4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Sales management: From revenue reporting to an actionable pipeline<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d9ecfe3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d9ecfe3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><strong>The starting point:<\/strong> Sales has visibility into opportunities and activities, while the ERP system provides information on incoming orders, order backlog, delivery status and invoicing. Marketing or online shop data is often held outside the SAP landscape. This makes it difficult to gain a holistic view of customer potential, at-risk revenue and pipeline quality.<\/p><p><strong>The SAP Business Data Cloud use case:<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0770c6d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0770c6d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<table><tbody><tr><td width=\"148\"><p><strong>BDC component<\/strong><\/p><\/td><td width=\"462\"><p><strong>Role in the specific use case<\/strong><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"148\"><p>SAP Datasphere<\/p><\/td><td width=\"462\"><p>Connects customer, CRM, order, delivery and invoicing data. Creates a common customer view and standardises terms such as incoming orders, revenue, open orders and returns.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"148\"><p>Data Products\/ BDC Catalog<\/p><\/td><td width=\"462\"><p>Provides a \u201cCustomer and Order-to-Cash\u201d data product for reporting, planning and further analysis. Business definitions and ownership are documented.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"148\"><p>SAP Analytics Cloud<\/p><\/td><td width=\"462\"><p>Provides role-specific Sales stories for sales management, key account management and inside sales, including drill-downs to customers, orders and underlying causes.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"148\"><p>SAP Databricks<\/p><\/td><td width=\"462\"><p>Optional: Supports customer clustering, churn risk analysis, next-best-action approaches or the calculation of probability-to-close.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4a57199 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4a57199\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><strong>The benefit:<\/strong> Sales organisations no longer look only at past revenue but can identify the need for action earlier \u2013 for example, when purchase frequency is declining, a high-value order is delayed or cross-selling potential is not being used.<\/p><p><strong>A suitable starting point:<\/strong> An integrated Order-to-Cash cockpit for a sales region covering incoming orders, order backlog, delivery status and invoicing.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-55a75c3 e-ecs-flex e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"55a75c3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;ecs_container_type&quot;:&quot;flex&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1b300fd elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1b300fd\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Supply chain: Identifying bottlenecks and exceptions earlier<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7106b83 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7106b83\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><strong>The starting point:<\/strong> Delivery dates, inventory, demand and supplier information are often spread across procurement, production, warehousing, transport and external platforms. Operational teams only respond to bottlenecks once they become visible, for example through overdue purchase orders, delayed customer orders or insufficient inventory.<\/p><p><strong>The BDC use case:<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-38ca522 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"38ca522\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<table><tbody><tr><td width=\"111\"><p><strong>BDC component<\/strong><\/p><\/td><td width=\"499\"><p><strong>Role in the specific use case<\/strong><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"111\"><p>SAP Datasphere<\/p><\/td><td width=\"499\"><p>Links procurement, inventory, production and Sales data. Models the relationships between delayed orders, materials, customer orders and their business impact.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"111\"><p>Data Products\/ BDC Catalog<\/p><\/td><td width=\"499\"><p>Provides a \u201cSupply Chain Exceptions\u201d data product, including confirmed delivery dates, delays, material criticality, affected orders and customer priority.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"111\"><p>SAP Analytics Cloud<\/p><\/td><td width=\"499\"><p>Makes critical cases visible in an exception cockpit and enables prioritisation based on business impact, such as at-risk revenue or customer relevance.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"111\"><p>SAP Databricks<\/p><\/td><td width=\"499\"><p>Optional: Supports forecasting, for example of expected delivery dates, inventory risks or patterns in supplier deviations.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4f65b7a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4f65b7a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><strong>The benefit:<\/strong> Business departments gain a common view of critical situations along the supply chain. Instead of searching through lists, they can prioritise cases based on business impact, for example at-risk revenue, customer priority or production relevance.<\/p><p><strong>A suitable starting point:<\/strong> An exception cockpit for overdue purchase orders and the affected customer orders, initially for one plant or material group.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b49fe98 e-ecs-flex e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"b49fe98\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;ecs_container_type&quot;:&quot;flex&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-febe949 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"febe949\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Data quality and master data: Addressing errors at the source<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-be51af6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"be51af6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><strong>The starting point:<\/strong> Duplicate business partners, inconsistent material descriptions or missing assignments lead to incorrect segmentation, incomplete reports and significant manual cleansing efforts. Errors are often only discovered once they have already become visible in a management presentation or customer communication.<\/p><p><strong>The SAP Business Data Cloud use case:<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cf705cb elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cf705cb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<table><tbody><tr><td width=\"106\"><p><strong>BDC component<\/strong><\/p><\/td><td width=\"504\"><p><strong>Role in the specific use case<\/strong><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"106\"><p>SAP Datasphere<\/p><\/td><td width=\"504\"><p>Provides master data, quality rules and quality KPIs in a transparent model. Links quality issues to source systems, processes and responsibilities.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"106\"><p>Data Products\/ BDC Catalog<\/p><\/td><td width=\"504\"><p>Describes a master data domain as a governed data product, including mandatory attributes, permitted values, duplicate rules, data origin, quality level and data owner.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"106\"><p>SAP Analytics Cloud<\/p><\/td><td width=\"504\"><p>Visualises quality KPIs for data owners and data stewards, such as completeness, currency, duplicate rate and the number of open quality issues.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"106\"><p>SAP Databricks<\/p><\/td><td width=\"504\"><p>Optional: Identifies similar records and provides suggestions for checking duplicates or assignments. Final approval remains with the responsible team.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0b32ed8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0b32ed8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><strong>The benefit:<\/strong> The organisation does not just invest in cleaning data retrospectively but can identify recurring root causes. This also improves reporting, planning, process automation and future AI applications.<\/p><p><strong>A suitable starting point:<\/strong> A clearly defined master data domain, such as customers or materials, with measurable rules for duplicate rate, completeness and currency.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-81f596a e-ecs-flex e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"81f596a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;ecs_container_type&quot;:&quot;flex&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-dad4886 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"dad4886\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Integrated planning: Taking Excel-based processes to the next level in a controlled way<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e691ecf elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e691ecf\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><strong>The starting point:<\/strong> Excel is popular for planning because it is flexible and familiar. Problems arise when versions are circulated by email, assumptions cannot be traced and actual and planned figures are based on different data sets. In such cases, consolidation and error correction take up more time than the planning itself.<\/p><p><strong>The SAP Business Data Cloud use case:<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f45436b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"f45436b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<table><tbody><tr><td width=\"110\"><p><strong>BDC component<\/strong><\/p><\/td><td width=\"500\"><p><strong>Role in the specific use case<\/strong><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"110\"><p>SAP Datasphere<\/p><\/td><td width=\"500\"><p>Provides harmonised actual, master and planning data, such as quantities, prices, costs, organisational units and products.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"110\"><p>Data Products\/ BDC Catalog<\/p><\/td><td width=\"500\"><p>Provides a planning data product with clear definitions for actuals, plan, forecast, versions and business drivers. Reporting and planning therefore use the same terminology and definitions.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"110\"><p>SAP Analytics Cloud<\/p><\/td><td width=\"500\"><p>Provides the working environment for planning: entering values, comparing versions, adding comments, managing approvals and calculating scenarios.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"110\"><p>SAP Databricks<\/p><\/td><td width=\"500\"><p>Optional: Creates statistical forecasts or demand forecasts that can serve as a transparent starting point for business planning.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fa1425d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"fa1425d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><strong>The benefit:<\/strong> Planning meetings become more transparent and efficient. Those responsible can see which assumptions a forecast is based on and compare scenarios: What does a price change, a variance in quantities or a supply bottleneck mean for financial performance and liquidity?<\/p><p><strong>A suitable starting point:<\/strong> A rolling forecast for revenue and contribution margin in one business unit, including a small number of clearly defined drivers.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f5137f5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"f5137f5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">AI-supported risk prioritisation: Identifying bad debt risks and deviations<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9f99d73 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9f99d73\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><strong>The starting point:<\/strong> Finance and business departments have access to many indicators of risk: outstanding items, payment terms, dunning levels, complaints, order values or historical payment behaviour. In day-to-day operations, however, there is often not enough time or consolidated data to identify the truly critical cases at an early stage.<\/p><p><strong>The Business Data Cloud use case:<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-052d735 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"052d735\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<table><tbody><tr><td width=\"109\"><p><strong>BDC component<\/strong><\/p><\/td><td width=\"501\"><p><strong>Role in the specific use case<\/strong><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"109\"><p>SAP Datasphere<\/p><\/td><td width=\"501\"><p>Brings together the required business data, such as receivables ageing, payment and invoice history, customer characteristics and other permissible information.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"109\"><p>Data Products\/ BDC Catalog<\/p><\/td><td width=\"501\"><p>Provides a risk or receivables data product. It documents the data used, quality rules, refresh information, access rights and responsibilities as a basis for analysis and modelling.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"109\"><p>SAP Analytics Cloud<\/p><\/td><td width=\"501\"><p>Makes risk scores, anomalies and the underlying information visible to business users. Supports drill-downs and the processing of prioritised cases.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"109\"><p>SAP Databricks<\/p><\/td><td width=\"501\"><p>Develops and operates models for risk or anomaly detection. The result serves as a transparent decision-support tool rather than an uncontrolled automated decision.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cd91da3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cd91da3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><strong>The benefit:<\/strong> Employees in Credit Management or Collections can focus first on cases with a high business impact. The same approach can be transferred to other areas, such as unusual procurement prices, conspicuous returns, inventory risks or budget variances.<\/p><p><strong>A suitable starting point:<\/strong> A transparent risk indicator for overdue receivables that starts with a small number of explainable characteristics and is validated together with the business department.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1f8a595 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1f8a595\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Data products as a service: Reuse instead of new data projects<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0c8e679 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0c8e679\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><strong>The starting point:<\/strong> For every dashboard, business request or new project, the search for data starts from scratch. Teams build similar extracts multiple times, KPI definitions diverge and nobody knows reliably which data source is approved for which purpose.<\/p><p><strong>The Business Data Cloud use case:<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-384629b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"384629b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<table><tbody><tr><td width=\"104\"><p><strong>BDC component<\/strong><\/p><\/td><td width=\"506\"><p><strong>Role in the specific use case<\/strong><\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"104\"><p>SAP Datasphere<\/p><\/td><td width=\"506\"><p>Provides data from both a technical and semantic perspective. Connects sources, models KPIs and ensures controlled access to business data models.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"104\"><p>Data Products\/ BDC Catalog<\/p><\/td><td width=\"506\"><p>Forms the core of the use case: the purpose, definition, granularity, currency, origin, authorisations and owner of a data product are documented, made discoverable and available for controlled use.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"104\"><p>SAP Analytics Cloud<\/p><\/td><td width=\"506\"><p>Consumes data products for stories, self-service analytics and planning processes without requiring separate data preparation for every analysis.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"104\"><p>SAP Databricks<\/p><\/td><td width=\"506\"><p>Can use the same data products for data science, machine learning or AI where required by the business use case.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td width=\"104\"><p>SAP BW, Private Cloud Edition<\/p><\/td><td width=\"506\"><p>Optional: Existing BW data and objects can gradually be made available as data products. This allows existing investments to remain useful during the transition.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2a029e9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2a029e9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><strong>The benefit:<\/strong> Reuse reduces development effort and accelerates new analytics and AI initiatives. Equally important, ownership becomes transparent. Whoever provides a data product is not responsible for every subsequent business decision, but is responsible for the data product&#8217;s quality, documentation and change management.<\/p><p><strong>A suitable starting point:<\/strong> An already frequently used data set, such as \u201cCustomer 360\u00b0\u201d, \u201cProduct Profitability\u201d or \u201cProject Status\u201d, which is currently implemented differently across several reports.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b850dcd e-ecs-flex e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"b850dcd\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;ecs_container_type&quot;:&quot;flex&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d8c3d86 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"d8c3d86\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Success factors from practice<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f8166c7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"f8166c7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">A compelling SAP BDC use case is not a technology project in search of a benefit. It starts with a specific business decision or a recurring operational problem. Four guiding questions can help when selecting a suitable use case:<\/p><ol start=\"1\" data-spread=\"false\"><li><strong>Where is there currently a noticeable amount of manual reconciliation effort?<\/strong> Recurring Excel consolidation, unclear KPIs or a high number of queries are often better starting signals than an abstract platform vision.<\/li><li><strong>Which decision should be made faster or with greater confidence?<\/strong> Describe the desired outcome in business terms: \u201cWe want to identify at-risk customer orders earlier\u201d is more tangible than \u201cWe are building a supply chain dashboard\u201d.<\/li><li><strong>Are data ownership and minimum quality requirements clear?<\/strong> A first data product needs a business owner, transparent definitions and known limitations of the data. Perfect data quality is not a prerequisite, but a lack of transparency about data quality is a risk.<\/li><li><strong>How will the benefit be measured?<\/strong> Suitable KPIs include shorter reconciliation times, fewer manual files, higher data completeness, faster responses to exceptions or improved forecast accuracy.<\/li><\/ol><p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><strong>A realistic starting point often follows a simple pattern:<\/strong> First, a clearly defined data product is created. It is then used in a specific report, planning process or operational exception process. Only once both the business department and IT can demonstrably benefit from the same definition should the approach be extended to other areas.<\/p><p><strong>A clear set of expectations is also important:<\/strong> SAP BDC does not replace missing processes or unclear responsibilities. However, it provides a framework in which companies can establish semantics, governance and reuse more systematically. This is particularly relevant for AI: the clearer the definitions and the more reliable the data foundation, the more effectively analytics and automation approaches can provide support.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a7e5bf6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"a7e5bf6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Conclusion<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-23e05fa elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"23e05fa\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">The most compelling SAP Business Data Cloud use cases do not start with the question of which new tool to use, but with a specific decision-making challenge within the organisation. Finance reporting, Sales management, supply chain exceptions, master data quality and planning are therefore often suitable starting points: they combine a clear business benefit with data that is already available in many organisations.<\/p><p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">By starting small, focusing on a specific business need and measuring the results, companies can create more than just another dashboard. A well-governed data product can become a shared foundation for reporting, planning and, later, Business AI. This allows a data landscape to grow step by step from an individual use case, enabling employees to spend less time searching for, reconciling and rebuilding data and more time making informed decisions.<\/p><p><strong>Sources and further reading<\/strong><\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rheinwerk-verlag.de\/sap-business-data-cloud-das-umfassende-handbuch\/\">Beckmann, Marcel; Blinkmann, Stefan; Essers, Manuel; Marx, Victoria-Sophie; Schmidtke, Jessica Christin: <em>SAP Business Data Cloud \u2013 Das umfassende Handbuch<\/em>. 1. Auflage, Rheinwerk Verlag, Bonn, 2026. ISBN 978-3-367-11372-9. Das Buch behandelt die BDC-Komponenten, Datenprodukte, SAP <\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/sapinsider.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0326-SAP-Business-Data-Cloud-JK-Final-RV1.pdf\">SAPinsider: SAP Business Data Cloud \u2013 Use Cases and Adoption<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/sapinsider.org\/blogs\/sap-business-data-cloud-explained\/\">SAPinsider: SAP Business Data Cloud Explained<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-0454587 elementor-section-height-min-height elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-items-middle\" data-id=\"0454587\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-96f6805\" data-id=\"96f6805\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-461c924 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"461c924\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-df7b92b\" data-id=\"df7b92b\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b6fcac6 no-table-of-content elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"b6fcac6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Contact us!<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-aa3a776 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"aa3a776\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Do you have further questions? 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