SAP BW4HANA vs Teradata comparison

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SAP BW4HANA

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

Teradata and SAP BW4HANA are prominent players in the data warehousing category. Teradata seems to have the upper hand in terms of performance due to its efficient query processing and adaptability across platforms, while SAP BW4HANA excels in integration especially beneficial for SAP ecosystem users.

Features: Teradata offers efficient query processing, parallel execution, and columnar storage which enhance performance and scalability. It provides intelligent data management, making it versatile for big data. SAP BW4HANA integrates well with SAP products, facilitates real-time data handling, and offers HANA-optimized reporting, ideal for SAP-based organizations.

Room for Improvement: Teradata has challenges with cost and complexity, especially for cloud adoption and modern tool integration. Enhancements for unstructured data usability are needed. SAP BW4HANA users face high costs and complex integration with non-SAP tools, seeking better pricing and customization, and wider technology support.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Teradata provides on-premises, public cloud, and hybrid deployment, with positive feedback on customer support. SAP BW4HANA also offers versatile deployment but experiences varied technical support quality.

Pricing and ROI: Teradata's high costs are offset by strong ROI due to performance and analytics capabilities, regarded positively by users. SAP BW4HANA is similarly priced but delivers value via high performance within SAP systems, with effective contract negotiations potentially lowering costs.

To learn more, read our detailed SAP BW4HANA vs. Teradata Report (Updated: March 2025).

SAP BW4HANA vs. Teradata

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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

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

Teradata

Ranking in Data Warehouse

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Customer Experience Management (4th), Backup and Recovery (20th), Data Integration (16th), Relational Databases Tools (7th), BI (Business Intelligence) Tools (10th), Marketing Management (6th), Cloud Data Warehouse (6th)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Data Warehouse category, the mindshare of SAP BW4HANA is 4.4%, down from 4.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Teradata is 16.1%, up from 15.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Data Warehouse

Featured Reviews

Csaba Grünblatt

Senior Data, Data warehouse and BI/Analytics Architect at Techwave.

Performs all necessary data warehouse tasks and offers additional functionalities

SAP BW4HANA improved data reporting processes significantly. Performance on HANA database is good. Well-built data models ensure consistent and fast reporting. Reusable models enhance efficiency, even for SaaS services. In-memory computing, especially since HANA, has greatly improved performance in data analysis tasks. It eliminates the need for complex optimizations like creating indexes or aggregates. Queries that once took minutes now run in seconds, enabling real-time reporting, especially for SAP ECC on HANA. SAP BW4HANA's integration capabilities are streamlined with a simplified architecture and more virtual layers. You can directly load data into optimized layers, reducing the need for extra storage. The introduction of Open ODS Views allows for additional logic and master data inclusion, making integration faster and simpler. The learning curve for SAP BW4HANA is much faster now compared to ten years ago, thanks to abundant free resources like documentation, videos, blogs, and learning journeys provided by SAP. It is simpler to learn with these resources available compared to the past when you had to attend courses and rely on books. I would recommend SAP BW4HANA to users looking to implement it, especially if they want to keep their systems on-premise and already have SAP systems. Those with BW on HANA have two choices: BW4HANA or DataSphere, depending on their cloud strategy. If they are advanced in their cloud strategy and want to migrate off-premise, DataSphere is a good choice. However, for a robust solution on-premise or in a private cloud, BW4HANA is an excellent option. Overall, I would rate BW4HANA as a nine out of ten. It performs all necessary data warehouse tasks and offers additional functionalities. We use it traditionally, with complex transformations and models but with less emphasis on real-time processing and third-party sources.

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SurjitChoudhury

Data engineer at Cocos pt

Offers seamless integration capabilities and performance optimization features, including extensive indexing and advanced tuning capabilities

We created and constructed the warehouse. We used multiple loading processes like MultiLoad, FastLoad, and Teradata Pump. But those are loading processes, and Teradata is a powerful tool because if we consider older technologies, its architecture with nodes, virtual processes, and nodes is a unique concept. Later, other technologies like Informatica also adopted the concept of nodes from Informatica PowerCenter version 7.x. Previously, it was a client-server architecture, but later, it changed to the nodes concept. Like, we can have the database available 24/7, 365 days. If one node fails, other nodes can take care of it. Informatica adopted all those concepts when it changed its architecture. Even Oracle databases have since adapted their architecture to them. However, this particular Teradata company initially started with its own different type of architecture, which major companies later adopted. It has grown now, but initially, whatever query we sent it would be mapped into a particular component. After that, it goes to the virtual processor and down to the disk, where the actual physical data is loaded. So, in between, there's a map, which acts like a data dictionary. It also holds information about each piece of data, where it's loaded, and on which particular virtual processor or node the data resides. Because Teradata comes with a four-node architecture, or however many nodes we choose, the cost is determined by that initially. So, what type of data does each and every node hold? It's a shared-no architecture. So, whatever task is given to a virtual processor it will be processed. If there's a failure, then it will be taken care of by another virtual processor. Moreover, this solution has impacted the query time and data performance. In Teradata, there's a lot of joining, partitioning, and indexing of records. There are primary and secondary indexes, hash indexing, and other indexing processes. To improve query performance, we first analyze the query and tune it. If a join needs a secondary index, which plays a major role in filtering records, we might reconstruct that particular table with the secondary index. This tuning involves partitioning and indexing. We use these tools and technologies to fine-tune performance. When it comes to integration, tools like Informatica seamlessly connect with Teradata. We ensure the Teradata database is configured correctly in Informatica, including the proper hostname and properties for the load process. We didn't find any major complexity or issues with integration. But, these technologies are quite old now. With newer big data technologies, we've worked with a four-layer architecture, pulling data from Hadoop Lake to Teradata. We configure Teradata with the appropriate hostname and credentials, and use BTEQ queries to load data. Previously, we converted the data warehouse to a CLD model as per Teradata's standardized procedures, moving from an ETL to an EMT process. This allowed us to perform gap analysis on missing entities based on the model and retrieve them from the source system again. We found Teradata integration straightforward and compatible with other tools.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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 aspect of this solution is that the infrastructure is easy to understand."

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

"I like that it's quite quick."

"I like the tool's robustness and security."

"The ability to instantly pull data is the most valuable feature."

"The product is stable."

"The solution saves time and cost."

More SAP BW4HANA pros

"Teradata can be easily used in ETL mode transformations, so there is no need for expensive and inconvenient ETL tools"

"The most valuable feature is the ease of running queries."

"The most valuable features are the Shared-nothing architecture and data protection functionality."

"Cuts time to process huge amounts of data with efficient analytical queries."

"The two types of partitioning have been very significant for us - row and columnar partitioning."

"The initial setup was straightforward."

"The functionality of the solution is excellent."

"It effectively has allowed us to remove over 20 portion copies of the data sets on other DB platforms for real-time operational reporting purposes."

More Teradata pros

Cons

"There's one area where the other vendors have an upper edge, which is the data lake. I think SAP is trying to figure out whether to stick with IQ, their own data lake solution, or push customers toward customer-preferred vendors, like Azure Data Lake, AWS, or any other provider."

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

"BW/4HANA could improve query optimization. For example, there could be an error message that pops up when you hover over it if any query fails. That would make it easier to find out what went gone wrong. Guided SAP help tools would make it easier for us to go forward."

"We cannot integrate with third-party tools like Python or advanced integration options. You can't fine-tune tables within BW or generate specific views or reports."

"It takes too long to escalate problems from the first level of support."

"Not a ten because it's expensive and its ecosystem is not very open."

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

"The cost of the product might be an area that might introduce some restrictions or limitations to customers, making it one of the aspects where improvements are required."

More SAP BW4HANA cons

"Teradata is an expensive tool. Like, if you're already using Microsoft products like Windows, they'll market all their products together. And with the rise of cloud technologies, companies will adopt solutions that offer them some privileges or facilities. Similar to how SAP does it in the market, so do Microsoft and other companies. Even Oracle and other such tools are quite commonly seen compared to Teradata's competitors in everyday solutions."

"Teradata's UI could be more user-friendly."

"From my perspective, it would be good if they gave better ITIN/R plugins to use the data for AI modeling, or data science modeling. We can do it now; however, it could be more elegant in terms of interfacing."

"Teradata is somewhat late in adopting cloud technology."

"The solution is stable. However, there are times when we are using large amounts of data and we can see some latency issues."

"I would like more security and speed."

"Apart from Control-M, it would be nice if it could integrate with other tools."

"There is a need to improve performance in high transaction processes, as well as the reporting system."

More Teradata cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is high and currently only affordable for large organizations."

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

"In general, it's quite expensive."

"The product is free if we have the ECC license."

"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."

"This is an expensive solution and there are costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."

More SAP BW4HANA pricing and cost advice

"Teradata is currently making improvements in this area."

"Users have to pay a yearly licensing fee for Teradata IntelliFlex, which is very expensive."

"I am using the free version of Teradata."

"The price of Teradata is expensive. However, what they deliver they are outstanding. If you're looking for an inexpensive solution to run a database, this isn't your tool. It's the Ferrari of databases for data warehousing."

"The product cost is high for what the client gets. There may be more cost-effective solutions for small and medium-sized organizations."

"In this day and age, we want to get things done quickly. So, we go to the AWS Marketplace."

"The price of the solution could be reduced, it is expensive."

"Teradata is not cheap, but you get what you pay for."

More Teradata pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user232068

Senior Data Architect at a pharma/biotech company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Aug 5, 2015

Netezza vs. Teradata

Original published at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/should-i-choose-net Two leading Massively Parallel Processing (MPP) architectures for Data Warehousing (DW) are IBM PureData System for Analytics (formerly Netezza) and Teradata. I thought talking about the similarities and differences…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Computer Software Company

Retailer

Financial Services Firm

26%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP BW4HANA?

We have a broad licensing arrangement, which is expensive but worth it for sizeable businesses.

What needs improvement with SAP BW4HANA?

The interface could be more user-friendly, as we often need to do low-level coding to get things done.

Comparing Teradata and Oracle Database, which product do you think is better and why?

I have spoken to my colleagues about this comparison and in our collective opinion, the reason why some people may declare Teradata better than Oracle is the pricing. Both solutions are quite simi...

Which companies use Teradata and who is it most suitable for?

Before my organization implemented this solution, we researched which big brands were using Teradata, so we knew if it would be compatible with our field. According to the product's site, the comp...

Is Teradata a difficult solution to work with?

Teradata is not a difficult product to work with, especially since they offer you technical support at all levels if you just ask. There are some features that may cause difficulties - for example,...

Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics vs SAP BW4HANA

Comparisons

Snowflake vs SAP BW4HANA

Compared 29% of the time

Compared 29% of the time

SAP HANA vs SAP BW4HANA

Compared 8% of the time

Amazon Redshift vs SAP BW4HANA

Compared 8% of the time

Oracle Exadata vs SAP BW4HANA

Compared 3% of the time

More SAP BW4HANA Competitors

Oracle Exadata vs Teradata

Compared 14% of the time

SQL Server vs Teradata

Compared 11% of the time

MySQL vs Teradata

Compared 8% of the time

Snowflake vs Teradata

Compared 7% of the time

IBM Db2 Database vs Teradata

Compared 6% of the time

More Teradata Competitors

Product Reports

SAP BW4HANA

Download SAP BW4HANA product report

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Also Known As

SAP BW/4HANA

IntelliFlex, Aster Data Map Reduce, , QueryGrid, Customer Interaction Manager, Digital Marketing Center, Data Mover, Data Stream Architecture

Overview

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

Teradata is a scalable data analytics platform designed to meet enterprise demands for large-scale data management and processing, focusing on performance, scalability, and security for complex query executions.

As a leading data warehousing solution, Teradata integrates advanced analytics enabling organizations to derive insights from massive datasets. It supports high-volume data workloads with its architecture optimized for analytical queries. Users benefit from its robust scalability, allowing seamless expansion as data grows. Teradata's SQL engine is compatible with a wide range of data types, ensuring flexibility in data analysis. With advanced security measures, it protects sensitive data across various environments, providing peace of mind to users handling critical information.

What are the most important features of Teradata?

Linear Scalability: Easily expands data processing capabilities to handle increasing data loads without performance degradation.
Advanced Analytics: Supports complex analytical operations integrating machine learning and AI for predictive insights.
SQL Compatibility: Offers a comprehensive SQL interface that supports complex queries across diverse data types.
Data Security: Implements rigorous security protocols to protect data integrity and confidentiality.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Improved Decision-Making: Derive actionable insights quickly for strategic business decisions.
Cost Efficiency: Optimized resource usage reduces operational costs associated with data processing.
Increased Productivity: Streamlined data operations save time, allowing teams to focus on analysis.
Enhanced Scalability: Seamless growth without significant additional investment as data volumes increase.

Teradata is widely used in industries like finance, telecommunications, and healthcare, where data-driven decisions are critical. Companies leverage its robust analytics capabilities to enhance customer experiences, streamline operations, and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. In these sectors, quick access to data insights can significantly impact competitive advantage.

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Netflix

SAP BW4HANA vs. Teradata