By Mariyah Saifuddin
This is Part Two in a series. You can read Part One here.
For years, SAP Business Warehouse (BW) has been the cornerstone of analytics for countless organizations, representing a massive investment in time, resources, and expertise. But as technology evolves, many BW and BPC (Business Planning and Consolidation) customers find themselves at a crossroads, wondering what the future holds. In the second part of our deep-dive series on the Tech-Driven Business podcast, Shawn Brown of SAP rejoins host Mustansir Saifuddin to provide a clear, pragmatic roadmap for these customers, focusing on the transition to SAP’s Business Data Cloud (BDC).
The conversation reveals a strategy centered not on a disruptive “rip and replace,” but on a thoughtful evolution that preserves value and accelerates the journey to a modern data landscape.
Simplifying the BW landscape: Preserve your investment
For the many organizations running SAP BW, the path forward starts with a simple but powerful move: migrating the existing BW environment into a private cloud instance within BDC. As Brown explained, this immediately transforms your on-prem system into a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, shifting much of the maintenance burden to SAP.
The real “big game changer,” however, is the Data Product Generator. This innovative tool within BDC allows customers to take their existing, highly customized BW artifacts – the result of years of investment – and convert them into modern BDC data products.
“This is gonna create a really great opportunity for a lot of those organizations that have been trying to figure out what their path forward looks like,” Brown said.
Instead of abandoning their work, customers can leverage it as the foundation for their new data strategy. This approach stands in stark contrast to migrating to a third-party data warehouse, which Brown cautioned is an “expensive proposition” that forces you to duplicate the complex data curation that SAP now provides out-of-the-box.
A Strategic bridge for BPC customers: Buying time to modernize
The scenario for BPC customers, who rely on the platform for critical planning and consolidation, is naturally more complex. SAP’s long-term vision involves transitioning planning functions to SAC (SAP Analytics Cloud) Planning and Consolidation functions to S/4HANA Group Reporting.
BDC offers a crucial strategic bridge to get there. “The benefit of Business Data Cloud is that we’re now able to go ahead and take those BPC environments into Business Data Cloud and turn them into a private cloud setting,” Brown explained.
This move buys valuable time. It allows organizations to continue running their stable, functional BPC environment while they learn and gradually adopt the new toolsets. Brown’s philosophy is key here: “I’m not interested in trying to fix something that isn’t broken.”
Moving to a private cloud in BDC provides stability and eases the operational burden, giving teams the breathing room to plan a thoughtful, phased modernization rather than forcing a risky, all-at-once migration.
The 'snuggle, don't struggle' philosophy for a hybrid world
SAP recognizes that most customers operate in a hybrid, multi-cloud world. BDC is not designed to replace every other data platform but to be the most efficient way to access and leverage your most critical business data: your SAP data.
Brown introduced a memorable philosophy for this: “Snuggle, Don’t Struggle.”
“We’re happy to snuggle up to whatever else you’re doing in your organization,” he said. “We’re not here to struggle and say you need to do everything through SAP.”
The core principle is data gravity. Whether your analytics query is primarily SAP-centric or you just need to enrich third-party data with a few fields from SAP, BDC is the fastest and most robust way to get that SAP data. Its curated data products are ready to go, insulating you from backend changes and the fragility of custom extraction pipelines. This approach positions BDC as an essential, high-value component of any modern data strategy, not an ultimatum.
The ultimate takeaway: It’s all about speed and expertise
When asked for the one key takeaway, Brown was clear: SAP is the best at delivering SAP data.
“Nobody understands the data and the needs of the data better than we do,” he stated, referencing SAP’s 50 years of experience. BDC harnesses this deep expertise to simplify the world for IT and data analytics teams. It delivers curated data products that anticipate what the business will ask for, even before they know to ask.
This translates into one ultimate benefit: SPEED.
- Speed in delivering curated data: What once took months of development can now be enabled with a click.
- Speed in delivering visualizations: BDC comes with a rich history of pre-built business content, now delivered as push-button, SaaS visualizations.
“It’s about speed,” Brown reiterated. “Delivering those data products curated quickly and then… delivering those visualizations.” As Saifuddin concluded, this is the essential groundwork for speeding up your entire journey into advanced analytics and AI.
For BW and BPC customers, the message is one of opportunity. The Business Data Cloud offers a pragmatic, value-driven path that protects past investments while providing a clear, accelerated ramp to the future of data and analytics.
Interested in more Tech-Driven Business podcasts? You can listen here
About the podcast guest: Shawn Brown
With over two decades of experience in SAP solutions, Shawn Brown currently serves as senior director for SAP’s Center of Excellence. Known for expertly identifying customer needs, Brown excels in presenting tailored solutions involving Business Technology Platform, Business Data Cloud, S4HANA, and Business AI.
A proven leader in demand generation and partner relationship management, Brown has successfully driven initiatives that enhance customer experience and streamline cloud solution adoption. Renowned as a thought leader and strategist, Brown frequently shares insights with CIOs and business influencers, fostering strong, trust-based relationships across multiple industries.