SAP BW support ends in 2027. Know what you’re moving.
Find out which queries and flows are still used, where they should go and what it will cost, before you sign a migration contract.
Prefer to talk now? +48 517 773 822- Free3-minute self-check, result on screen, no email needed
- €4,900fixed-price audit, 10 business days, read-only access
- Any targetBusiness Data Cloud, Datasphere, Databricks, Snowflake. We resell none of them
Built on 15 years of data warehousing and SAP BW work for a European payments group in 25 countries, a 2,000-store fashion retailer, a global FMCG brand and a pharmaceutical manufacturer. See the work
BW readiness self-check
Free. 9 questions, about 3 minutes, result on screen with no email needed. “Not sure” is a fine answer.
Three deadlines and rules that hit BW teams at once.
Each one is manageable. Together they decide your budget for the next three years, so it pays to look at them in one go.
31.12.2027
BW 7.5 mainstream maintenance ends
Extended maintenance runs to 2030 at extra cost. Moving to the BW Private Cloud Edition inside Business Data Cloud also buys time to 2030, but it is a stopover, not the destination.
Source: BARCNote 3255746
Third-party ODP RFC extraction is not permitted
If Azure Data Factory, Fivetran, Qlik or similar pull SAP data over ODP RFC, SAP says that use is not permitted. Those pipelines need OData, replication flows or Business Data Cloud.
Summary: Theobald SoftwareCapacity units
For Business Data Cloud customers, Datasphere and SAC come bundled
They are no longer sold separately once you adopt Business Data Cloud. If you already license either one, check how those entitlements map to capacity units before you negotiate.
Source: 2-dataThe audit: 7 answers in 10 business days.
You get a written report and a walkthrough your team and your SAP partner can work from. We only need read-only access.
What you have and what is used
Every query, provider and data flow, with real usage over the last 12 months, including which reports in Excel, BusinessObjects, SAC or Power BI depend on them.
What not to migrate
A list of unused objects to retire, so you don’t pay to move reports nobody opens.
Where to move
Business Data Cloud, Datasphere, Databricks or Snowflake, compared on your objects, skills and licences, with the trade-offs written down.
Extraction rules
Which pipelines are affected by SAP Note 3255746 and what replaces each of them.
Licences and cost
Your current entitlements next to Business Data Cloud capacity units, plus the questions to ask SAP before you sign.
AI readiness
Which data areas can feed AI assistants and agents after the move, and what is missing.
Migration plan
Waves, order and an effort range for each wave. You can run it with us, with your partner or in-house.
BW migration readiness audit
One BW system, 10 business days.
- Access
- Your Basis team runs read-only queries we provide, or gives us a read-only user. Nothing in your system changes.
- Payment
- 50% at kickoff, 50% on delivery of the report and walkthrough.
- Acceptance
- All 7 sections delivered. If you think a section falls short, we fix it within 5 business days before the second invoice.
- Security
- NDA and data processing agreement before access. No business data leaves your system, only metadata and usage statistics.
From a 3-minute check to a working new platform.
Every step stands on its own. Stop after any of them and keep what you got.
Self-check
A first view of risk and deadline, on this page.
Audit
The 7 answers above, in writing.
Migration
Data models, flows and reports moved and tested against the old BW numbers.
SAP data for AI
Business meaning added to the new model so AI assistants read it correctly.
Each migration wave is accepted only when key figures in the new system match the old BW queries.
SAP data your AI can actually read.
An AI assistant sees KUNNR, NETWR and /BIC/ZREGION and guesses. You are rebuilding the model anyway, so add the business meaning now. It costs far less than adding it later.
# BW query result / table columns VBELN 0090001234 KUNNR 0000104711 NETWR 12300.00 WAERK EUR /BIC/ZREGION 03 0CALMONTH 202609 # "What was net revenue in region North?" → wrong sum: mixed currencies, unknown region code
{
"sales_order": "0090001234",
"customer": { "id": "104711", "name": "…" },
"net_value": { "amount": 12300.00, "currency": "EUR",
"definition": "Net order value after discounts, before tax" },
"sales_region": "North",
"month": "2026-09",
"access": "same rules as the BW authorisation"
}
Business names and definitions
Every field and key figure your AI may use gets a plain name and one agreed definition, taken from your BW queries.
Same numbers as finance
Restricted and calculated key figures become shared metrics, so the assistant and the monthly report agree.
Access rules kept
BW authorisations carry over, so an assistant never shows a user data they couldn’t see in BW.
15 years of data work, much of it in SAP BW.
Building, running and moving BW data models for companies where wrong numbers end up in the board report.
Runs the data flow from the ERP into retail analytics, plus buying-plan and financial reporting on top. New development and incident fixing in one backlog.
Sales, materials and CRM data models for reporting across markets, plus third-line support for production data flows. 100% of incidents resolved.
ETL flows for North America waste reporting with Tableau on top. After go-live, waste-reporting execution went up 25%.
Moved reporting from Azure and Power BI to a new warehouse and cloud analytics. Marketing, manufacturing, procurement and HR reporting across several go-lives.
Innovation-portfolio dashboards: projects by technology readiness level, economic effect per initiative and lab capacity, from project systems into one view.
Screenshots are real client dashboards with labels translated to English and client names removed. References on request.
Who does the audit
Mikhail Mukhanov, founder of Datalift, senior SAP BW and data engineer
15 years in data warehousing, pipelines and BI, leading teams of up to 15. SAP BW on HANA, BW/4HANA, Datasphere and SAP Analytics Cloud, plus BigQuery, dbt and Airflow outside SAP. Four SAP certifications.
Datalift is independent. We earn nothing from any licence, so the target we recommend is the one that fits you.
Who this is for.
Good fit
- Companies on BW 7.5 or BW on HANA that must decide what happens before 2028
- IT and BI leads who need numbers for a budget, not a sales pitch
- Teams choosing between Business Data Cloud and Databricks or Snowflake
- SAP partners who want an independent second opinion or an extra pair of hands
Not a fit
- ECC to S/4HANA functional conversion: we cover the BW and data side
- Licence resale: we don’t sell SAP, Databricks or Snowflake
- Defence and political-campaign work
Before you book.
Is my self-check result stored anywhere?
No. It is calculated in your browser. Your answers reach us only if you submit the form under the result.
How is this different from SAP’s own readiness check?
We use SAP’s tools where they apply. They tell you what can be converted inside the SAP stack. The audit adds what they leave out: real usage including your frontends, a comparison with Databricks and Snowflake, third-party extraction under Note 3255746, licences, and a plan with effort ranges.
Do you need access to our system?
Read-only, and only to metadata and usage statistics. Your Basis team can run the queries we provide and send us the output, so we never log in. No business data is copied.
Why a fixed price? What if our BW is very large?
The audit works on metadata, so size changes the effort less than you might think. €4,900 covers one BW system. If you run several, or a very large landscape, we quote it on the free call, before you pay anything.
How do contracts and invoicing work?
A short services agreement with an NDA and a data processing agreement. We invoice in EUR, USD or GBP from Poland, EU VAT rules apply. 50% at kickoff, 50% on delivery.
Can you also do the migration?
Yes, at a fixed price per wave, scoped from the audit. Or you hand the plan to your SAP partner or your own team. The report is written so anyone can use it, with no lock-in.
Are you an SAP partner?
No. Datalift is independent and holds no reseller agreements with SAP, Databricks or Snowflake. Mikhail holds four SAP certifications.
Where are you based?
Warsaw, Poland. We work in English with teams in the EU, the UK and the US, and overlap with US East Coast mornings.