What you need to know about migrating to BW/4HANA
Are you currently using SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC) as your universal tool for managing your corporate activities? Do you use it to record, plan, and consolidate data, and would you like to continue doing so in the long term? Then you've come to the right place!
As the end of the support period for SAP BPC 10.x slowly but surely approaches, SAP has announced that support for its successors is expected to continue through 2040, as planned.
| SAP BPC Version | Maintenance Horizon (SAP PAM) |
|---|---|
| SAP BPC 10.1 for SAP NW | 31.12.2027 |
| SAP BPC 10.1, FOR MS | 30.06.2026 |
The prerequisite for this is that you have BW/4HANA. This means that the maintenance of your BPC is linked to the maintenance of the corresponding release of BW/4HANA.
| BW/4HANA Release | SAP BPC Version | Maintenance Horizon (SAP PAM) |
|---|---|---|
| SAP BW/4HANA 2021 | SAP BPC 2021 | 31.12.2027 |
| SAP BW/4HANA 2023 | SAP BPC 2021 | 31.12.2030 |
| SAP BW/4HANA 2.0 | SAP BPC 11.1 | 31.12.2025 |
At this point, there are several conversion options that you can use to upgrade your BPC as part of the BW/4 migration.
| In-place conversion | Remote Conversion | Shell Conversion |
|---|---|---|
| Conversion of existing data models and data flows to BW/4HANA-compatible objects. | Available for SAP BW 7.3 and later releases, regardless of the underlying database. | Available for SAP BW 7.0 / 7.5. |
| Available for SAP BW 7.5 on HANA. | Initial setup of a stand-alone BW/4HANA. | Use of a parallel SAP BW/4HANA environment. |
| No transfer of large amounts of data | Selective transfer of existing data modeling | Greenfield data approach with a new implementation / no data transfer |
| Relatively lower IT costs | No risk of data loss | |
| Downtime required, depending on the amount of data | Higher costs due to procurement of new hardware | |
| Upgrade your existing BPC system with the help of migration programs. | Relatively short downtime (data backup process) | |
| Easy data comparison after migration |
Based on our many years of experience with customers, a direct recommendation generally depends on several factors. These include, among other things, the system version, the industry, and the associated data sensitivity and historical significance.
That’s why our BPC experts support you from the very beginning by conducting an in-depth analysis of your system landscape and taking the necessary steps to ensure a smooth migration process. The insights gained from numerous BPC migration projects are particularly helpful at this stage, as they significantly accelerate both the migration process and the analysis of potential errors.
SAP’s general recommendation for BPC migration is to perform a remote conversion. However, if you decide to choose one of the other two options because it is more suitable for your specific use case, we—as an experienced SAP Silver Partner—are always here to help you carry it out as smoothly as possible.
