5 Questions Every SAP BW Beginner Needs To Focus Upon

SAP BW or Business Information Warehouse or SAP NetWeaver BW is a powerful software system that groups together and formats large volumes of business-critical data in the Enterprise Data Warehouse. It leverages SAP BI tools, and is supported by a gamut of Enterprise Planning tools that allows the software to evaluate the data which is vital for the company. To put it simple, this powerful SAP module helps optimize business processes, allowing organizations to be more flexible and act faster as required to survive and sustain.

There has been growing awareness for SAP Business Information Warehouse (BW) of late, and more and more organizations are embracing the technology shift to boost business operations and drive revenues. However, the industry is plagued with lack of experienced BW consultants. The demand is high, but the supply is meager. Needless to say, it is a lucrative field of career and has enormous potential of growth as SAP BWis expected to become an integral component of every organization’s SAP system in years to come.

If you are a beginner, and considering SAP BW as your career path, here are some questions that you should ask before learning the subject comprehensively. Getting answers to these questions will help you make a smart choice.

Q1. Is it really worth learning SAP BW?

A. Yes, it is really worth enough to learn the subject and choose it as your career path. For any industry or business, its most important asset is data. It can be in any form or type, but it is vital to analyze and utilize this data most efficiently to run a business, and improve productivity and revenues. Needless to say, SAP NetWeaver BW is all about data. It helps businesses manage Big Data, and analyze the same to improve decision-making and shape overall company strategies. Therefore, it can be said that SAP BW is the reality in today’s data-driven world.

Q2. What is the market value of SAP BW Consultant? What is the future?

A. Considering the importance of Big Data analytics and management, there is a good demand for BW skill set, and is expected to grow in the future as data volumes are increasing day by day. However, for your career to stay in demand, it is vital that you acquire knowledge and expertise in new technologies, new versions and updates of the software, etc, all of which can affect your potential in the market.

Q3. What are the benefits to learn SAP BW?

A. Besides having a passion for the subject, it is always good to have knowledge in ABAP, which will help you learn few concepts underlying BW. Even if you do not have vast experience in ABAP, just learning the basics of ABAP can help. In addition to these, experience in a wide range of data warehousing tools will help you understand different database related concepts in BW. Functional knowledge in at least one SAP module is a good way to start learning SAP BW, and it will also help in modeling. And if you want to understand reporting needs of your end-users or customers, having analysis skills can be of great help.

Q4. What are the different SAP BW elements that I need to learn?

A. It is crucial to learn the basic architecture of SAP NetWeaver BW, and this can help you throughout your career. In addition to this, BW Extraction, Modeling, and Reporting are important aspects to learn.

Q5. What are some good books to learn SAP NetWeaver BW?

Some of the popular books are – A Practical Guide to SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse 7.0 by Bharat Patel, Amol Palekar, and Shreekant Shiralkar; Data Modeling in SAP NetWeaver BW by Frank K. Wolf and Stefan Yamada.