Here's an article on Combining Data from SAP and Non-SAP Systems in BW/4HANA, tailored for the subject SAP-BW/4HANA in the SAP field:
In the age of digital transformation, enterprises often operate in heterogeneous IT environments. Data resides not only in SAP systems but also across various non-SAP platforms such as Oracle, Salesforce, Hadoop, and cloud-based applications. Integrating this data into a unified platform for analytics and reporting is a strategic necessity. SAP BW/4HANA — SAP's next-generation data warehouse — provides robust tools and architecture to seamlessly combine and manage data from both SAP and non-SAP sources, delivering a consolidated view for advanced decision-making.
Traditional data warehouses often struggle with latency, data silos, and complex ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes when integrating data from diverse sources. BW/4HANA addresses these challenges with a simplified, in-memory data model, modern interfaces, and real-time data integration capabilities.
SAP BW/4HANA is designed with integration in mind, providing native support for combining data from SAP systems (e.g., SAP S/4HANA, SAP ERP, SAP CRM) with non-SAP sources (e.g., flat files, APIs, third-party databases). Here are key features and tools that make this possible:
Open ODS Views provide a flexible way to integrate external data structures (e.g., flat files, database tables, APIs) directly into the BW/4HANA layer without the need for complex modeling. Key benefits include:
BW/4HANA supports a wide range of source system types:
Advanced DataStore Objects in BW/4HANA act as the central staging area for both SAP and non-SAP data. They support:
Scenario: A company wants to analyze customer data from SAP S/4HANA and combine it with social media sentiment data stored in a cloud-based NoSQL database.
Solution in BW/4HANA:
SAP BW/4HANA is more than just a next-generation data warehouse — it’s a strategic platform for enterprise-wide analytics. By enabling seamless integration of data from SAP and non-SAP systems, BW/4HANA helps organizations break down data silos, improve agility, and drive better business outcomes through unified, real-time insights.