Technical Articles
SAP BW/4 HANA 2021 – 3rd Generation in Sync with SAP S/4
Last Changed: 9th of March 2023
SAP BW/4 HANA 2021 – 3rd Generation in Sync with SAP S/4
If you still ask yourself, why SAP BW/4HANA? see the Blog – why SAP BW/4HANA?
SAP Data Warehouse Strategy – The Intelligent Enterprise
SAP BW/4HANA 2021 in a Nutshell
- Blog – SAP BW/4HANA 2021 SP04: Renovating ODP Extraction in HANA Runtime
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Availability of the Add-Ons BPC 2021 and BCS/4 3.0 also with the Release of SP01 for SAP BW/4HANA 2021
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SAP BW/4HANA 2021 is the start Release for the SAP BW Bridge into the SAP Cloud World
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SAP BW/4HANA 2021 is the preferred SAP Data Warehouse Solution fitting to all S/4HANA
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SAP BW/4HANA 2021 is enabled for BI-JAVA (BEx Web Broadcaster) again!
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Releases using CDS Extraction and optimized Enterprise-ready Staging Layers
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Continuously further Development of BW/4 Functionality (7.50 BWoH further development stopped in 2013)
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Improved SAC Support (compared to BWoH 7.50 and BW/4 1.0)
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Several Improvements in the NetWeaver Software Layer (under the Hood) since 7.50 like HTTP2, CORS and more.
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The BW/4 Administration Cockpit is based on the latest SAP UI Technology (7.56)
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Deeper Integration with SAP Data Intelligence (Hyperscaler Version)
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New and improved Development for the DBACOCKPIT and SAP IQ as secondary Database used for NLS/DT (Cold Store) and ILM, in sync with the Improved DTO enhancements
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Transaction SNOTE – Revamp 2021
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SAP HANA Studio 2.0 SP06 and SAP Eclipse Add-On’s
SAP BW/4HANA 2021 – Software Evolution Stack
SAP S/4HANA 2021 – Software Evolution Stack
Despite my Motto: “Hell, I can remember three things at the time”, which is also incorporated in Fabian’s Blog – My Top 3 picks on the SAP BW/4HANA 2021 Release, there is much more Beef as you might think in this Release.
| Version | SP-Level | Current SP (12/2022) | Support |
| SAP BW 7.40 | 26 | SAPKW74026 | until End of 2020 |
| SAP BW 7.50 | 25 | SAPK-75022INSAPBW | until End of 2027 |
| SAP BW/4 1.0 | 20 | SAPK-10020INDW4CORE | until End of 2021 |
| SAP BW/4 2.0 | 13 | SAPK-20010INDW4CORE | until End of 2024 |
| SAP BW/4 2021 | 4 | SAPK-30001INDW4CORE | commitment until 2040 |
Upgrade or Greenfield – SAP BW/4HANA 2021
In Terms of Upgrade, this is a straight way forward as already described in the Blog – Upgrade SAP BW/4HANA 2.0 – the time is now …. If you are coming from a System Migration to BWoH 7.50 and want to convert to SAP BW/4HANA 2021, you will already touch the compete ABAP Code and the System in a good health state. Never the less, various Task Lists are available for pre/post Upgrade Activities and BW Housekeeping.
the Blog – Upgrade SAP BW/4HANA 2.0 – the time is now … can be used for Details as well
Maintenance Planner – all BW/4 Add-Ons available
SUM 2.0 SP12 or higher – no special Version needed
Fill component table based on stack '/download/MP_Stack_2001277172_2022032_B4H_lt5088_022022.xml' with SID 'B4H' and INSTNO 'SAP-INTERN'
Set component BCS4HANA "200" "0008" -> "300" "0000".
Set component PCAI_ENT "100" "0000000000" -> "" "".
Set component BW4CONTB "200" "0009" -> "200" "0000".
Set component BW4CONT "200" "0009" -> "200" "0000".
Set component SAP_UI "754" "0008" -> "756" "0002".
Set component DW4CORE "200" "0010" -> "300" "0001".
Set component UIBAS001 "400" "0007" -> "700" "0001".
Set component ST-PI "740" "0016" -> "740" "0017".
Set component NXI "300" "0014" -> "300" "0016".
Set component SAP_GWFND "753" "0007" -> "756" "0001".
Set component SAP_BASIS "753" "0007" -> "756" "0001".
Set component SAP_ABA "75D" "0007" -> "75G" "0001".
Set component BPC4HANA "200" "0008" -> "300" "0000".
Check SAP Note 3073543 – create SAPup_add.par
Note 3073543 – Central Note – Software Update Manager 2.0 SP13 [lmt_021]
With the Greenfield (fresh Install) nothing has changed as well from the initial Setup. See the Document – SAP First Guidance – complete functional scope (CFS) for SAP BW/4HANA
the next Version of SAP BPC 2021 and BCS/4
Image above created and owned by SAP HDA Planning & Analytics, Product Management
see the Blog – SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (SAP BPC) Strategy
Note 1330000 – SAP BW/4HANA, Business Consolidation Add-On ( “BCS/4HANA” )
the next Version for SAP BW/4HANA 2021 is expected for Q1/2022
SAP BW Bridge with SAP BW/4HANA 2021
SAP BW/4HANA 2021 allows a seamless integration via the SAP BW Bridge to connect the SAP on-remise World to the SAP Cloud without boundaries.
Roadmap – SAP BW Bridge
Blog – Announcement: Introducing SAP BW Bridge for Data Warehouse Cloud
Blog – SAP Data Warehouse Cloud, BW bridge – Value Proposition
introducing the SAP BW Bridge
SAP Data Warehouse Cloud, SAP BW bridge. Overview of data integration
Blog – SAP Data Warehouse Cloud, SAP BW bridge: Overview and Technical Deep Dive
Sea Park Consultancy – What is BW Bridge (within Data Warehouse Cloud)?!
SAP Help – Releasing Analytic Queries for Use in SAP Data Warehouse Cloud
Note 2399707 – Simplification Item Check
Note 2575059 – SAP Readiness Check for SAP BW/4HANA and SAP DWC, SAP BW Bridge
Note 3141688 – Conversion from SAP BW or SAP BW/4HANA to SAP DWC, SAP BW Bridge
the best fit – SAP BW/4 and S/4 HANA
as already published in the Blog – Upgrade to SAP S/4HANA 2020 – time to change the combination of SAP BW/4HANA 2.0 and SAP S/4HANA 1*09 and 2020 is the Heard of any on-premise Customer BTP Landscape. Data Extraction via ODP either classical Extractors or ABAP CDS-Views and the pre-defined Data Layer based on the BW/4 Business Content 2.0 (also used in SAP BW/4HANA 2021). More Details can be found in the SAP BW/4 Modelling Guide.
Blog – SAP Cloud Integration into SAP BW/4HANA
SAP Help – SAP BW/4HANA Content Add-On
optimized Source System Types for SAP S/4 and HANA
SAP BW/4HANA 2021 supporting the BTP
Blog – SAP Guardians of the Data Galaxy
SAP Guardians of the Data Galaxy – The Fab Five
SAP Analytics Cloud and SAP BW/4HANA 2021
SAP BW/4HANA 2.0 and higher is benefitting from the underlying NetWeaver Technology especially when it comes to the live connection to SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC), see also the SAP Analytics Cloud Connection Guide.
direct live connection to SAP Analytics Cloud
The Document – SAP First Guidance – Implement SAP BW/4HANA in the Azure Cloud already contains all the necessary steps for live connection Setup and the Blog – SAP MacGyver – Installing SolMan 7.2 contains the correct ICM Parameters and STRUST(SSO2) settings for ABAP.
SAP Community – SAP Analytics Cloud
SAP Help – SAP Analytics Cloud
Blog – next Mystery solved – proper SAC Connection
Blog – SAP Cloud Integration into SAP BW/4HANA
tx. /n/UI2/FLP_CUS_CONF
BEx Web Broadcaster available with SAP BW/4 2021
new DBACOCKPIT for SAP IQ
Note 3094594 – Enable SAP IQ for DBACOCKPIT
Note 3123892 – New features for DBACOCKPIT on SAP IQ (TCI for SAP_BASIS release 750 SP11-22 and 753 SP00-SP07)
starting with SAP Basis 7.56 SP01 and the corresponding equal Support Packages for lower SAP Basis Release the new and improved DBACOCKPIT for SAP IQ will be available. This perfectly fits to the improvements of DTO (cold store) and nearline storage (NLS)
Blog – enable SAP IQ for DBACOCKPIT
Blog – How to Capture Historical Database and DB Space Sizes in SAP HANA Cloud, data lake and SAP IQ
new DBACOCKPIT for SAP IQ
improved DTO functionality with SAP BW/4HANA 2021 (NLS still possible)
improved DTO functionality with SAP BW/4HANA 2021
SAP Help – SAP IQ as a Near-Line Storage Solution (SAP BW/4HANA 2021)
Blog – Using exceptional updates in SAP BW/4HANA (straggler management)
transaction SNOTE – Revamp 2021
already available with SAP Basis 7.55 SP03 and higher, e.g. initial release of SAP Basis 7.56 is the complete Revamp of transaction SNOTE for a much better support of any kind of SAP Corrections, TCI and the organization of your SAP Corrections.
Blog – Note Analyzer – Revamp 2021
complete Revamp 2021 of transaction SNOTE
SAP Note Analyzer integrated in transaction SNOTE
SAP BW/4 Modelling Tools running SAP Machine
the new Versions of the Eclipse Add-On’s BW-MT and AiE are now completely compiled with JDK11, as there a incompatibles between JDK8 and JDK11. SAP Customer’s can use the long time supported Version of the SAP Machine to replace Oracle’s JAVA Development Kit.
the SAP HANA Studio 2.0 is fully compatible with the latest Eclipse Versions.
Blog – SapMachine and SAP HANA Studio
latest SAP Eclipse Add-On’s with Studio 2.3.62 (SP06)
Conclusion – SAP BW/4HANA 2021 – up in the Air
SAP BW/4HANA 2021 doesn’t looks like a offensive Marketing pitch. Never the ness, SAP BW/4HANA 2021 delivers many useful features and supportability which will help the SAP End User massively in their daily work and in the simplification of existing tasks.
if the SAP TechEd Cat would knew this earlier …
Roland Kramer, SAP Platform Architect for Intelligent Data & Analytics
@RolandKramer
“I have no special talent, I am only passionately curious.”
find me on LinkedIn – Roland Kramer
Thank you for this blog post Roland! Very helpful, excellent job! Thanks also for the reference to my blog post about SAP BW bridge.
Hallo Roland,
thanks for sharing these details. Very helpful !
Stay well - Frank
Thanks Roland for sharing this in depth detail with us definitely very helpful
& Thanks once again for sharing your knowledge. Really Appreciate
Best Regards,
Mellinda
Nice, seems like ABAP RESTful Application Programming Model will also be supported as of BW/4 2021.
I think it was not the case for SAP_ABA 7.5D.
Hello Sebastian Gesiarz
you should ask Andre Fischer - Do I need a SAP Gateway Hub when using the ABAP RESTful Programming Model? for that Topic as I never heard that the ABAP RESTful Application Programming Model is not supported in lower Releases.
SAP BW/4HANA is not using this technology by default and never the less it is part of the ABAP 2021 Stack.
best regards Roland
Hi Roland,
RAP was shipped first with S/4HANA1809 Cloud and S/4HANA1909 OnPremises-System. Hence, there is definitly no support for lower releases. I face the issues right now as I'm not able to create service definitions and service bindings in my system with ABAP version 75D.
Best Regards
Michael
Hi guys,
"...and the pre-defined Data Layer based on the BW/4 Business Content 2.0 (also used in SAP BW/4HANA 2021)...."
Can you confirm that there is no update planned for BW/4HANA regarding business content 2.0? As far as we are aware there is going to be an update (communication over incident) but there no official planning available.
Some guidance on what to start with in new installation would really be helpful. Notes do not really mention anything in this direction for BW/4HANA 2021.
E.g.:
2785514 - FAQ: SAP BW/4HANA Content (BW4CONT & BW4CONTB) - SAP ONE Support Launchpad
2785525 - Collective Note: SAP BW/4HANA Content 2.0 (BW4CONT 200 & BW4CONTB 200) - SAP ONE Support Launchpad
...
Hello Peter Muschick
SAP BW/4 2.0 and BW/4 2021 are based on the same DWCORE Application Layer, why should there be any changes?
Furthermore, the SAP BW(/4) Business Content is a merge from several BW(/4) Content Versions, as the most of the Original Objects never changed. It is more less the usage of new technologies using the existing Objects.
This is a screen from my SAP BW/4 2021 System with the SAP BW/4 2.0 Content SP09 installed
Best Regards Roland
Hi Roland!! Many thanks for your very useful blog. Can I ask you something about Maintenance Planner status for preparing this upgrade? I am at the very initial steps (reading information, readiness check, etc). However, when I have launched the plan, I have this error message: One step conversion from current system constellation to SAP BW/4HANA 2021 is not possible (current soirce release SAP Netwaver 7.5 Hana 2.0). Can this message be a generic error?
Thanks in advanced and kind regards
Hello Marta Rodriguez Manchon
I assume to jump form 7.50 BWoH over three Releases are not possible.
What about Shell Copy from 7.50 to BW/4 2021?
Best Regards Roland
Dear Roland,
can you give some details on that intro-remark by you. Which features?
"Please note that at this time (ECC) not all features can be shown. Additional Information will be added to the Blog when they available."
Hello Clemens Kopfer
I have precise the statement as follows:
The Upgrade to SAP BW/4HANA 2021 including the SAP BCS/4 and BPC/4 3.0 Add On's is ready. A dedicated Blog focusing the upgrade will be available on request. Never the less SAP BW/4HANA 2021 is ready to use.
Please follow the Rules of Engagement, thanks
Best regards Roland
Hey Roland Kramer -Thanks for sharing the updated version of the article, very helpful to the SAP BW community! This should help SAP on Azure customers considering BW/4HANA 2021 in their plans. It looks like RSA1 will be history for SAP BW customers very soon... 🙂
curious, if DMO to Azure will support this version as well.
Cheers,
Amit Lal
actually the tx. RSA1 is history since at least 8 Years ...
DMO is not depended from the desired HyperScaler and going to BW/4 is a Conversion and not a migration ... 😉
Best Regards Roland
😀 I was expecting the same! btw I got a push from Basis saying how will you do system refreshes, connection re-establishing w/o RSA1, it is the bread and butter for Basis 🙂
Hello Roland Kramer,
With the latest BW Bridge Updates for SDWC, is there any updated guidance with respect to when to use what for S/4 architectures i.e. Greenfield / Brownfield from BW 7.x / Brownfield from BW/4HANA etc?
With the ability to consume BW content and extraction from ODP source systems within BW bridge - when would we advise a customer to go with BW/4HANA rather than jumping (launching?) straight into the cloud?
Cheers,
Cal
Hello Cal Loudon
to reach the SAP Datawarehouse Cloud the customer has go to a journey where the Target is seen, but the way to it might take longer as expected.
Additional information can be found on the SAP Data Warehouse Cloud Roadmap
So the Conversion to SAP BW/4 2021 would be the first Step, to a allow "the Road to DWC" be more prepared and not to loose core functionality from SAP BW which is not jet available in DWC or never will be included.
Hence, the Question why SAP BW/4HANA? must be answered first in my opinion.
Best Regards Roland
Hi Roland,
Thanks for the response.
Would you say that BW/4HANA is still the first step even in Greenfield scenarios? Besides the product maturity, available skill sets and perhaps currently only available in B4 functionality, for a cloud-first focused customer I'm trying to understand what would be missing if they went straight for SDWC in the first instance.
Cheers,
Cal
Hi
Imagine there is already a working pair of S/4HANA 1909 and BW/4 2.0. Is there any problem going to S/4HANA 2021 and keeping BW/4 2.0? I'm sure there is no problem for the opposite, going to BW/4 2021 keeping S/4 1909. I wonder if it's best to upgrade concurrently
Hello Loukas Karabelas
No, there is no Problem as BW/4 2.0 needs anyway the CDS extraction via ODP and this is compatible within the S/4HANA Releases
Best Regards Roland
Thanks !
Hello Roland Kramer,
I actually have the opposite question of Loukas Karabelas.I was asked by one of my clients to investigate a BW/4 upgrade (they are already on BW/4 2.0 SP06). Last year they upgraded their S/4 to foundation 2020.
When I look at your "software evolution stacks", I see that BW/4 2021 matches perfectly with S/4 foundation 2021. But would it match fine with foundation 2020 as well? I know the marketing people would claimn it's "backwards compatible", but I'd rather be sure before advising my clients.
Are you aware of any (possible) hiccups in that scenario? If so, would you care to share them?
Cheers,
Raf
Hello Raf Boudewijns
No, there is no Problem as BW/4 any Releases needs anyway the CDS extraction via ODP and this is compatible within the S/4HANA Releases as well.
The software evolution stacks are created to visualize the different Version and Naming conventions, see also the Presentation - Upgrade S/4HANA Version 2020 -Basis View
Best Regards Roland
Cool, thanks!
Hallo Raf,
I have a similar scenario in front. Did you find some specific big issue considering Upgrade from BW4 2.0 to BW4 2021 ?
Thanks
Giovanni
Actually, I left that project right before the upgrade (I was only there for a very short period of time to add an extra pair of hands due to an "overload" of the team there).
Hi Roland Kramer,
Thanks for this useful blog. Could you please provide your inputs on below query.
We are currently on BW4HANA 2.0 SP2. Is it possible to directly upgrade to BW4HANA 2021 SP01 from current version or do we need to move to a higer support package on BW4HANA 2.0 before upgrading to BW4HANA 2021 SP01. Kindly advise.
Best Regards,
Srini.
Hello SRINIVAS KAMIREDDY
It should be possible running the Upgrade from this Start Release Level. The SUM Process will anyway show you the minimum SP Level
Best Regards Roland
Hi Roland Kramer
we have updatet to BW/4HANA 2021 SP04 and have problems loading own Masterdata Infoobjects. Receive the Error
main_proc_fail last_batch_added
Meldungsnr. RSBK018
I have changed all SAP HANA based Transformations to ABAP, but still get the Error.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks .
Kind regards,
Adrian
Hello Adrian Egger
I'm not sure, if this is the right place to discuss such ABAP related issues. However, I have found some corrections for the component BW-WHM-DBA-MD and BW4-UI-MD after SP04 for BW/4 2021
Note 3288557 - Dump when XXL attributes are loaded to a characteristic with referencing characteristic in compounding
Note 3276254 - RSDMDD_DELETE_BATCH - enhancement of selection option
Note 3281749 - BW4HANA: Master data update/load does not update attributes correctly
Note 3252794 - MD : Issue with Selective Deletion or Master data maintenance
Note 3244293 - Performance issues with Attribute Change run
otherwise you have to open an incident at SAP for that (new) issue
best regards Roland
Hello Roland Kramer
yes i know...next time i will choose another channel!
But thank you anyway, i will check it!
best regards
adrian
Hello again Adrian Egger
I have checked as well the Release Notes for SP04 - Enhanced Master Data Update - Mixed Case (Enhanced) => Master Data Update
Check this out as well
Best Regards Roland
Hi Roland Kramer
thank you very much for your support!!
I will also check that.
Best regards, Adrian
Hello Roland Kramer
This note was helpful!! : Note 3281749 - BW4HANA: Master data update/load does not update attributes correctly
Now the problem is solved!
Thanks a lot!
Kind Regards,
Adrian
Hi Roland,
Many, many thanks for your blogs are always very helpful!
I have only one correction here for:
It's already only until End of 2027 supported, but for BW/4 HANA20XX you are right the commitment is until 2040 ;).
BW/4 HANA 2021:
https://userapps.support.sap.com/sap(bD1lbiZjPTAwMQ==)/support/pam/pam.html#s=SAP%20BW%2F4HANA%202021&o=most_viewed%7Cdesc&st=l&rpp=20&page=1&pvnr=73555000100900004721&pt=g%7Cd&ts=0
PAM_BW4HANA_2021