IBM Db2 Warehouse vs SAP BW4HANA comparison

IBM and SAP are both solutions in the Data Warehouse category. IBM is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.2, while SAP is ranked #9 with an average rating of 7.5. IBM holds a 2.3% mindshare in Data Warehouse, compared to SAP’s 4.4% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 86% of SAP users who would recommend it.

IBM Db2 Warehouse

Read 11 IBM Db2 Warehouse reviews

958 Views
253 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

SAP BW4HANA

Read 43 SAP BW4HANA reviews

1,228 Views
293 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

IBM Db2 Warehouse

SAP BW4HANA

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

IBM Db2 Warehouse and SAP BW4HANA compete in the enterprise data management systems category. IBM Db2 Warehouse offers cost-effective and easy deployment solutions, while SAP BW4HANA's advanced features give it an edge for businesses needing real-time analytics.

Features: IBM Db2 Warehouse facilitates smooth data processing across hybrid clouds with its integrated AI capabilities and scalability. It offers strong data integration and ETL processes, catering well to various data management tasks. SAP BW4HANA excels with in-memory data processing, real-time analytics, and comprehensive data modeling tools. Its ability to provide detailed financial calculations and predictive analytics is notable.

Room for Improvement: IBM Db2 Warehouse could enhance its real-time analytics and expand its predictive forecasting capabilities. Additionally, better user support materials would benefit new users. SAP BW4HANA's complexity can be an obstacle; simplifying its user interface and enhancing integration with non-SAP systems would improve usability. The platform would also benefit from lower pricing options to attract budget-conscious businesses.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Db2 Warehouse offers a straightforward cloud deployment model that simplifies implementation and is supported by responsive customer service. SAP BW4HANA's deployment can be complex due to its comprehensive infrastructure but it boasts extensive support resources to guide its intricate setup.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Db2 Warehouse provides a cost-effective setup with favorable ROI, suitable for businesses with budget constraints. SAP BW4HANA requires a higher initial investment, justified by its advanced analytics and processing power, potentially yielding substantial long-term ROI. Despite IBM's budget-friendly nature, SAP's comprehensive solutions may appeal to enterprises seeking sophisticated analytics.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Db2 Warehouse vs. SAP BW4HANA Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Db2 Warehouse vs. SAP BW4HANA

June 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

IBM Db2 Warehouse

Ranking in Data Warehouse

11th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SAP BW4HANA

Ranking in Data Warehouse

9th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Data Warehouse category, the mindshare of IBM Db2 Warehouse is 2.3%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP BW4HANA is 4.4%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Data Warehouse

Featured Reviews

Ismail Aboulezz

Chief Executive Officer at LeaseWeb

Enhancements in data analysis and decision-making elevate overall performance

The most valuable features of IBM Db2 Warehouse ( /products/ibm-db2-warehouse-reviews ) include its availability, easy integration, ability to deal with a large size of data, excellent performance with no delays, powerful security mechanisms, and effective support. The response time is very quick, and the technical manuals and support from IBM are of high quality. Additionally, it is easy to install, troubleshoot, operate, and secure the environment.

Read full review

AjayKumar7

Manager, Business Analytics, BI Lead at Capgemini

Intuitive modeling and reporting capabilities and supports both vertical and horizontal scaling

I like the modeling and reporting capabilities. Real-time processing isn't BW/4HANA's strongest point. We typically run batch jobs for this purpose. So, it's not good for real-time reporting. BW/4HANA's modeling is quite intuitive because even those without technical database knowledge can model data from a business perspective. The tool can still be done without knowing the database functionalities of the data warehouse. Even if someone doesn't understand the database functionalities, you can still model. It provides the functions in a way that even a less technical person can do the modeling. The tool facilitates modeling for non-technical users, ensuring good modeling results.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Provides good security and reliability."

"The solution is stable."

"The standout feature of IBM Db2 Warehouse, which is particularly valuable for large enterprises, is its ability to handle big data."

"I think it scales really well and as long as you take enough time to learn a little bit about it, it works really well."

"It can scale effectively as long as resources are available."

"The analytics engine is not bad at forecasting predictions."

"It can be mounted on the cloud, which is a huge plus. If the client, for example, starts small with on-premise deployment and then it rapidly needs to grow, we can transfer this to the cloud easily."

"Some of the best features are stored procedures, parallelism, and different indexing strategies."

More IBM Db2 Warehouse pros

"It provides the functions in a way that even a less technical person can do the modeling."

"The product is stable."

"Out of the box, this solution has a lot of standard features."

"It is a stable solution."

"Its direct approach is the most valuable. You get more real time and capabilities than BW."

"The solution is useful for connecting with external systems."

"The most valuable features are the speed of reporting and the HANA database."

"Some of the main features of this solution are that it uses HANA and it has good performance."

More SAP BW4HANA pros

Cons

"IBM Db2 Warehouse needs to improve its interface."

"The biggest problems we have is when the backup solution is failing or slow and we run out of log space, which has happened probably a couple of times in the last four years."

"In terms of improvement, IBM Db2 Warehouse should be more scalable."

"It takes a long time to have a new version or release, similar to Oracle."

"The areas of the solution that is needing the most improvement are separating compute from storage, elasticity, which means scaling up and then retracting."

"There were some initial challenges with IBM Db2 Warehouse about eight months ago when I worked in this environment. When I coordinated with IBM support, they mentioned that the memory was insufficient for our needs. Our business environment required significantly more memory than the previous cluster could provide. Consequently, we have worked closely with on-site IBM technical personnel to address this issue."

"There should be more material available for training and training should be free."

"Responding to support tickets takes a lot of time. It can range from two to four days, even for critical issues."

More IBM Db2 Warehouse cons

"Regarding SAP support, I have raised many support tickets but did not receive adequate support. It took more than months to get responses."

"There's the complexity in migration from BW to BW/4HANA, especially with data migration."

"The solution does occasionally get a few bugs, but this is typical for any product."

"They have taken out a few BW functionalities when they redesigned this. The way of multi-dimensional thinking and star schema got a little bit lost. It may be because of the cost, but certain functionalities that were previously implemented from the BW side should come back again in the whole product. It is a young product. It is version 2.0. In time, I'm pretty sure they will come back again because otherwise, it limits the potential of the product, and I have to do a lot of modeling towards that direction. For me, the analytics focus is too much. It is not cube-oriented in that way, so its functionality is limited. It is not really technically limited in the back end; it is more limited in the front end. It has a data-mining mindset for SQL developers. The navigational attributes should be easy. It needs to be built in models. I see the data mark cube or understanding that the composite provider needs to be models in a cube coming back. The multi-dimensional star schema approach and the reporting need to be done as well as possible to leverage the star scheme below. This is definitely not understood by many consultants and even composite providers for star schema. They always think in terms of flat tables, which is limiting. You need to build the right dimensions, objects, and so on. If you can build this in BW4HANA, then you have this understanding that BW4HANA is not forcing you in this direction, but it should force you a bit better in this direction. Maybe a few elements which were in use in BW should come back again. It would help the community to determine the direction to build on the cube. You can have maybe 50 elements, and then you can expand it to what you need by leveraging navigation. So far, this functionality is a little bit limited in the tool, and it is not thought through, but I think it will come. They should also be adding more capabilities for the transformation between different objects. In BW, this is currently limited, especially towards composite providers. It is a bit complex basically in the building. You have to have a lot of knowledge as well as know how to do it better because it is a bit different from BW. There is not too much expertise currently in the consulting markets. Many are trying to build something, but it may be based on their knowledge of what they have from the BW and HANA side. You have to find the right mix from both of them at this time. We also have HANA Native. These are our two different sync sources basically, and we have approaches to connect nicely, but it is hard to manage your team because a lot of coaching is required."

"The solution is not scalable. It does not have a data streaming feature as well."

"The product's initial setup phase is a bit complex."

"One thing that could be enhanced in SAP BW4HANA is the user interface for process chains."

"From a technical perspective, it could be even more related to legacy systems. The connectivity requirement is quite high and requires systems that are up-to-date."

More SAP BW4HANA cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"In a traditional on-prem database, in a data warehouse, the solution is probably on the expensive side."

"Price wise, this solution is on the higher side."

"SAP BW/4HANA is expensive."

"As an investment, the solution is very expensive."

"For some, the rates offered by SAP can be costly while for others it may seem cheap. The price ultimately depends on how you have negotiated your contract with SAP."

"The cost and licensing depends on how the customer is going to use the solution."

"In general, it's quite expensive."

"The tool is affordable."

"The solution is expensive."

More SAP BW4HANA pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

38%

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

Government

Manufacturing Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Computer Software Company

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Db2 Warehouse?

The standout feature of IBM Db2 Warehouse, which is particularly valuable for large enterprises, is its ability to handle big data.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Db2 Warehouse?

The pricing for medium and large environments is almost the same as Oracle. I rate the pricing as six out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Db2 Warehouse?

There is room for improvement in optimizing certain processes, but most issues arise from my data, hardware architecture, and resources, not from IBM Db2 Warehouse itself.

See all answers

What do you like most about SAP BW4HANA?

One significant advantage of SAP BW/4HANA is the direct integration with the SAP HANA database, providing seamless access to real-time analytics. Additionally, it enables real-time data integrati...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP BW4HANA?

The certification cost is extremely high. I completed certification for $40,000. The certification cost for SAP BW4HANA in 2025 is expected to be one lakh forty thousand.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SAP BW4HANA?

Integration needs improvement. In reporting, I am not comfortable with the creation of variables, and some calculations need improvement in BW queries.

See all answers

Comparisons

Snowflake vs IBM Db2 Warehouse

Compared 44% of the time

Teradata vs IBM Db2 Warehouse

Compared 33% of the time

Oracle Exadata vs IBM Db2 Warehouse

Compared 23% of the time

More IBM Db2 Warehouse Competitors

Snowflake vs SAP BW4HANA

Compared 35% of the time

Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics vs SAP BW4HANA

Compared 18% of the time

Amazon Redshift vs SAP BW4HANA

Compared 10% of the time

SQL Server vs SAP BW4HANA

Compared 9% of the time

SAP HANA vs SAP BW4HANA

Compared 8% of the time

More SAP BW4HANA Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Db2 Warehouse

June 2025

Download IBM Db2 Warehouse product report

Buyer's Guide

SAP BW4HANA

May 2025

Download SAP BW4HANA product report

Also Known As

InfoSphere Warehouse, IBM InfoSphere Warehouse

SAP BW/4HANA

Overview

InfoSphere Warehouse is a suite of products that combines the strength of DB2 with a data warehousing infrastructure from IBM. You can use InfoSphere Warehouse to build a complete data warehousing solution that includes a highly scalable relational database, data access capabilities, and front-end analysis tools.

IBM

SAP BW4HANA is a data warehouse solution developed by SAP for businesses looking to analyze big data in real time. It is designed to run on the SAP HANA database, offering improved performance and optimized processing of large data sets. SAP BW/4HANA provides an array of advanced analytics capabilities, including predictive analytics, text analytics, and spatial data processing. It also offers a modern, intuitive user interface and streamlined data modeling and administration tools, making it easier for businesses to access, manage, and utilize their data.

SAP BW4HANA Features

SAP BW4HANA has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

In-memory data processing: The solution runs on the SAP HANA database, providing fast and efficient data processing.

Advanced analytics: SAP BW4HANA includes capabilities for predictive analytics, text analytics, and spatial data processing.

Data modeling and administration: The solution provides streamlined data modeling and administration tools for efficient data management.

Modern user interface: SAP BW4HAN is designed with a modern, intuitive user interface for easier data access and analysis.

Data warehousing optimization: The solution is optimized for big data warehousing, offering improved performance and scalability.

Integration with SAP ecosystem: SAP BW4HAN integrates with the SAP ecosystem, including SAP S/4HANA and SAP Cloud Platform, for seamless data exchange.

Real-time data processing: It supports real-time data processing and analysis, enabling businesses to make data-driven decisions.

Data governance and security: With its robust data governance and security features, SAP BW4HAN can be used for secure data management and compliance.

Automated data loading: SAP BW4HAN supports automated data loading from various sources, including SAP and non-SAP systems.

Advanced data visualization: With its advanced data visualization capabilities, users can generate better data insights and make more informed business decisions.

SAP BW4HANA Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing SAP BW4HANA. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

Improved data processing speed: Running on the SAP HANA database, SAP BW/4HANA provides fast and efficient data processing, resulting in improved performance and reduced downtime.

Streamlined data management: The solution's streamlined data modeling and administration tools make it easier for organizations to manage their data, improving overall efficiency and reducing the risk of errors.

Improved data governance: SAP BW/4HANA includes robust data governance and security features, helping organizations meet regulatory requirements and protect sensitive data.

Cost savings: By optimizing data warehousing processes, SAP BW/4HANA helps organizations reduce costs and improve their bottom line.

Reviews from Real Users

SAP BW4HANA is a solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Some of its major advantages are its hierarchical alert slicing, real-time insights, and its ability to transform large amounts of data.

PeerSpot reviewer, Srivatsav A., SAP BW/4HANA Specialist at a government, is very happy with the solution. He explains, "You can do hierarchical alert slicing and dicing out-of-box, which is not available in other solutions. I haven't come across that in Oracle or any other software provider."

“It has got wonderful features in terms of analyzing your production data, and it gives you real-time insight into productive maintenance. You can plan your budget, and you can map them against actuals. It gives you good insights on overall performance and processes,” says Amrit J., ERP Application Manager at an energy/utilities company.

In addition, a Technology Analyst at a tech services company mentions, "The most valuable feature is that we can transform a huge amount of data and apply business logic as per the requirements."

SAP

Sample Customers

Alameda County Social Services Agency, Sui Southern Gas Company Limited

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Buyer's Guide

IBM Db2 Warehouse vs. SAP BW4HANA

June 2025

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