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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    SAP BW

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/ASAP Business Warehouse, or SAP BW (formerly SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse) is SAP's legacy data warehouse solution, now superseded by SAP BW/4HANA, and the SAP Data Warehouse Cloud which was launched in 2019. SAP BW versions up to 7.4 have reached end of maintenance. SAP BW 7.5 support is extended to align with SAP Business Suite with NetWeaver components. For existing customers maintenance is scheduled to continue through 2027, with extended support available through 2030.N/A

    Microsoft SQL Server

    Score8.8 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft SQL Server is a relational database.

    $1,418

    Per License

    Pricing
    SAP BWMicrosoft SQL Server
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Subscription
    $1,418.00
    Per License
    Enterprise
    $13,748.00
    Per License
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    SAP BWMicrosoft SQL Server
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    SAP BWMicrosoft SQL Server
    Considered Both Products
    SAP
    Chose SAP BW
    The main reason we chose SAP was the price. SAP Business Warehouse was relatively cheaper compared to other alternatives. SAP Business Warehouse is very popular software for reporting purposes and data storage. But also, it is hard to shift to a newer software once the roots …
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP BW
    SAP Business Warehouse scores higher in data warehouse functionalities for integration to SAP ERP and other SAP solutions such as SAP CRM, SAP APO, and SAP SRM. Standard SAP data source extractors which are available in SAP ERP can be used immediately for full or delta …
    Incentivized
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Would buy again
    52 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    44 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    52 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    38 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    44 Answers
    Features
    SAP BWMicrosoft SQL Server
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of SAP Business Warehouse and Microsoft SQL Server
    Feature
    SAP Business Warehouse
    8.5
    3 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    Multi-User Support (named login)9.53 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.53 Ratings00 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)9.53 Ratings00 Ratings
    Location-Based Data Governance6.43 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Modeling
    Comparison of Data Modeling features of SAP Business Warehouse and Microsoft SQL Server
    Feature
    SAP Business Warehouse
    8.7
    3 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    Data model creation8.73 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Exploration
    Comparison of Data Exploration features of SAP Business Warehouse and Microsoft SQL Server
    Feature
    SAP Business Warehouse
    5.4
    3 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    Visualization5.43 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Warehouse
    Comparison of Data Warehouse features of SAP Business Warehouse and Microsoft SQL Server
    Feature
    SAP Business Warehouse
    7.5
    3 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    High-Volume Data Processing7.93 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Warehouse Management9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Administrative Automation7.53 Ratings00 Ratings
    Self-Optimization5.63 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    SAP BWMicrosoft SQL Server
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    SingleStore
    Score7.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Cloudera Enterprise Data Hub
    Score9 out of 10
    SAP HANA Cloud
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Oracle Exadata
    Score10 out of 10
    SAP IQ
    Score10 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    SAP BWMicrosoft SQL Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.4
    (14 ratings)
    7.9
    (99 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (13 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.9
    (25 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    SAP BWMicrosoft SQL Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    SAP
    SAP BW is best for: 1. Large enterprises 2. Enterprises with 3+ legacy systems with entrenched users (politically difficult to merge) 3. Enterprises with employees who can understand both the technical capabilities of SAP BW and the needs of the business users - ability to speak both languages, otherwise the program could be unwieldy and potentially underutilized (it's not particularly inexpensive) SAP BW is less appropriate for: 1. Small enterprises 2. Enterprises who have well established, same location, CRM and UFS - the integration of data analysis will be easier and less expensive with other solutions 3. HANA
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Microsoft SQL is ubiquitous, while MySQL runs under the hood all over the place. Microsoft SQL is the platform taught in colleges and certification courses and is the one most likely to be used by businesses because it is backed by Microsoft. Its interface is friendly (well, as pleasant as SQL can be) and has been used by so many for so long that resources are freely available if you encounter any issues.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    SAP
    • It tracks bin locations for parts which can be really helpful.
    • SAP Business Warehouse tells you who has a part checked out so you can find it.
    • It shows current parts shortages so buyers are flagged to get parts on order based on current demand.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Easy to configure and use with Visual Studio and Dot Net
    • Easy integration with MSBI to perform data analysis
    • Data Security
    • Easy to understand and use
    • Very easy to export database and tables in the form of SQL query or a script
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    SAP
    • Age of software is showing as it struggles with very large data modules, which were not as prevalent in its early years
    • Querying performance at times can be very slow
    • Support and development for BEx has been discontinued or hard to find.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise edition has a high cost but is the only edition which supports SQL Always On Availability Groups. It would be nice to include this feature in the Standard version.
    • Licensing of Microsoft SQL Server is a quite complex matter, it would be good to simplify licensing in the future. For example, per core vs per user CAL licensing, as well as complex licensing scenarios in the Cloud and on Edge locations.
    • It would be good to include native tools for converting Oracle, DB2, Postgresql and MySQL/MariaDB databases (schema and data) for import into Microsoft SQL Server.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    We understand that the Microsoft SQL Server will continue to advance, offering the same robust and reliable platform while adding new features that enable us, as a software center, to create a superior product. That provides excellent performance while reducing the hardware requirements and the total cost of ownership of our solution.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    SAP
    It needs minimal trainings and can perform tasks of data management and reporting.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    SQL Server mostly 'just works' or generates error messages to help you sort out the trouble. You can usually count on the product to get the job done and keep an eye on your potential mistakes. Interaction with other Microsoft products makes operating as a Windows user pretty straight forward. Digging through the multitude of dialogs and wizards can be a pain, but the answer is usually there somewhere.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    Its does not have outages.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    SSAS data cubes may some time slow down your Excel reports.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    We managed to handle most of our problems by looking into Microsoft's official documentation that has everything explained and almost every function has an example that illustrates in detail how a particular functionality works. Just like PowerShell has the ability to show you an example of how some cmdlet works, that is the case also here, and in my opinion, it is a very good practice and I like it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    It was good
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    very hands on and detailed training
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    Other than SQL taking quite a bit of time to actually install there are no problems with installation. Even on hardware that has good performance SQL can still take close to an hour to install a typical server with management and reporting services.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    SAP
    SAP Business Warehouse scores higher in data warehouse functionalities for integration to SAP ERP and other SAP solutions such as SAP CRM, SAP APO, and SAP SRM. Standard SAP data source extractors which are available in SAP ERP can be used immediately for full or delta replication into SAP Business Warehouse. System governance in SAP Business Warehouse is top-notch with change management support for migration between system landscape from the development system to production system.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    [Microsoft] SQL Server has a much better community and professional support and is overall just a more reliable system with Microsoft behind it. I've used MySQL in the past and SQL Server has just become more comfortable for me and is my go to RDBMS.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    SQL server does handle growing demands of a mid sized company.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    SAP
    • Positive - This tool report output is in Excel so it's a good tool if your users are familiar with Excel.
    • Positive: this tool has rich BI content so developing extractors for standard processes from SAP ECC can be done in minutes.
    • Negative: It lacks lot of features which are available in other newer tools today. For ex. - rich charts, rich filtering, exporting capabilities, user interface.
    • Negative: Its not a plug and play tool like Qlikview, Lumira, or Tableau. Even a single report development in this tool takes a lot of time compared to others.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Increased accuracy - We went from multiple users having different versions of an Excel spreadsheet to a single source of truth for our reporting.
    • Increased Efficiency - We can now generate reports at any time from a single source rather than multiple users spending their time collating data and generating reports.
    • Improved Security - Enterprise level security on a dedicated server rather than financial files on multiple laptop hard drives.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
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