SAP BW or third-party data warehouses a dilemma for SAP customers
Published April 30, 2012
Organizations continue to invest in data warehousing and business intelligence tools despite the wobbly economy -- or perhaps because of it -- as companies try to remain competitive.
Yet for companies developing an SAP data warehousing strategy, there are several areas to take into consideration. First and foremost, they need to look at where their data lives now. Whether to turn to SAP for a data warehouse or to a data warehousing specialist depends largely on the company's existing structure.
"It largely depends on your data sources. If you're a wall-to-wall SAP shop, it's a no-brainer; but of course, that's not always the case," said Madan Sheina, principal analyst at Ovum Research.
As more companies use information like a strategic asset, effective access to that information is key. So, if roughly 80% of the data is coming from an SAP source, there's little reason to look elsewhere.
"But if it's less than 60%, then there's little reason to go with an SAP data warehouse," said Boris Evelson, principal analyst at Forrester Research. "You'd be trying to put square pegs into round holes."
SAP's data warehouse -- called BW -- is a big database that stores transactional historical information to help business users make decisions.
Yet for companies developing an SAP data warehousing strategy, there are several areas to take into consideration. First and foremost, they need to look at where their data lives now. Whether to turn to SAP for a data warehouse or to a data warehousing specialist depends largely on the company's existing structure.
"It largely depends on your data sources. If you're a wall-to-wall SAP shop, it's a no-brainer; but of course, that's not always the case," said Madan Sheina, principal analyst at Ovum Research.
As more companies use information like a strategic asset, effective access to that information is key. So, if roughly 80% of the data is coming from an SAP source, there's little reason to look elsewhere.
"But if it's less than 60%, then there's little reason to go with an SAP data warehouse," said Boris Evelson, principal analyst at Forrester Research. "You'd be trying to put square pegs into round holes."
SAP's data warehouse -- called BW -- is a big database that stores transactional historical information to help business users make decisions.