Azure Synapse Analytics vs. SAP Business Warehouse

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Azure Synapse Analytics
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
Azure Synapse Analytics is described as the former Azure SQL Data Warehouse, evolved, and as a limitless analytics service that brings together enterprise data warehousing and Big Data analytics. It gives users the freedom to query data using either serverless or provisioned resources, at scale. Azure Synapse brings these two worlds together with a unified experience to ingest, prepare, manage, and serve data for immediate BI and machine learning needs.
$4,700
per month 5000 Synapse Commit Units (SCUs)
SAP BW
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
SAP Business Warehouse, or SAP BW (formerly SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse) is SAP's legacy data warehouse solution, now superseded by SAP BW/4HANA, and the SAP Data Warehouse Cloud which was launched in 2019.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
Pricing
Azure Synapse AnalyticsSAP Business Warehouse
Editions & Modules
Tier 1
$4,700
per month 5,000 Synapse Commit Units (SCUs)
Tier 2
$9,200
per month 10,000 Synapse Commit Units (SCUs)
Tier 3
$21,360
per month 24,000 Synapse Commit Units (SCUs)
Tier 4
$50,400
per month 60,000 Synapse Commit Units (SCUs)
Tier 5
$117,000
per month 150,000 Synapse Commit Units (SCUs)
Tier 6
$259,200
per month 360,000 Synapse Commit Units (SCUs)
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Azure Synapse AnalyticsSAP BW
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
Azure Synapse AnalyticsSAP Business Warehouse
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Azure Synapse AnalyticsSAP Business Warehouse
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Azure Synapse Analytics
-
Ratings
SAP Business Warehouse
8.8
3 Ratings
2% above category average
Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings9.73 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings9.03 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings9.73 Ratings
Location-Based Data Governance00 Ratings7.03 Ratings
Data Modeling
Comparison of Data Modeling features of Product A and Product B
Azure Synapse Analytics
-
Ratings
SAP Business Warehouse
9.0
3 Ratings
12% above category average
Data model creation00 Ratings9.03 Ratings
Data Exploration
Comparison of Data Exploration features of Product A and Product B
Azure Synapse Analytics
-
Ratings
SAP Business Warehouse
5.7
3 Ratings
5% above category average
Visualization00 Ratings5.73 Ratings
Data Warehouse
Comparison of Data Warehouse features of Product A and Product B
Azure Synapse Analytics
-
Ratings
SAP Business Warehouse
7.7
3 Ratings
7% above category average
High-Volume Data Processing00 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Data Warehouse Management00 Ratings9.33 Ratings
Administrative Automation00 Ratings7.73 Ratings
Self-Optimization00 Ratings6.03 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Azure Synapse AnalyticsSAP Business Warehouse
Small Businesses
Google BigQuery
Google BigQuery
Score 8.6 out of 10
Google BigQuery
Google BigQuery
Score 8.6 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Snowflake
Snowflake
Score 9.0 out of 10
Snowflake
Snowflake
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Snowflake
Snowflake
Score 9.0 out of 10
Oracle Exadata
Oracle Exadata
Score 8.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Azure Synapse AnalyticsSAP Business Warehouse
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(9 ratings)
8.3
(15 ratings)
Usability
9.6
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.6
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Azure Synapse AnalyticsSAP Business Warehouse
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
It's well suited for large, fastly growing, and frequently changing data warehouses (e.g., in startups). It's also suited for companies that want a single, relatively easy-to-use, centralized cloud service for all their data needs. Larger, more structured organizations could still benefit from this service by using Synapse Dedicated SQL Pools, knowing that costs will be much higher than other solutions. I think this product is not suited for smaller, simpler workloads (where an Azure SQL Database and a Data Factory could be enough) or very large scenarios, where it may be better to build custom infrastructure.
Read full review
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
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Pros
Microsoft
  • Create data pipelines to connect with multiple data workspace(s) and external data
  • Ability to connect with Azure Data Lake (sequentially) for data warehousing
  • Being able to manage connections and create integration runtimes (for onPrem data capture)
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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.
Read full review
Cons
Microsoft
  • It takes some time to setup a proper SQL Datawarehouse architecture. Without proper SSIS/automation scripts, this can be a very daunting task.
  • It takes a lot of foresight when designing a Data Warehouse. If not properly designed, it can be very troublesome to use and/or modify later on.
  • It takes a lot of effort to maintain. Businesses are continually changing. With that, a full time staff member or more will be required to maintain the SQL Data Warehouse.
Read full review
SAP
  • Support comes slow. This is not a limitation of the software itself but could be a symptom from the local office. Once we get support everything works along smoothly.
  • It is always important to review the instructions. This is not a system that does well initially with personalization without review of standard procedures. A log of time can be lost if the technicians and programmers working with the data are not following correct procedures.
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Usability
Microsoft
The data warehouse portion is very much like old style on-prem SQL server, so most SQL skills one has mastered carry over easily. Azure Data Factory has an easy drag and drop system which allows quick building of pipelines with minimal coding. The Spark portion is the only really complex portion, but if there's an in-house python expert, then the Spark portion is also quiet useable.
Read full review
SAP
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Microsoft
Microsoft does its best to support Synapse. More and more articles are being added to the documentation, providing more useful information on best utilizing its features. The examples provided work well for basic knowledge, but more complex examples should be added to further assist in discovering the vast abilities that the system has.
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
When client is already having or using Azure then it’s wise to go with Synapse rather than using Snowflake. We got a lot of help from Microsoft consultants and Microsoft partners while implementing our EDW via Synapse and support is easily available via Microsoft resources and blogs. I don’t see that with Snowflake
Read full review
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.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Microsoft
Basically, the billing is predictable, and this all about it.
Read full review
SAP
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • We have had an improvement in our overall processing time
  • Cost was much lower than most of its competitors
  • Our reporting needs have grown and housing the data here has been great
Read full review
SAP
  • Exporting of data and reports to Excel is very easy for the end user to interpret and manipulate.
  • Negatively, the speed at which BW retrieves data and reports is very slow and out of date.
  • Addition of daughter application HANA has helped this aging application stay afloat for a few more years. Overall it has been a great tool but it's showing its age very fast.
Read full review
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