Implement Mixed Scenarios Using SAP HANA Modeling and SAP BW/4HANA

In this course, you have learned about the modeling approaches of SAP BW/4HANA and SAP HANA. In the scenario where sales and purchases were compared, both approaches were combined. This is known as a mixed scenario.

A mixed scenario (also called a Hybrid model) merges data owned and modeled in SAP BW/4HANA (SAP BW/4HANA-managed schema) with data owned and modeled outside SAP BW/4HANA, in an externally managed schema. This means that the features, data, and metadata of both SAP BW/4HANA and SAP HANA are combined to gain more insight and flexibility.

The way you choose depends on your application and reporting strategy. Do you focus on the services of SAP BW/4HANA or on native SAP HANA concepts? Is your reporting strategy based on traditional SAP BW/4HANA reporting or on other BI clients?

Let's have a look at some use cases for mixed scenarios.

Here are some use cases of consuming SAP BW/4HANA data in SAP HANA:

• Consume SAP BW/4HANA data with native SQL front ends or clients not able to consume SAP BW/4HANA Queries.

• Consume SAP BW/4HANA data independent of the services and governance of the SAP BW/4HANA application.

• Consume SAP BW/4HANA data and manage access with native SAP HANA concepts (SAP HANA privileges, lifecycle management, and so on.

• Use SAP HANA calculations or transformation functions that are more powerful and/or easier to implement in native SAP HANA modeling compared to SAP BW/4HANA.

Here are some use cases of consuming SAP HANA data in SAP BW/4HANA:

• Consume SAP HANA data with classical SAP BW/4HANA reporting.

• Consume SAP HANA data in real time without traditional data loading processes. Therefore, avoiding development costs, data redundancy, and latency.

• Consume SAP HANA data with full usage of SAP BW/4HANA services like caching, statistics, authorizations, near-line storage, and so on.

• Consume SAP HANA data within the existing SAP BW/4HANA metadata framework. This means reuse of existing InfoObject texts, hierarchies, master data with navigation attributes, and analysis authorizations

• Use SAP BW/4HANA OLAP capabilities like handling of noncumulative key figures, hierarchy processing, compounding, or exception aggregation.

The generated calculation views from SAP BW/4HANA objects are not deployed in HDI, but still in the SAP HANA XS classic environment.

Let's look at the steps needed to use the model of an SAP BW/4HANA object in SAP HANA modeling through HDI Containers.

1. Generate an external SAP HANA view based on an SAP BW/4HANA object.
2. The generated view is automatically available in the SAP HANA repository for further use in XS classic calculation view modeling. However, it is not directly available in XS Advanced HDI containers. The following steps are needed:
   • The XSA administrator creates a Custom User Provided Service (CUPS) to access the classic database schema in the space in which you want to continue developing
   • For authorisation, a Grantor File.HDBGRANTS must be created within your SAP XSA project. The file includes a list of all schemas that the XSA developer should have access to. To access SAP BW-generated calculation views you should include the _SYS_BIC schema.
   • Set up a Synonym pointing from the HDI Container, to the classic schema objects. In our case we should create synonyms that point to the SAP BW-generated calculation view (column views in _SYS_BIC).
3. The Synonym can then be used just like local XSA objects for modeling HDI Calculation Views.

1. In XS advanced, Calculation Views are deployed to an HDI container. It is isolated to other containers and also to classic database schemas.

2. To provide the access on HDI container, the system generates an access role, which has to be granted to the user with which SAP BW/4HANA accesses SAP HANA. In our system landscape, this is user SAPCIA. The role can be granted manually or using standard stored procedures.

3. Even after granting the role, HDI container Calculation Views are not visible for consumption in a CompositeProvider. A special customization setting, HANA Development Infrastructure (HDI) or Hybrid Mode: HDI and XS Classic is required to enable consumption of HDI containers in CompositeProviders. For more information, refer to SAP Note 2810348. Take note that this is only possible in SAP BW/4HANA 2.0, not in SAP BW/4HANA 1.0.

4. Finally, include the SAP HANA view in an SAP BW/4HANA CompositeProvider, in an Open ODS view, in an InfoObject with Access Type SAP HANA View, or in a BW DataSource.

The integration of native SAP HANA views is supported in SAP BW/4HANA 2.0 in the following ways:

1. You can consume XS classic or XS advanced (HDI) calculation Views directly in InfoObjects with Access Type SAP HANA View, in Open ODS Views, and CompositeProviders.

2. You can integrate XS classic or XS advanced (HDI) calculation Views using BW DataSources (Source System Type HANA_LOCAL) to transform its data using SAP BW/4HANA transformations.

3. You can generate synonyms in an HDI Container for existing XS classic SAP HANA Calculation Views.

It is possible to consume XS Classic models and XS advanced models side-by-side. With SAP HANA 2.0, the new deployment infrastructure (SAP HANA Deployment Infrastructure (HDI)) and the XS Advanced (XSA) environment are the new standards for application processing. SAP recommends gradually moving to XS advanced models.