Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

SAP BW4HANA vs SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

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

SAP BW4HANA
Ranking in Data Warehouse
8th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
44
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SAP NetWeaver Business Ware...
Ranking in Data Warehouse
21st
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Data Warehouse category, the mindshare of SAP BW4HANA is 3.6%, down from 4.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse is 2.0%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Warehouse Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP BW4HANA3.6%
SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse2.0%
Other94.4%
Data Warehouse
 

Featured Reviews

HP
SAP Analytics Lead at Miracle Software Systems, Inc
Support and pricing challenges overshadow user expertise
In SAP BW4HANA, I have worked in modeling, extraction, and reporting. I have experience with different tools including Power BI, BEx tools, Web Intelligence reports, and SSC. The best features include the ability to create data sources directly on tables, and perform mapping without creating info objects. It directly maps to target fields and source fields. There is no info cube concept, only ODS concept. We can create BEx queries in HANA itself, not as a separate tool. The modeling and reporting processes are easier to accomplish.
AK
Project Manager - Analytics at Mindsprint
Can transform data per clients' needs and can easily distribute reports to end users
I would recommend looking at all of the solutions currently available and then decide. I would not immediately suggest going for SAP NetWeaver. Being able to transform the data according to my requirements is a crucial feature; the phasing layers are helpful to distinguish data with respect to a specific project; analytics and reporting are very feasible; and the distribution of reports to the end users is also very easy. However, connectors need to be simplified, and technical support needs to be improved. Thus, on a scale from one to ten, I would rate SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse at eight.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Technology-wise, it is a very robust tool."
"The product is stable."
"Out of the box, this solution has a lot of standard features."
"From an ERP point of view and a functionality point of view, it works very well, with benefits in financial costing and material management."
"It is a very stable solution."
"The solution is useful for connecting with external systems."
"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 integration. We don't need to rely on historical data alone; we can provide reporting and features based on real-time information."
"The most valuable feature is the dashboard."
"Prior to implementing SAP, I used some local ERPs but finally, I found this to be the most powerful platform."
"Data modeling is a valuable feature."
"Queries based on the Data warehouse have enabled the Service department of the organization analyze data deeply and get insights into daily inflow and revenue as well as analyze data over time periods, various models, model years, by customer segment, etc."
"It provides us with proof of data, we can centralize all of the information, check it, and then provide the information to our users."
"It is a robust system."
"It's an excellent over-all tool for managers to analyze their business."
"The security and audit procedures are the most valuable features."
"This is a very robust and efficient product, and it's very powerful, in particular when it comes to data management in the SAP system."
 

Cons

"Pricing would be a good improvement. A lot of customers think that it's very expensive and especially support is very expensive."
"Stability is something that needs to be improved."
"Support could be more reliable."
"This solution is very costly compared to competitors on the market, which stops some people from implementing it."
"The dashboard should be simplified and made easier for exploration and decision making."
"The tool is not easy to use for an end user."
"BW/4HANA could improve query optimization."
"The HCM needs improvement, but as a company, they have stopped any development on this."
"I think more integration with other applications would be perfect."
"There are performance issues in terms of scalability and availability."
"The program is difficult to learn to use"
"The setup needs skilled resources in SAP BW. A lack of trained resources can create serious problems."
"It is difficult when your native language is not English. It is difficult for us to explain our issue and also difficult for the technical team to explain a resolution to us."
"People using SAP BW have to undergo some training to be able to use the product. Complexity can be reduced and could be made a bit more user-friendly."
"The complexity of this data warehouse application is huge and makes it tough to manage and deploy it. In general, it requires a lot of know-how and time which makes it expensive to deliver fast answers."
"Design and modeling could be simplified."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 price is high and currently only affordable for large organizations."
"The cost of ownership is higher. It's resource-intensive, and naturally, that increases costs."
"We started as early birds from the SAP side. We got this entire suite for free. I cannot really talk about the price because we didn't have to pay anything."
"This is an expensive solution and there are costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"For the on-premises version of the product, the solution offers a perpetual-based licensing model to its users. In general, SAP offers a monthly subscription-based licensing model to its users."
"The cost and licensing depends on how the customer is going to use the solution."
"It is an expensive product."
"The licensing cost is high for SAP NetWeaver compared to that for other products."
"All SAP products are expensive."
"Pricing is based on the number of user IDs and tyhe user ID works across a suite of products."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Data Warehouse solutions are best for your needs.
885,264 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
14%
Retailer
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Energy/Utilities Company
5%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise29
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What needs improvement with SAP BW4HANA?
The integration with AI/ML in SAP BW4HANA is currently very limited, which is definitely an area that needs improvement. The second area for improvement is integration with third-party systems, whi...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

SAP BW/4HANA
NetWeaver Business Warehouse, NetWeaver BusinessObjects Warehouse
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
EMC Corporation, Takisada-Osaka Co. Ltd., Eldorado, Mozzart, The VELUX Group, AOK Bundesverband, Hilti Group, Nissha Printing Company Ltd., Asian Paints, Aareal Bank Group, Magazine zum Globus (Migros Group)
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP BW4HANA vs. SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
885,264 professionals have used our research since 2012.