Modernising SAP BW to SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) is more than just a system upgrade; it is a strategic transformation towards a more scalable, AI-driven data platform. With SAP's latest tools, companies can preserve their existing BW Investments while unlocking cloud-native capabilities for real-time analytics. The modernisation journey depends on each organisation's current BW landscape. This blog outlines the modernisation paths, available tools and best practices to ensure a smooth migration while minimising disruption.
Why should one migrate away from SAP BW
Building on our previous blog, the end of maintenance for SAP BW is coming for many companies and this is a pivotal moment, pushing enterprises to rethink their data strategies and embrace modern cloud-based platforms. Beyond just migration, businesses require more & more improved solutions that can scale with growing data volumes, integrate structured and unstructured data seamlessly, and empower business users with self-service analytics + AI. This shift isn’t only about technology, it’s also about cost efficiency, agility, and future-proofing data management in an era where insights drive competitive advantage.
What is SAP Business Data Cloud & how is it linked to SAP BW
SAP Business Data Cloud, or often referred to as SAP BDC, is SAP's go-to data platform solution, combining a set of previous products like SAP Datasphere & SAP Analytics Cloud, combined with some new modules & features focused on BI, Data & AI, including SAP Databricks.
As companies look to migrate away from SAP BW, SAP recommends that companies look into SAP BDC as a go-to platform, as it brings a modernised toolkit yet brings the familiarity data teams might already have with SAP BW. SAP BDC is a strong option to consider. In our previous blog, we also deep-dived in alternatives we often see companies looking into, like Fabric (given the link with Power BI) or Databricks in an alternative cloud set-up (e.g., Microsoft Azure).
Below, we will explore how SAP Business Data Cloud provides the right foundation, ensuring organisations move beyond BW’s limitations while leveraging familiar tools, like SAP Datasphere and SAP Analytics Cloud, for a smooth transition.
What are the migration approaches to migrate your SAP BW to SAP BDC
In the first blog of this series, we outlined three key approaches to modernising SAP BW: Lift & Shift, Build on the side and Build on Top. When transitioning SAP BW to SAP BDC, SAP strongly recommends the Lift & Shift approach as the most efficient path forward. Basically, this method involves migrating existing data flows and data models to the cloud without significant modifications. This way, companies can preserve most of their investments in SAP BW.
The Lift & Shift approach follows a structured three-step process for migrating SAP BW to the cloud.
Step 1: Move SAP BW to Private Cloud Edition (PCE)
The first step is lifting SAP BW 7.5 or higher to the Private Cloud Edition (PCE), a process managed by SAP to ensure a smooth transition. Note that before the announcement of SAP BDC, only SAP BW/4HANA could run as PCE. This has changed now. However, the exact migration pathway depends on the company’s current SAP BW version:
- For SAP BW/4HANA customers: the migration should be directed to SAP BW/4HANA PCE. These customers can benefit from maintenance until 2040.
- For SAP BW 7.5 customers: To proceed with the migration to PCE, SAP BW must be running on a HANA database. If the system is not yet on HANA, an initial migration is required before transitioning. What's more, there’s no need to upgrade to SAP BW/4HANA first. Instead, companies can leverage SAP BW PCE for SAP NetWeaver, benefiting from extended maintenance until at least 2030. But, those customers can optionally decide to first convert their systems to SAP BW/4HANA and then to BW/4HANA PCE.
Migrating from SAP BW to PCE seems straightforward and requires minimal prerequisites but make sure you are running on the correct product version:
- SAP BW 7.50 SP24 or higher
- SAP BW/4HANA 2021 SP4 or higher
Additionally, SAP highly recommends updating to the latest support package to guarantee full compatibility and optimal performance in the cloud environment.
Step 2: Transform BW artifacts into actionable Data Products
Once SAP BW is successfully migrated to SAP Private Cloud Edition (PCE), the next step is to transform BW InfoProviders into data products using the Data Product Generator. This process ensures that existing BW artifacts are not only preserved but also optimised for SAP Business Data Cloud (SAP BDC).
But before transforming BW artifacts into data products, the application administrators must carefully select the objects to be converted to avoid carrying unnecessary technical debt.
Once the migration scope is clear, the Data Product Generator for SAP BDC serves as the central entry point for provisioning BW InfoProviders. Recently released (Q2 2025), it converts most BW artifacts, including InfoObjects, InfoCubes, ADSO's, MultiProviders, CompositeProviders and queries as InfoProviders into SAP data products, making them reusable in SAP BDC. You can choose to replicate only a subset of the fields or apply filters to reduce the data to be transferred.
Once the artifacts have been selected and filters applied, the system generates a file storing the structured data, which is then shared with Datasphere and transferred to SAP Datasphere’s Object Store. This onboarding process enables InfoProviders to be seamlessly used as Data products in the cloud.
During migration, SAP BDC automatically creates new entities based on BW(/4HANA) objects and retrieves their respective semantics.
From a technical point of view, SAP BW data products become Local Tables in Datasphere, which are structured as Delta Tables. The local tables are created in a dedicated BW space of the Datasphere tenant and contain the basic metadata of the InfoProviders like data types, descriptions and field names. The tables can then be used for further transformations, modelling and consumption in analytics platforms. This approach allows customers to not only transition to SAP Datasphere but also replace their existing data flows with SAP Datasphere’s proven capabilities. This means that these tables can be integrated into SAP Datasphere’s analytical layer and be combined with other datasets to create graphical views, which can then be transformed into analytical models, linking dimensions to fact views. These new models are referred to as Derived Data Product Models. This enables businesses to extract maximum value from their BW data while leveraging the scalability and flexibility of SAP BDC.
From another perspective, the data scientist might prefer to work with flattened data, the Base Data product, for advanced analysis and leverage this via delta share in SAP Databricks. This way, he can apply AI/ML capabilities and gain deeper insights.
Once the data has been moved and persisted in Datasphere and is no longer needed in the BW on-premises landscape, it can be deleted from the legacy system. The copy in the Datasphere Objectstore then becomes the source for further use.
When moving BW artifacts to Data products, companies have different options when it comes to materialising the data:
- Onetime snapshot: Perform an initial load of the historic data of BW. Let the new data flow into Datasphere and combine both to get full dataset.
- Incremental delta updates, if the BW InfoProvider supports delta loads. A process chain can be used to update the data in BDC after it has been updated in your BW system.
- Regular reloads (full).
Step 3: Taking advantage of SAP Managed Data Products and Intelligent Applications
This final step is a key innovation within SAP Business Data Cloud. It enables organisations to replace legacy BW workflows with SAP-Managed Data products and Intelligent Applications (previously announced as Insight Apps by SAP), minimising administrative overhead with streamlined processes.
Initially, customers will rely on BW Data products generated from their existing BW data models, as outlined in Step 2. At the same time, they will begin exploring SAP-Managed Data products and Intelligent Applications, evaluating how these solutions align with a clean core approach and how they can further optimise their data strategy. Over time, Customer-Managed BW Data products, originally generated via the Data Product Generator, will be gradually replaced with SAP-Managed Data products. This gradual shift allows organisations to maximise their existing investments while preparing for long-term innovation within SAP Business Data Cloud. This shift ensures that businesses can consume and create analytic scenarios while adhering to a clean core principle, minimising customisation and technical debt.
By integrating SAP-Managed Data products with Intelligent Applications, companies gain access to prebuilt analytics scenarios that streamline operations and enhance decision-making. These solutions provide out-of-the-box offerings, reducing the need for extensive manual configuration while ensuring seamless data consumption across the enterprise.
The table below illustrates the transformation of SAP BW artifacts into new SAP BDC and SAP Datasphere objects, supporting the gradual decommissioning of BW over time.
| SAP BW artifact | SAP BDC object |
|---|---|
| Standard DataSource | SAP-Managed Data product |
| Transformation | Transformation flow in SAP DatasphereSQL views |
| Query Composite provider |
Analytic Model and View |
| SAC Story | Intelligent Application |
What are the arguments to go for SAP BDC as go-to platform when migrating SAP BW
Moving SAP BW to SAP Business Data Cloud offers a strategic advantage as it allows a lift-and-shift set-up. However, it's crucial then that you are already today adhering to a clean core principle, keeping the system as standardised and efficient as possible. Hence, before migrating, it’s essential to assess the customisation levels of the current BW system to ensure the transition is as clean as possible. Think about identifying which custom logic and tables are actively used to avoid unnecessary complexity in the new system. Additionally, review existing integrations with external systems and plan for necessary adjustments or reintegration to prevent disruptions.
For custom business requirements that need to be carried forward, SAP Datasphere provides the flexibility to refine and optimise these processes. As part of a business data fabric architecture, SAP Datasphere enables data integration, semantic modelling, data federation, and self-service analytics, ensuring a scalable and future-proof approach to data management.
The less customisation you have done in SAP BW, the more favourable SAP BDC might be, as it offers a lift-and-shift approach.
What is the role of SAP BW Bridge in the SAP Business Data Cloud architecture
SAP BW Bridge isn’t over yet! While modernisation is in full swing, SAP Datasphere BW Bridge remains a key component, offering a smooth transition for BW customers. And here’s the best part: it’s supported for new projects until at least 2040. That means businesses can continue leveraging their BW investments while embracing next-generation data strategies. So, what's the role of the BW bridge in this new SAP BDC architecture? The role of this tool is twofold:
- The BW Bridge provides access to BW Business Content and ECC extractors. This ensures continuity for data acquisition.
- The Bridge also supports a gradual phase-out of BW systems, enabling the reuse and migration of BW assets into SAP Datasphere, although it presents some limitations (e.g. no support for BW queries).
The BW Bridge is still part of SAP Datasphere and does not come as a separate product. When sizing your SAP BDC system, BW Bridge blocks can be added to the requirements.
What to conclude on the modernisation of SAP BW to SAP BDC
SAP BDC represents an interesting step towards a modern, connected architecture, and the vision of SAP is clear & solid: offering an end-to-end data platform leveraging SAP Datasphere modules, SAP Analytics Cloud & SAP Databricks.
At the time of writing this, several elements still need to evolve to make it a fully mature, trustworthy solution for enterprise scope. A company wishing to migrate today should therefore carefully analyse the current limitations and consider a gradual transition. You have already kick-started innovating through SAP BDC and, once new features get more mature, tackle the migration further step by step.
Some improvements in the next months will make it a tool to consider for companies. We highlight two:
- As you will probably have noticed as you explore the various stages of modernisation, everything is based on (SAP-managed) Data products. The idea is to start with customised data products, then gradually evolve towards standardised SAP-managed data products. However, the number of SAP-Managed Data products currently available is limited, which is a major obstacle for companies wishing to modernise their BW environment via SAP BDC at the time of writing this.
- Another point to consider is the Data Product Generator, which remains fairly basic in its operation. To date, data product generation is not yet efficient, as BW InfoProviders have to be generated one by one. In addition, the BW InfoAreas hierarchy cannot be copied into SAP Datasphere, which can lead to a dirty data organisation into SAP Datasphere spaces. We hope SAP considers integrating BW process chains with Datasphere Task Chains to streamline workflows and avoid processing interruptions
Of course, SAP is releasing these data products progressively by domain, with a focus on quality and business relevance. According to the SAP Roadmap Explorer, a significant expansion is planned for Q3 2025, covering areas such as Finance, Sales, Manufacturing, Learning, and Talent Management, among others. We encourage you to consult the SAP roadmap or our website (www.element61.be) regularly to stay informed about future data product releases and plan your BW-to-BDC transformation accordingly.
How to learn more about considerations when migrating SAP BW to SAP BDC
This blog is part of a blog series about how companies can modernise their current SAP BW landscape by bringing it to the cloud.
- Modernising SAP BW Blog Series Part 1: From legacy to innovation: steps to migrate from SAP BW to a Modern Data Platform
- Modernizing SAP BW Blog Series Part 2: Unlocking SAP Data: overcoming challenges in Modern Data integration
- Modernising SAP BW Blog Series Part 3: Beyond BW: Building a scalable modernisation strategy with SAP Business Data Cloud
In this article & our previous articles, we have already outlined a solid base. However, details matter, and you want to ask an expert advice on how to modernise your legacy BW system? Don't hesitate to reach out via info@element61.be. Let's shape the future of your data strategy together. We have some SAP BW experts ready to help and guide you further!
