Usage Scenario
Your organization is evaluating deployment options for SAP BW or SAP BW/4HANA, considering both on-premise and Private Cloud Edition (PCE). All these options offer essential data warehousing and integration capabilities within the SAP ecosystem. Understanding the key features, advantages and disadvantages of each deployment option is crucial to determine if it aligns with your company's needs, considering factors like control, customization, and compliance. Moreover, your organization needs to consider integration options with SAP Business Data Cloud to be ready for the future.
This lesson focuses on the details of deploying SAP BW or SAP BW/4HANA on-premise.
Note
Key Features of SAP BW, On-Premise Deployment
The following key features apply to SAP BW 7.5 and to SAP BW/4/HANA on-premise deployment.
Hardware and Infrastructure Control: SAP BW or SAP BW/4HANA on-premise deployment requires the organization to handle the procurement, installation, and maintenance of its own hardware infrastructure. This setup provides complete control over the physical environment, operating system, network configurations, and security policies.
System Administration Responsibilities: In terms of system administration, the customer is responsible for SAP Basis administration, including installation, patching, upgrades, and backup strategies.
Customization Capabilities: Depending on your customization requirements, you might prefer on-premise deployment. It allows deeper system customization, both in terms of operating system-level integration and application-level enhancements, which may be restricted or limited in managed cloud environments. Companies with tightly coupled legacy systems or specialized data privacy needs may benefit from on-premise setups due to direct control over network and integration protocols.
Upgrade Management: You manage your own upgrade timeline, which may be preferable for environments where downtime or regression risks must be tightly controlled.
Standalone deployment: SAP BW and SAP BW/4HANA on-premise can't be integrated as a component of SAP Business Data Cloud. You can use it as a source system for the SAP Datasphere or the SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) component of SAP Business Data Cloud. Data access can be established as remote access or via data replication or data import.
Key Requirements for Successful On-Premise Deployment
To successfully deploy SAP BW/4HANA on-premise, organizations must ensure the following:
Certified Hardware: Hardware that meets SAP’s sizing guidelines for SAP BW/4HANA workloads.
Supported Operating System: A supported OS (commonly SUSE Linux or Red Hat Enterprise Linux).
SAP HANA-Certified Infrastructure: HANA-certified storage and network configurations to support performance and high availability.
Internal Expertise: Internal SAP Basis and IT operations expertise for system setup and ongoing management.
Security and Compliance: Security and compliance capabilities (e.g., ISO, GDPR) if sensitive data is handled internally.
Advantages of SAP BW 7.5 or SAP BW/4HANA On-Premise Deployment
On-premise deployments offer the following advantages over private cloud:
Data Control: Physical control over data to meet internal governance or regulatory requirements more directly.
Cost Predictability: Predictable costs associated with hardware and licensing.
Performance Tuning: Fine-tune hardware and system-level settings for peak workloads. This is ideal for organizations with complex data routing, low-latency requirements, or closed-network environments.
Let’s Summarize What You’ve Learned
To sum up, the key aspects for SAP BW on-premise deployment are:
On-premise deployment of SAP BW/4HANA provides full control over hardware, OS, network, and security, giving organizations maximum flexibility.
System administration for on-premise environments include installation, patching, upgrades, and backups. These tasks must be managed directly by the customer's internal teams.
On-premise deployments offer advantages such as deep system customization, addressing workload peaks individually, and direct control over data, making it suitable for organizations with specific needs.
- SAP BW or SAP BW/4HANA on-premise can't be used as a component of SAP Business Data Cloud, but its data can be accessed if it is defined as a source system.
Further Reading
For more information, refer to SAP help pages: