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SAP Business Data Cloud explained: how Snowflake and Databricks fit into SAP’s multi-platform data strategy

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Insights from SAP TechEd Berlin 2025: why data became SAP’s strategic core

Reflecting on SAP TechEd Berlin 2025, one theme stood out above all others: data has become the foundation of SAP’s future strategy. 

While AI demonstrations and development tooling attracted attention, the most meaningful announcements focused on how enterprise data is accessed, shared, and activated across platforms. 

At the center of this shift is SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC), a strategic layer designed for organizations operating in increasingly complex, multi-platform landscapes. Its implications are significant for customers navigating increasingly complex data landscapes. 

SAP Business Data Cloud: embracing reality, not fighting it

Enterprise data is no longer confined to a single platform. SAP systems, cloud data warehouses, and analytics tools already coexist in most organizations. What SAP Business Data Cloud does differently is acknowledge this reality instead of trying to replace it. 

BDC is designed as an open data access layer, connecting SAP data natively with platforms such as:

  • Snowflake
  • Databricks
  • Google Cloud
  • and Microsoft Fabric

The emphasis on zero-copy data sharing is particularly important: data can be consumed and analyzed without constant replication. This reduces cost, latency, and architectural complexity. 

From Etlia’s perspective, this is a welcomed and pragmatic shift. Many organizations already run hybrid data architectures, and BDC provides a way to integrate SAP data into those environments without forcing disruptive migrations or one-size-fits-all solutions. 

How SAP Business Data Cloud works with Snowflake, Databricks and Microsoft?

SAP’s message at TechEd was clear: there is no single “correct” data platform. Instead, SAP is enabling a coordinated, multi-platform data strategy where each platform plays a distinct role.

Platform roles in SAP’s multi-platform data architecture

  • SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC)
    • Open data access layer and governance backbone, connecting SAP data with external platforms securely and consistently
  • Snowflake
    • Scalable analytics and data sharing platform, positioned as an SAP-certified solution extension
  • Databricks
    • Scalable analytics and data sharing platform including advanced analytics, machine learning, and data science workloads
  • Microsoft Fabric
    • Tight integration with Microsoft 365, Power BI, and the Power Platform, especially in Microsoft-centric ecosystems

This model reflects how enterprises already work in practice: SAP remains the system of record, while analytics, AI, and innovation happen across multiple specialized platforms.

Snowflake as a Strategic Extension, Not Just an Integration 

One of the most notable announcements at TechEd was SAP’s positioning of Snowflake as a Solution Extension to SAP Business Data Cloud. 

This is more than a technical integration or partnership label. As a solution extension, Snowflake becomes: 

  • Fully certified, packaged, and sold by SAP 
  • Supported by SAP throughout the full lifecycle 
  • Aligned with SAP’s roadmap and enterprise support model 

Crucially, SAP Snowflake includes the full Snowflake feature set while complementing it with SAP-specific strengths, particularly in planning. 

From Etlia’s point of view, this confirms something we already see in customer projects: Snowflake, Databricks, and Fabric are not competing replacements for SAP, but complementary platforms. The strategic shift from SAP is clear: value is created by choosing the right tool for the right workload and ensuring that data flows cleanly, securely, and governably between platforms.

One Data Strategy, Multiple Platforms

A key takeaway from SAP TechEd Berlin 2025 is that SAP is no longer pushing a single “correct” data platform. Instead, it is enabling a multi-platform data strategy, where: 

  • SAP remains the system of record for core business processes 
  • Snowflake excels in scalable analytics and data sharing 
  • Databricks supports advanced analytics and data science 
  • Microsoft Fabric fits naturally into Microsoft-centric ecosystems 

For customers, the challenge is no longer choosing one platform over another. The real challenge is designing an architecture where these platforms work together, with clear ownership, strong governance, and measurable business value.

Data as the Foundation for Enterprise AI 

AI discussions at TechEd consistently came back to one point: AI only works if the data foundation is solid. 

SAP’s introduction of SAP-RPT-1, an AI foundation model for structured business data, reflects this mindset. Rather than focusing on language alone, SAP is investing in models that understand tables, relationships, and enterprise semantics, the kind of data that actually runs businesses. 

With Model Context Protocol (MCP), SAP is also addressing a growing need: enabling Large Language Models to access business data in a governed, contextual way. This opens the door to AI use cases that go beyond chatbots and into real decision support, analytics, and automation. 

From Etlia’s perspective, this reinforces a critical message to customers: AI success is not about tools, but about data readiness. Clean models, shared semantics, and well-designed data architectures matter more than the choice of any single AI platform. 

What This Means in Practice

SAP TechEd Berlin 2025 showed a SAP that is more open, more realistic, and more aligned with how enterprises actually operate today.

SAP Business Data Cloud, deeper partnerships with Snowflake, Databricks and Microsoft Fabric and native support for multi-platform architectures all point in the same direction. 

For organizations, the question is no longer whether SAP data will live alongside Snowflake, Databricks, or Fabric, but how well those environments are integrated. 

And that is where the work for Etlia begins.

– Juuso Maijala, CEO

Etlia is a data consultancy specializing in SAP, Snowflake, Databricks, and Microsoft Fabric architectures for enterprise environments.

Etlia works with organizations designing SAP-centric data architectures where SAP Business Data Cloud acts as the governance and access layer, while analytics, AI, and business intelligence are delivered across multiple best-of-breed platforms.

SAP and Databricks partner up—What’s in it for You?

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SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC), launched in February 2025, represents SAP’s biggest leap in data engineering and AI. In this blog, we explore SAP BDC’s key features, integration with Databricks, and benefits for modern businesses.

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, businesses are constantly seeking innovative solutions to enhance their data management and analytics capabilities. On February 13, 2025, SAP launched the Business Data Cloud (BDC), a new Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product designed to provide a unified platform for data and AI. According to SAP BDC is a comprehensive platform revolutionizing the way organizations handle data and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. In this blog post, I will delve into the key highlights of SAP Business Data Cloud and its collaboration with Databricks.

Introduction to SAP Business Data Cloud

SAP BDC combines several powerful components, including Datasphere, SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC), SAP BW, Databricks, and Joule (AI), to offer a comprehensive solution for data and AI needs. This integration offers AI capabilities, data management, and application support, making it ideal for businesses looking to fully utilize their data.

Key Features of SAP Business Data Cloud

The SAP Business Data Cloud is built to address a wide range of data and AI requirements. Some of its key features include:

  1. Comprehensive Data and AI Platform: BDC integrates various SAP and third-party data sources, providing a seamless flow from raw data to insightful analytics and AI applications. 
  1. Insight Apps: These ready-made SaaS products offer out-of-the-box solutions for data and AI needs, enabling businesses to quickly deploy and benefit from advanced analytics. 
  1. Custom Build Scenarios: BDC supports custom solutions, allowing organizations to combine SAP and third-party data to create tailored analytics and AI applications. It is also possible to copy Insight Apps components and to enhance copied functionalities with custom development.

The Role of SAP Databricks

A key feature of BDC is its integration with SAP Databricks. This collaboration brings Databricks’ powerful AI and machine learning (ML) functionalities to the SAP ecosystem, enabling businesses to leverage advanced analytics and AI capabilities within a single platform.

Benefits and Considerations for SAP BDC

The SAP Business Data Cloud offers several advantages that make it a compelling choice for businesses:

  1. Single SaaS Platform for Analytics, AI, and ML: BDC provides a unified platform that integrates various SAP and third-party data sources, enabling seamless data management and advanced analytics. 
  1. SAP Databricks AI/ML Functionalities: The integration with Databricks brings powerful AI and machine learning capabilities to the SAP ecosystem, enhancing the platform’s analytical capabilities. 
  1. Insights Apps: BDC includes ready-made SaaS products that offer out-of-the-box solutions for data and AI use cases, allowing businesses to quickly deploy and benefit from advanced analytics. 
  1. Tight Integration to Business Processes: BDC is designed to integrate seamlessly with existing business processes, ensuring that data analysis and AI applications are closely aligned with SAP business processes. 

While the SAP Business Data Cloud offers numerous benefits, there are a few considerations to keep in mind:

  1. A New Product – What is the maturity?: As a new product, businesses should evaluate the maturity of BDC for their respective use cases and consider any potential challenges during the implementation phase. 
  1. SAP Joule dependency – how to integrate into your overall architecture? Joule is yet another co-pilot AI interface to your stack. You have to make sure that for each use case there is well thought through user experience either through Joule or some other co-pilot integrating with Joule that is in line with your overall architecture e.g. MS co-pilot.  
  1. All in SAP or Use Both SAP BDC and Other Non-SAP Tools?: Organizations should still consider whether it makes sense to fully commit to the SAP ecosystem or to use a combination of SAP BDC and other non-SAP tools to meet their data and AI needs.

What to expect?

The SAP Business Data Cloud represents a significant leap forward in the realm of data engineering and AI. By combining the strengths of SAP’s data management tools with Databricks’ AI/ML capabilities, BDC offers a platform for businesses to enhance their data analytics and AI applications. As organizations continue to navigate the complexities of the digital age, solutions like BDC will play a crucial role in driving innovation and success. 

–Juuso Maijala, CEO & Founder

At Etlia Data Engineering we have a unique combination of expertise in both SAP and Databricks to support your business AI transformation. Want to know more? Book a meeting with us and let’s talk about how we can help your business to leverage SAP Business Data Cloud with Databricks!

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