With the announcement of SAP on HANA, the debate has started if this would mean the end of SAP BW. In this blog are my views on this topic.
First of all, I am excited about the idea of SAP on HANA.
Imagine a transactional system with this type of response time. Also the performance of operational reports will be great. This will, I have no doubt, lead to a lot of additional report requests. Also to requests that previously would have been delivered using SAP BW.
So this brings me to the real topic of this blog: “what about SAP BW?”. One of the reasons to have a datawarehouse have always been the relieve of the transactional system regarding heavy dataselections. This seems not valid anymore.
Other reasons for a datawarehouse have been:
* the need to combine several sources (i.e. SAP ECC and special logistic systems)
* the need to store snapshot data (i.e. because mutations in the past can happen)
* the enrichment of data using complex business rules (i.e. grouping data to make information of data, applying business rules for internal useage)
SAP BW provides tooling for these needs. And in the SAP eco-environment SAP BW still provides the best tools for these needs.
So in the short-term SAP BW will still have a strong presence. However, with SAPonHANA it can happen in the future that other solutions will become practicable.
In conclusion: SAP BW will still have its use in the near future.