SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC)

SAP Business Data Cloud represents more than just a rebrand or new licensing model—it signals that SAP is getting serious about modern, interoperable, AI-ready enterprise data. As SAP’s next-generation data platform, BDC merges SAP Datasphere, SAP Analytics Cloud, BW Private Cloud Edition, and Databricks into a single, governed, enterprise-grade service that transforms how you integrate, harmonize, model, and analyze data across SAP and non-SAP systems—all in real-time.

Think of it as if SAP BW finally became what we all thought it could be 10 years ago. Mindset’s BDC services help you navigate this evolution with confidence—whether you’re modernizing from legacy BW, building self-service analytics, or creating intelligent applications powered by AI.

Why SAP Business Data Cloud?

The Reality for Most SAP Customers:

• Still running legacy BW systems or juggling multiple reporting tools duct-taped together
• Data silos that don’t play well together
• Rigid data models requiring tickets just to add a new field
• Spending up to 80% of analytics time rebuilding lost business context

The BDC Solution:

• Federated Data Access: Your data lives where it wants, accessible in real-time without costly ETL
• Zero-Copy Architecture: Minimal data duplication with semantic models preserved
• Open Integration: Works seamlessly with SAC, Power BI, Tableau, and third-party tools
• AI-Ready Foundation: Embedded Databricks, AI Core, and Joule for intelligent applications
• Business-Centric Semantics: Models that actually make sense to your business users
• Progressive Migration: Evolve at your own pace from BW to BDC via BW PCE

Critical Insight: SAP isn’t investing further into BW. While BW/4HANA will be supported into the next decade, it’s not the future of analytics. SAP Business Data Cloud is.

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MINDSET’S SAP BUSINESS DATA CLOUD SERVICES

BDC Strategy & Roadmap Development

Make smart, realistic, and future-ready transitions that reduce risk, preserve value, and don’t kill your team’s morale. We conduct comprehensive current-state assessments of your architecture, data sources, and reporting needs. Together, we develop a phased migration roadmap with clear milestones, business case justification, and ROI modeling. Our strategic approach includes:

• Current state architecture analysis—where are you today?
• Future state vision aligned with business objectives
• BW/BW4 to BDC migration planning
• Licensing optimization and cost-benefit analysis
• Data governance framework design

SAP Datasphere Implementation

Datasphere is the foundation of BDC—the data fabric that makes everything possible. We design and implement semantic data models that preserve business context, create reusable data products that become building blocks for analytics, and establish governance policies including row-level security and access controls. Our Datasphere expertise includes:

• Data fabric architecture with real-time federation
• Semantic layer design preserving SAP metadata and hierarchies
• Data product development for Finance, Sales, Supply Chain domains
• Integration with S/4HANA, ECC, SuccessFactors, Ariba, third-party systems
• Zero-copy optimization using view-based models

Real Client Impact: Helped Clorox reduce ERP close process from 7 days to 4 days through Datasphere-powered real-time finance analytics.

SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) on BDC

SAC in BDC isn’t just a sidecar service—it becomes the official UI of the intelligent enterprise, tightly integrated with your data, semantics, and applications. We create modern Story 2.0 dashboards with responsive layouts and multi-source data integration, implement Joule-enhanced “Just Ask” for natural language queries, and establish self-service capabilities that empower business users. Our SAC implementations feature:

• Live connections to Datasphere—no duplication or lag
• Template stories users can copy and personalize
• Planning and simulation integrated with reporting
• AI-powered insights and predictive analytics
• Role-based training and adoption enablement

BW Migration & Modernization (BW PCE)

BW Private Cloud Edition is the on-ramp to BDC—allowing progressive, phased migration without rip-and-replace disruption. We assess your custom BW logic and transformations, develop dual-run strategies to maintain business continuity, and systematically migrate data models to Datasphere data products. Our BW modernization approach includes:

• BW PCE setup within BDC for extended support until 2030
• BW to Datasphere transformation roadmap
• Data product generation from S/4HANA and legacy systems
• Custom logic preservation and re-implementation
• Parallel run validation and cutover planning

Strategic Value: You don’t have to rip and replace everything at once. BDC supports a progressive migration strategy at your own pace.

Databricks Integration & Advanced Analytics

SAP Databricks within BDC brings advanced AI/ML capabilities directly to your semantically-rich SAP data. We configure SAP-managed Databricks instances, implement delta sharing for efficient data exchange, develop machine learning models trained on business-context-aware data, and create workflows for ETL, analytics, and intelligent decisioning. Our Databricks services include:

• SAP Databricks setup fully managed within BDC
• Delta Lake and Delta Share architecture design
• ML model development leveraging Apache Spark
• Integration of SAP and third-party enterprise data
• Predictive analytics and AI/ML workflows

Intelligent Applications on BDC

Transform from report factory to intelligent enterprise with AI-powered applications built on BDC’s data foundation. We design and develop Finance Intelligence for automated anomaly detection and cash flow prediction, Supply Chain Intelligence for predictive maintenance and demand forecasting, Revenue Intelligence for customer insights and optimization, and People Intelligence for workforce analytics. These intelligent applications leverage:

• Curated data products from BDC with full business context
• Joule AI integration for natural language interaction
• Embedded ML models for predictive insights
• Real-time data access and automated recommendations
• Custom UX designed with AppHaus methodology

Governance, Security & Self-Service Enablement

The goal isn’t just dashboards—it’s adoption. We establish comprehensive data governance frameworks with lineage tracking and compliance, implement semantic governance where KPIs are defined once and used everywhere, create role-based training programs, and develop feedback mechanisms using usage analytics. Success looks like:

• “Can I get a report?” becomes “I built this, can you validate it?”
• Power users training other users
• IT shifts from “report factory” to “platform enabler”
• Business-led reporting and data exploration
• Measurable adoption metrics and continuous improvement