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19.8 BW Modernization

1. BDC and BW​

SAP positions BW modernization as part of the broader Business Data Cloud architecture. BW investments do not automatically disappear when an enterprise adopts BDC.

2. Modernization choices​

Existing BW
   |
   +-- retain
   +-- optimize
   +-- integrate
   +-- BW Bridge
   +-- redesign in Datasphere
   +-- retire

3. Decision criteria​

Evaluate:

  • business criticality,
  • model complexity,
  • data volume,
  • process chains,
  • transformations,
  • query consumers,
  • custom ABAP,
  • operational dependencies,
  • migration effort.

4. Do not perform mechanical conversion​

A technically transferable object may still be a poor target architecture.

Ask:

Does this object preserve business value, or only preserve historical implementation?

5. Migration waves​

Use:

  1. inventory,
  2. classify,
  3. pilot,
  4. migrate,
  5. parallel run,
  6. reconcile,
  7. cut over,
  8. retire.

6. Exercise​

Classify 100 BW objects into retain, bridge, redesign and retire.

Create explicit scoring criteria.