In modern SAP landscapes, the demand for real-time analytics and operational reporting is rising rapidly. SAP HANA Live provides real-time access to operational data via Core Data Services (CDS) Views, while SAP BW/4HANA offers a comprehensive data warehousing solution optimized for SAP HANA.
Integrating CDS Views with BW/4HANA bridges the gap between operational and analytical reporting, enabling organizations to leverage real-time data models in enterprise-grade warehousing scenarios. This article explores how CDS Views can be effectively consumed in BW/4HANA environments, best practices, and the benefits of this integration.
¶ What Are CDS Views and BW/4HANA?
- CDS Views are semantically rich data models defined on SAP HANA, enabling reusable, real-time data consumption.
- BW/4HANA is SAP’s next-generation data warehouse, optimized for in-memory computing, providing advanced ETL, modeling, and reporting capabilities.
- Real-Time Data Access: CDS Views provide operational data in near real-time without replication delays.
- Unified Data Models: Combining CDS and BW/4HANA allows harmonizing operational and historical data models.
- Simplified Data Flow: CDS Views can be exposed as DataSources in BW, reducing ETL complexity.
- Agility and Flexibility: BW models can rapidly consume and extend CDS View data models.
- CDS Views annotated with
@OData.publish: true can be exposed as OData services.
- BW/4HANA supports consuming these OData services as external data sources.
- BW DataSource extraction can pull data directly from CDS Views, enabling near real-time replication into BW InfoProviders.
- BW/4HANA Open ODS Views can consume CDS Views as virtual data sources.
- This approach allows on-the-fly reporting on CDS data without physical data replication.
- Supports hybrid scenarios where BW uses operational CDS data combined with warehouse data.
- Data from CDS Views can be staged into aDSOs via ETL processes for further harmonization and complex transformations.
- This is suitable for scenarios requiring historical data management or aggregation.
- Ensure CDS View Readiness: Annotate CDS Views properly with metadata for OData exposure (
@OData.publish: true) and analytical semantics.
- Design for Performance: Optimize CDS Views to minimize data volume—use filtering, aggregation, and parameterization.
- Leverage BW Modeling Tools: Use BW/4HANA modeling features like Open ODS Views and CompositeProviders for flexible reporting.
- Manage Security Consistently: Synchronize authorization concepts between SAP HANA Live and BW/4HANA.
- Monitor Data Latency: Define SLAs for data freshness and monitor extraction jobs or direct queries accordingly.
¶ Benefits of CDS and BW/4HANA Integration
- Accelerated Time to Insight: Real-time operational data combined with historical context enriches decision-making.
- Reduced Data Duplication: Virtual consumption avoids unnecessary replication.
- Simplified Architecture: Unified semantic layer reduces complexity and development efforts.
- Enhanced User Experience: BW tools and SAP Analytics Cloud can consume integrated data seamlessly.
Integrating CDS Views with BW/4HANA empowers organizations to harness real-time operational data alongside enterprise data warehousing capabilities. By adopting best practices and leveraging the right integration techniques, SAP professionals can deliver flexible, performant, and insightful analytics solutions that meet today’s demanding business needs.
- SAP Help Portal: BW/4HANA
- SAP Community Articles on CDS and BW Integration
- OpenSAP Courses on SAP HANA and BW/4HANA