What is the SAP Business Data Cloud?

Definition: SAP Business Data Cloud (SAP BDC)

The SAP Business Data Cloud (SAP BDC) is a fully managed SaaS solution from SAP. With this solution, enterprise data can be seamlessly integrated, managed, and analyzed. Additionally, SAP BDC enables integration with external data sources.

What is the SAP Business Data Cloud?

The SAP Business Data Cloud is a SaaS platform for seamless integration, management, and analysis of enterprise data from various sources – both from SAP and third-party providers.

As a Business Data Fabric, the solution enables the networking of all data within the company. Particularly with regard to the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence, the intelligent and comprehensive use of data is becoming increasingly important.

With real-time access and data analytics, companies can make better, data-driven, and informed decisions with the help of the SAP Business Data Cloud.

The SAP Business Data Cloud combines the data, planning, and analytics solutions SAP Business Data Cloud, SAP Datasphere, SAP Analytics Cloud, and SAP Business Warehouse – as SAP describes it – into "a unified experience."

The SAP Business Data Cloud supports an open-data ecosystem that can natively integrate with leading data and AI partners such as Collibra, Confluent, and DataRobot. According to SAP, further partnerships will follow.

The technology stack of the Business Data Cloud consists of: Business Technology Platform, HANA, Datasphere, SAP Analytics Cloud, Data Intelligence, Databricks, Spark, and HDLF.

Key Features of the SAP Business Data Cloud:

• Data Integration: The SAP BDC connects all data from different systems and sources, allowing for better discovery, browsing, sharing, analyzing, managing, and modeling of data – without the need to create copies of the data.
• Semantics: No complex and costly data duplication and extraction is required for data usage. SAP Business Data Cloud provides fully managed SAP data products for all business processes. The key point is that these data products retain their original business context and semantics, making them easily usable.
• Insight Apps: SAP Business Data Cloud offers pre-built analytics applications, known as Insight Apps. These apps are fully managed by SAP. According to SAP, they already contain AI models, planning capabilities, and predefined metrics, and are linked to business data.
• AI Agents: The so-called AI agents can automate complex workflows across functions. The AI agents are more powerful the better the data they are based on. The SAP Business Data Cloud thus facilitates the use of Artificial Intelligence by breaking down data silos and equipping the specialized AI agents with a unified, trusted data layer.
• Databricks: SAP collaborates with the US-based software company Databricks. Databricks' technologies for data engineering, machine learning, and AI workloads are already integrated into the SAP Business Data Cloud.

How Does the SAP Business Data Cloud Work?

The SAP Business Data Cloud is a platform designed to better utilize enterprise data. It integrates data from various data sources – both from SAP systems and third-party systems. The data landscape is centralized and unified.

Overview of How It Works:

• Data Integration: The SAP Business Data Cloud connects data from both cloud and on-premise systems and supports SAP and non-SAP data sources.
• Business Semantics: The SAP Business Data Cloud structures data according to business contexts, enabling a unified view of the data.
• Analytics and Planning: The SAP Business Data Cloud combines analytics and planning in one solution. The SAP Analytics Cloud is a component within SAP BDC.
• Connection to AI: The SAP Business Data Cloud enables better utilization of Artificial Intelligence. By leveraging the data, AI models and AI apps can be accelerated.

What is Databricks?

Databricks is a U.S.-based software company founded in 2013. With its Data Intelligence Platform, Databricks provides a solution that allows data to be managed and used with Artificial Intelligence. On February 13, 2025, SAP announced a partnership with Databricks.

As SAP writes, the SAP Business Data Cloud combines SAP's expertise in mission-critical, end-to-end processes and data with extensive semantics with the "competence of Databricks in data engineering." For this purpose, technologies from Databricks for data engineering, machine learning, and AI workloads are integrated into the SAP Business Data Cloud.

What are Insight Apps?

Insight Apps are pre-built applications and data products from SAP that help derive insights for advanced analytics and planning across all business areas.

The Insight Apps are managed by SAP, linked to business data, and include, among other things, AI models and planning functions.

Is the SAP Business Data Cloud Part of the BTP?

SAP BTP and SAP Business Data Cloud (SAP BDC) are separate solutions. As an innovation and integration platform, the SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) supports the entire SAP portfolio, while the SAP BDC creates a unified data foundation.

The components of the SAP Business Data Cloud are based on SAP BTP. The data products of the SAP BDC will be available long-term for use by the SAP Business Technology Platform (initially in Q2 2025 via SAP HANA Cloud).

Is the SAP Business Data Cloud a New Name for SAP Datasphere?

No. The SAP Business Data Cloud is an evolution of various SAP tools and combines Datasphere, Analytics Cloud, and Business Warehouse into a unified solution.

The SAP Business Data Cloud is based on SAP Datasphere. Existing installations can continue to be used without interruption. SAP allows seamless technical and commercial integration.

The licensing model for Datasphere within the SAP Business Data Cloud differs from the licensing of Datasphere. SAP offers a way to transfer existing Datasphere licenses to the Business Data Cloud.

How Does the SAP Business Data Cloud Differ from the SAP Analytics Cloud?

The SAP Analytics Cloud (SAP SAC) is a component within the SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC). The SAP BDC does not replace the SAP Analytics Cloud.

The SAP SAC will continue to be offered as a standalone product. Existing installations can continue to be used without interruption.

Over time, customers will have the opportunity to transition their current solutions to a fully managed solution with the SAP Business Data Cloud.

Will the SAP Business Data Cloud Replace SAP BW?

SAP BW is seamlessly integrated into the SAP Business Data Cloud, allowing BW on-premise customers to access the BW data as a data product with object storage via Delta Share.

SAP incorporates BW and BW4 into the Business Data Cloud to enable customers to transition to SAP public cloud components over time.

Which Reporting Tools Can Be Used with the SAP Business Data Cloud?

The SAC Analytics Cloud is the primary reporting tool for SAP and the SAP Business Data Cloud.

To use Power BI, the oData integration can be used. It is offered with Datasphere.

Is the SAP Business Data Cloud (SAP BDC) Also Compatible with an SAP S/4HANA On-Premise System?

The SAP Business Data Cloud can read data from an SAP S/4HANA on-premise system.

What Will the Pricing Model for the SAP Business Data Cloud (SAP BDC) Be?

The SAP Business Data Cloud has a two-part commercial pricing model:

1. Capacity-Based Component (Core Capacity): This capacity-based component uses capacity units to tailor technical services to a customer-specific workload. SAP refers to these as Capacity Units, similar to what is already used in SAP Datasphere.
2. Insight App Component: This component uses general line-of-business application metrics for application-specific results such as data products, semantic models, and dashboards.

Which License Is Needed for the SAP Business Data Cloud?

The SAP Business Data Cloud is a SaaS solution and is therefore available as a subscription offering.

The SAP BDC has its own licensing model. BDC licenses are separate from the current SAP solutions.