The SAP BW Connector Built for SAP Analytics Modernization
Archive SAP BW and BW/4HANA analytical history InfoCubes, DSOs, financial cubes in open Parquet/Delta Lake, ready for Snowflake, Databricks, or your cloud analytics platform.
🌟 Featured in Gartner® Hype Cycle™ for Data Management
Connectors
Data Governance
Enterprise Clients
Talk to a Connector Expert
SAP BW Data Archiving, Done Right
Archon’s SAP BW Connector extracts InfoProvider data, DSO records, and query result datasets from SAP BW and BW/4HANA via SAP RFC/BAPI Open Hub Service and direct HANA JDBC, archiving them into ADS in open Parquet/Delta Lake format. Archived BW data is immediately accessible for regulatory audit, historical reporting, and analytical reuse in modern platforms without requiring SAP BW or HANA licences.
SAP BW and BW/4HANA InfoProviders accumulate years of financial, sales, purchasing, HR, and supply chain analytical data. As organisations migrate analytical workloads to Snowflake, Databricks, or Azure Synapse or simply seek to reduce their HANA database footprint ahead of S/4HANA migration, the SAP BW data disposition question is central. Archon provides the answer: open-format archiving that preserves every InfoObject definition, key figure unit, and time characteristic while making the data immediately reusable in modern analytics engines.
- SAP RFC/BAPI (Open Hub Service), SAP BW MDX query extraction, and HANA JDBC supported
- SAP BW 3.x, 7.x (on HANA and AnyDB), and SAP BW/4HANA 1.x–2.x all supported
- InfoCubes, DSOs (Standard and Write-Optimised), MultiProviders, and CompositeProviders
- SAP BW metadata: InfoObject definitions, characteristic descriptions, key figure units preserved
- Parquet/Delta Lake output — immediately queryable in Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery
Capabilities
Everything You Need for SAP BW Data Operations
HANA Footprint Reduction
Archiving historical SAP BW InfoProvider data beyond the active reporting window directly reduces the HANA database size, lowering SAP HANA licence costs proportionally to the archived data volume. Organizations typically achieve 40–60% BW/4HANA database reduction by archiving InfoProviders beyond a 2–3 year reporting horizon.
Open-Format Migration to Cloud Analytics
Archived SAP BW data lands in Parquet/Delta Lake immediately queryable in Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, or Azure Synapse. SAP BW InfoObject metadata, characteristic descriptions, and key figure units are preserved alongside records for full analytical reuse context in the target platform.
GoBD and SOX Financial Data Retention
Every archived SAP BW financial cube and management account record is WORM-immutable at ingestion. GoBD-compliant retention for German statutory financial reporting data, SOX 7-year financial record requirements, and MiFID II 5-year trading analytics retention are enforced through Archon's policy engine.
AI/ML Data Foundation
Historical SAP BW datasets sales forecasting history, demand planning data, risk model inputs archived in open Parquet format are immediately accessible to ML pipeline tools (MLflow, SageMaker, Azure ML). WORM immutability satisfies SR 11-7 model risk governance requirements for audit trail of training data.
Use Cases
How Enterprises Use the SAP BW Connector
01 SAP BW Decommissioning and Cloud Migration
Organizations migrating analytical workloads from SAP BW to Snowflake, Databricks, or Azure Synapse need historical BW InfoProvider data archived before decommissioning. Archon extracts the complete BW environment in Parquet/Delta Lake format, immediately queryable in the target cloud analytics platform, with full InfoObject metadata context.
02 BW/4HANA or S/4HANA HANA Footprint Reduction
Archiving historical SAP BW data reduces the HANA database footprint, lowering HANA licence costs and reducing S/4HANA migration complexity. The archived BW data remains accessible for compliance and analytical purposes from ADS without HANA dependency.
03 SAP BW Financial Reporting Archive
SAP BW consolidation cubes, management account InfoCubes, and cost centre DSOs hold multi-year financial reporting history. Archon archives this data with GoBD and SOX-compliant immutability controls making historical financial reports accessible for statutory audit and tax authority investigations without SAP BW.
04 AI and Machine Learning Training Data
Historical SAP BW datasets used to develop demand forecasting, pricing optimization, and risk models must be retained for model governance audit trail. Archon archives these in open Parquet format with WORM immutability accessible to modern ML toolchains and auditable for SR 11-7 and SS1/23 model risk governance.
Technical Specifications
| Connection Method | SAP RFC/BAPI (Open Hub Service), SAP BW MDX query extraction, HANA JDBC |
|---|---|
| Supported Versions | SAP BW 3.x, SAP BW 7.x (on HANA and AnyDB), SAP BW/4HANA 1.x–2.x |
| InfoProvider Types | InfoCubes, DSOs (Standard, Write-Optimised), MultiProviders, CompositeProviders |
| Output Format | Parquet |
| Metadata Handling | SAP BW InfoObject definitions, characteristic descriptions, key figure units |
| Transformation Rules | SAP BW currency/quantity fields, time characteristic conversion |
| Extraction Mode | Full and delta via SAP BW Open Hub Service or direct HANA extraction |
| Retention Management | GoBD, SOX, MiFID II-aligned retention policies with WORM controls |
| Deployment | On-premises · Cloud (AWS) · Hybrid |
| Security & Compliance | TLS 1.3 in transit · AES-256 at rest · GoBD · SOX · MiFID II · GDPR · SR 11-7 |
How It Works
Up and Running in 4 Steps
01
Connect to SAP BW
Authenticate via SAP RFC/BAPI Open Hub Service or HANA JDBC. Archon auto-discovers all InfoProviders, DSOs, InfoObjects, and BW metadata definitions across your BW landscape. 02
Map & Configure
Define InfoProvider scope, extraction mode (full or delta via Open Hub), time characteristic handling, GoBD/SOX retention schedules, and target Parquet schema. BW templates cover financial cubes, sales analytics, and HR reporting patterns. 03
Validate & Preview
Run a dry-run against sample InfoProvider data. The quality report validates InfoObject metadata completeness, currency/quantity unit preservation, and time characteristic conversion accuracy. 04
Archive & Monitor
Execute the full extraction via Open Hub or HANA JDBC. Data lands in Parquet/Delta Lake in ADS. HANA footprint reduced as InfoProvider data is removed. Immediately queryable in Snowflake or Databricks.FAQ
Common Questions About the SAP BW Connector
- 1. Does Archon Data Store support legacy SAP BW 3.x and 7.x as well as BW/4HANA?
Yes Archon supports legacy SAP BW 3.x, 7.x and BW/4HANA.
- 2. How does Archon extract SAP BW data without impacting production BW reporting workloads?
Archon uses optimized extraction methods and scheduled processing to minimize impact on SAP BW reporting workloads.
- 3. How does Archon preserve SAP BW InfoObject metadata for analytical reuse in Snowflake?
Archon preserves SAP BW InfoObject metadata, characteristic definitions, and key figure mappings for analytics reuse.
- 4. Does archiving SAP BW data to ADS satisfy GoBD requirements for German statutory records?
Archon supports GoBD-aligned retention policies, audit trails, and WORM-enabled secure storage.
- 5. Can Archon extract historical SAP BW data incrementally to support ongoing footprint reduction?
Archon supports full and incremental extraction for continuous SAP BW footprint reduction.
Ready to archive your SAP BW / BW4HANA data and retire the dependency?
Talk to an Archon integration specialist at archondatastore.com — free consultation, no commitment, reply within 24 hours.
