BW/4HANA in the cloud, with 50% faster key reports.
How an optical networking manufacturer converted its BW 7.4 data warehouse on SQL Server to BW/4HANA in SAP's managed private cloud by remote conversion, as part of a full SAP landscape move.
A California-headquartered, vertically integrated supplier of packet-optical networking solutions for Tier 1 carriers, internet content providers, cable operators, governments and enterprises.
Its SAP BW 7.4 data warehouse ran on premises on SQL Server 2012 and was moving to SAP's managed private cloud as part of a wider landscape move: ECC to EHP7 on HANA, PI to PO 7.5, BusinessObjects 4.0 to 4.2 with LDAP single sign-on, MII 12.2 to 15.2, Fiori, and BPC 11 on BW/4HANA.
The business trigger
Keep the history, change the platform, leave the clutter behind.
The company had three requirements that ruled out the easy conversion options: retain all historical data, change database platform, and drop years of unused objects and redundant warehouse layers on the way.
Keep every year of history
All historical data had to come across, ruling out a shell conversion.
Change the platform
Moving off SQL Server ruled out an in-place conversion.
Leave the clutter behind
Old, unused objects and redundant warehouse layers were to be dropped, not migrated.
Run both in parallel
On-premises and cloud systems had to keep loading in parallel after go-live.
The skie.io approach
A remote conversion: fresh build, selected objects and data moved across.
The team used SAP's remote conversion method, building new BW/4HANA systems in the cloud across DEV, QA and PRD and transferring the selected objects and data from the on-premises system.
Prepare
SAP Readiness Check, BW4 Note Analyzer, custom code checks, PSA clean-up and request compression.
Build
New BW/4HANA systems provisioned with the DMIS add-on.
Convert
Data flows collected and transferred through the Conversion Cockpit; extraction moved from SAPI to ODP.
Go-live
Non-transportable objects adjusted, final validation, cutover.
Hurdles overcome
- Metadata transfer errors from transports and ABAP routines in transformations
- Delta queues flushed before locking source data changes
- InfoSets rebuilt by hand as CompositeProviders; non-cumulative key figures and modified Business Content handled
- Scope refined through several sandbox iterations
Results
Leaner warehouse, faster insight, lower upkeep.
Complex inventory and supply chain reporting runs 50% faster on a model with fewer layers, less redundancy and no aggregates or indexes to maintain.
Business impact
- Supply chain and inventory reporting 50% faster
- Real-time reporting simplified through CDS views and HANA push-down
- Quicker turnaround on business-critical insights
Operational impact
- BW maintenance cost down 33%
- 30% of development effort saved
- Fiori-based BW/4HANA Cockpit for modeling and monitoring
Technology impact
- Data volumes 30% smaller; 45% fewer redundant objects
- Aggregates and indexes no longer needed
- Platform in place for SAP Data Warehouse Cloud and BW bridge
"We started optimizing Data Warehouse layers, which in turn saved a lot of development effort and enabled us to provide a quicker turnaround time to generate business-critical key insights."
Analytics team · client organizationWhy it matters for your estate
Conversion as an opportunity to simplify.
The remote conversion is the BW equivalent of a selective transition: keep what is used, drop what is not, and arrive on the new platform lighter than you left. The same classification discipline applies to any ECC estate heading to S/4HANA.
Usage decides scope
Objects and layers that nobody used stayed behind; 45% fewer redundant objects.
History preserved
All historical data retained, which a shell conversion could not do.
Part of a landscape move
ECC, PI, BusinessObjects, MII and Fiori moved in the same program.
What comes next
Ready for what comes next in SAP analytics.
With the warehouse lean and on BW/4HANA, the platform is in place for SAP Data Warehouse Cloud and the BW bridge, and for the analytics the plants and the supply chain ask for next.
Facing a VMware renewal or the SAP ECC deadline?
Two clocks are running. Make one decision, not two.
See the four S/4HANA paths, the 30-day assessment, and how skie.io moves SAP and everything around it, lands it optimized, and operates it from day one.