How Recordati Streamlined SAP Data Management with CData Sync

Efficient data management is a key differentiator for global pharmaceutical companies today. With a complex operational footprint spanning multiple facilities worldwide, Recordati, a global pharma company, needed a seamless way to integrate vast amounts of SAP data with modern analytics tools like Microsoft Business Intelligence (BI) and Salesforce.

The SAP Data Integration Challenge

To achieve this goal, Recordati’s Business Intelligence (BI) team consisting of three people needed to replicate critical financial and supply chain data from multiple SAP instances into a SQL Server while supporting cross-ecosystem connectivity.

Moreover, the company’s reliance on SAP ECC and SAP S/4 HANA created integration bottlenecks, as their previous SSIS-based data pipelines were cumbersome and lacked Change Data Capture (CDC) capabilities.

“We had challenges accessing data from SAP ECC with an old version in some countries. I had to build pipelines to collect data from our on-premises ERP, cloud CRM, and other disparate operational systems into a central data warehouse for reporting,” notes Marco Ribaldone, who manages the Business Intelligence Center of Excellence at Recordati.

Ribaldone’s team was responsible for handling massive data volumes while ensuring incremental updates, yet the labor-intensive SSIS approach required manually selecting columns, designing data flows, and programming logic for every integration. This process took up to a week for complex data transfers, limiting the company’s ability to react quickly to market changes.

Implementing CData Sync for SAP Data Integration

To address these challenges, Recordati implemented CData Sync, a powerful, automated data replication solution that seamlessly integrates SAP systems with SQL Server. With CData Sync, Recordati was able to:

• Automate SAP data replication, eliminating the need for manual pipeline development.
• Enable seamless connectivity between SAP ECC, SAP S/4 HANA, and SQL Server.
• Process over 1.5 billion rows of data monthly without disrupting operations.
• Ensure compliance with European data privacy and residency laws through an on-premises deployment model.

“When there is a problem, the tool is able to light some red alerts and tell me. It’s very good because my team is just me and a couple of colleagues; we have to intervene quickly and provide data to our internal customers,” Ribaldone said.

Improved Business Intelligence and Decision-Making

With CData Sync in place, Recordati has drastically improved the speed and reliability of SAP data integration. The sevenfold increase in reporting speed allows decision-makers, from operational managers to the CEO, to access critical data in real-time. This enhanced data agility has contributed to Recordati’s 31% annual revenue growth.

Additionally, Recordati can now connect SAP data with Power BI Cloud, SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC), and other cloud-based analytics tools, ensuring a comprehensive view of business performance.

Expanding SAP Integration with CData Sync

Building on this success, Recordati plans to expand its use of CData Sync by integrating additional SAP and non-SAP data sources and further automating financial reporting. The flexibility of CData Sync allows them to scale seamlessly, replacing legacy SSIS pipelines while ensuring cost-effective data operations.

What This Means for SAP Insiders

Automated SAP data replication improves efficiency. For organizations managing complex SAP environments, CData Sync provides a robust, scalable solution that simplifies data replication and enhances operational efficiency. In fact, automated data engineering provided by CData Sync allowed No-code extraction of 1.5 billion rows from SAP monthly, with monitoring and error handling for Recordati, improving the company’s efficiency.

Seamless cross-ecosystem integration minimizes data inaccuracy. Whether integrating SAP ECC, SAP S/4 HANA, or hybrid cloud environments, CData Sync ensures reliable, real-time data connectivity. It also allows users to connect SAP ECC, SAP S/4 HANA, and cloud analytics tools like Power BI with minimal friction.

Faster decision-making and agility. Users can access critical SAP data up to seven times faster, empowering executives with real-time insights as CData Sync provides the reliability and flexibility for organizations to remain competitive and scalable. Many third-party vendors also use SAP’s ODP framework to extract data out of SAP, a practice that was recently banned by the ERP provider. However, CData does not use this framework, so this helps SAP customers future-proof their data extraction pipelines. Moreover, these users do not have to pay for each row they are extracting out of SAP (consumption-based pricing) when using CData, resulting in increased cost predictability.