Data Management Beyond SAP Datasphere
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SAP Insiders will likely know of SAP Datasphere, formerly known as SAP Data Warehouse Cloud, as an offering designed to unify data management across an organization by integrating data from various sources into a single, cloud-based solution. Recent benchmark research on Data Management Strategies from SAPinsider finds that the initial cost of adopting SAP Datasphere (Datasphere) can be a significant barrier, especially for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMBs). The expenses include subscription fees, data migration costs, training, and potential upgrades of related systems to ensure compatibility.
This view is reinforced by Gary Rinedollar, VP of Strategic Alliances at Precog, an Extract, Load, Transform (ELT) solution, who explains that we are seeing more data warehouse vendors with solutions that separate compute from storage which gives them a competitive pricing advantage, especially in the SMB marketplace. “There’s a growing market – especially in the SMB space – which is looking at SAP S/4HANA with Microsoft SQL Server [SQL Server], Snowflake and others” adds Precog Co-Founder and COO Mike Corbisiero. “In addition, there are the various third-party applications needed for analytics where customers want to blend the data together for a full 360 degree view […] With all this data, there is a growing need for a cost effective data warehouse solution for the SMB community”, as he tells SAPinsider.
Recent SAPinsider research bears this out, with a Detailed Findings Report on Data Management Strategies reporting that 22% of SAP Insiders are currently using or planning to use SAP Datasphere this year, the second-to-lowest figure amongst SAP products cited in the report.
Precog suggests that its product can ensure data independence for SAP users when moving data into any data warehouse. Also, with companies using existing data integration tools, a common challenge is in how well such older products connect on the API applications. Most are still hard coded integrations which simply do not scale and adapt to constantly changing APIs.
“We’re working with a large manufacturer in California who has gone with us for their SAP Ariba (Ariba) data into SQL Server,” Corbisiero says. “Their systems integrator attempted to build the integration and simply could not pull all the data out of Ariba needed by the customer. Hard coding data integrations to APIs is not an approach that is acceptable in the SMB world. SMBs don’t want to pay for the work as they just want their data and all their data today”.
As discussed previously on SAPinsider, AI here can help SAP Insiders via the ability to auto generate connectors without the usual lengthy rigamarole. Discover more in the data discussion via SAPinsider’s next instalment with Precog.
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