SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) vs. Snowflake Data Cloud: Selecting a Data Solution

Data is the backbone of all business operations, and many businesses today are drowning in data – data that could be extremely useful in optimizing business processes and removing inefficiencies. A lot of the time, data gets trapped in siloed systems, delaying the decision-making process. This is where a unified cloud data system can help businesses evolve how they manage and access their data.

Implementing a unified system can help break down these silos and provide access to real-time data and insights across systems and teams. Two of the biggest players in the field are SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) and Snowflake Data Cloud, and understanding the key differentiators between these platforms is essential in determining which data cloud platform is better for your business.

We compare SAP BDC vs. Snowflake Data Cloud below.

SAP BDC VS. SNOWFLAKE

When exploring SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) and Snowflake Data Cloud, it can be challenging to determine which platform is more suitable for your needs. Each platform has its own strengths; however, there are some key differentiators that are important to take into account when comparing the two.

Users

Both SAP BDC and Snowflake Data Cloud are able to store data from different systems (SAP, third-party, etc.). The key differences, however, come into play when discussing who the data is meant for.

SAP BDC comes with a built-in semantic layer, meaning it translates raw data into business terms. This is largely due to SAP BDC being a platform made for business-minded individuals. It can provide you with the data and with the business context, using business terms to help the user get a better grasp on the data.

On the other hand, Snowflake Data Cloud doesn’t come with a semantic layer. It’s made for more data-minded people, like data engineers and data analysts, and provides data in its technical context, requiring the user to build that business logic/context.

Integration

Another key differentiator involves integration with existing ERP systems. SAP BDC was built for SAP ERP, so if a business already has SAP ERP systems, SAP BDC can seamlessly integrate. While SAP BDC is optimized for SAP ERP systems, it’s not limited to SAP products. It can also be used within organizations that don’t operate using SAP ERP systems, with the only drawback being that firms not using SAP ERP systems won’t get all of the benefits of SAP-native systems.

In contrast, Snowflake Data Cloud can work with any ERP data, but it’s oftentimes more complex. Since Snowflake Data Cloud isn’t tied to any ERP system in particular, users will have to extract data and apply the business context (if that’s relevant to the user’s desired outcome) by manually modeling the data in Snowflake.

AI and ML Capabilities

SAP BDC integrates directly with SAP AI Core and SAP AI Foundation, allowing users to use SAP machine learning models directly in SAP applications like S/4HANA and SAP Analytics Cloud. Through these integrations, SAP BDC can focus on embedding AI capabilities and functions directly into business processes like demand forecasting or supply chain optimization.

Also, through SAP’s recent partnership with Databricks to create SAP Databricks, BDC users gain access to Databricks’ powerful AI/ML capabilities. Similarly, users are able to leverage the semantic context that SAP provides within the Databricks ML environment, which is a big advantage for business users, but this also means that there’s less flexibility for customized model development.

In contrast, Snowflake Data Cloud offers seamless integration with various popular AI/ML frameworks, allowing users more flexibility when choosing an AI/ML system to utilize. Similarly, Snowpark (Snowflake’s developer framework) allows its users to develop their own ML models in various languages (Python, Scala, etc.). This proves to be an excellent option for custom model development and personalization.

Due to the customizable capabilities within Snowflake Data Cloud, though, it requires more technical expertise in order to properly build AI/ML models. Similarly, it doesn’t offer any pre-built AI/ML functions, requiring users to build or import them.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT SOLUTION

In a world driven by vast amounts of data, implementing a unified cloud data platform is essential to optimizing business processes, and when comparing the SAP BDC vs. Snowflake Data Cloud, the choice ultimately comes down to your unique business needs.

SAP is likely a better option for business-minded users and those already operating on SAP systems, whereas Snowflake may be more optimal for technical users on third-party or hybrid systems.

With its seamless integration with SAP ERP systems and semantic layer, SAP BDC can pave the way for growth. But the decision lies solely with the organization and its specific requirements.