Upgrade to SAP BW/4HANA - an important step for your company 

Upgrade from SAP BW 7.5 on Hana to SAP BW/4HANA

SAP BW (Business Warehouse) is a powerful business intelligence and reporting software used by companies to manage and analyze large amounts of data. In recent years, SAP has continuously developed the system and finally released the latest version, BW/4HANA, which leads to the fact that SAP BW7.5 on HANA will be phased out in the next few years.  

If you are using SAP BW, upgrading to BW/4HANA can bring many benefits. Learn more about the importance of SAP BW and BW/4HANA, the benefits of upgrading to BW/4HANA, and the steps involved in performing an upgrade.  

Background: Importance of SAP BW, Functions & Features 

SAP BW is an important part of the SAP Business Suite and is used in companies to integrate data from different sources and store it in a central data warehouse. The system enables companies to create and visualize reports and analyzes based on the stored data. BW/4HANA is the latest version of SAP BW and is based on the in-memory technology HANA.  

Why upgrade to BW/4HANA 

Upgrading to BW/4HANA offers numerous advantages for companies. This includes: 

• Faster data processing: BW/4HANA uses the in-memory technology HANA, which enables significantly faster data processing 
• Simplified integration of non-SAP data sources 
• Increased scalability: BW/4HANA is designed to handle large amounts of data and can be easily scaled to meet the growing needs of businesses 
• New visualization options 
• Improved usability: The user interface of BW/4HANA is more modern and intuitive than the older versions of SAP BW 

• Extensive activatable BI standard content with a greenfield approach 

performing the upgrade 

Upgrading to BW/4HANA requires careful planning and execution. At Insire, we can help you make this implementation with the following steps: 

1. Assessment of the current system landscape: A detailed assessment of the current SAP BW system is required to identify potential challenges and risks. 

2. Identification of customizing adjustments: It is important to identify all adjustments in the current system to ensure that they also work in the new version. 

3. Data migration planning: Data migration is a critical step when upgrading to BW/4HANA. Detailed planning is required to ensure all data is migrated correctly. 

4. Creation of a migration plan: Based on the assessment of the current system landscape and the identification of customizing adjustments, a detailed migration plan must be created in order to successfully carry out the upgrade. 

5. Migrate to a new database: After the migration plan is in place, it is important to upgrade the database to the latest version to enable a smooth data migration. 

6. Carrying out the upgrade: After completing all the preparatory steps, the actual upgrade can be carried out. All affected systems should be carefully tested to ensure that the system will function properly after the upgrade. 

With the experts from INSIRE to more success 

Upgrading to SAP BW/4HANA offers many benefits for businesses, including faster data processing, greater scalability, and improved usability. If your company is currently using SAP BW7.5 on HANA, it's time to migrate to BW/4HANA. The maintenance for BW7.5 will soon expire and a migration is therefore not a simple upgrade, but a complete system change.  

A migration to BW/4HANA can involve more effort, but rewards your company with a powerful and user-friendly system that improves, simplifies and accelerates your reporting. Insire is an experienced SAP consulting firm that can help you plan and execute a successful migration to BW/4HANA. 

Wanda Soetomo

manager BI

SAP BW/4HANA
Contact Person