SAP is tightening control over data extraction from its systems. SAP Note 3255746 deals with “Unpermitted usage of ODP” (Operational Data Provisioning) and essentially, it outlines SAP’s decision to restrict third-party tools from using the ODP framework to extract data from SAP systems, claiming it was never intended for third-party use.
Major SAP partners are all using the ODP framework to extract data from S/4HANA and other systems as it is the same technology which SAP uses for extractions into SAP BW/4HANA and Datasphere. The following partners all use ODP (although there are other connectors available which are less performant/features):
Microsoft Azure Data factory CDC
Qlik Reporting and many more. Even Datarbricks used to, but since the announcement of SAP Business Data Cloud, they now use the Delta Sharing connection, with the caveat that the data is not persisted in Databricks.
Note: Google Cortex Framework for SAP used to recommend “Cloud Data Fusion” which uses ODP, but they have updated the Cortex documentation since and now suggest other connectors like the Big Query connector.
But lets get back to the issue at hand:
What the Note Says:
- SAP has updated the note to prohibit third-party applications from using the ODP Data Replication API’s RFC modules to access SAP ABAP sources.
- In short, SAP is limiting the use of ODP to its own tools and recommended pathways ie SAP Datasphere (which also gives access to SAP Data Intelligence depending on your license).
This restriction signals a shift towards increasing reliance on the SAP ecosystem, particularly SAP Datasphere, for data integration.
Impact and Concerns:
- This change caused concern among SAP customers who rely on ODP based third-party tools for data extraction and integration.
- It limits flexibility and pushes customers to SAP lock-in.
- Consultants & companies that had built data pipelines using ODP with third party tools, will have to re-evaluate their data acquisition strategies.
- Although the usage of OData (OPD) is being suggested as an alternative, the performance impact is huge, particularly when dealing with large volumes of data.
Advisory and Recommendations
- Assess the Impact on Existing Tools & evaluate Alternative Data Extraction Methods:
- Organizations are advised to explore alternative methods, such as utilizing OData APIs.
- A strong push is being made by SAP for the use of Datasphere.
- Use a Lakehouse / Query Federation or Virtualization:
- Lakehouses like Doris DB (VeloDB) or Databricks have built-in functionality e.g. DB Catalog for JDBC SAP HANA tables which redirects queries to be processed by SAP HANA i.e Query federation.
- Data Virtualization Tools like Denodoo, don’t extract the data, but instead let the source system do the work, which results in always up to date data and no synchronization needs to a Data Warehouse.
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