BigQuery Connector for SAP: A Quick Introduction
BigQuery Connector for SAP is a Google provided offering that allows you to send your SAP data to BigQuery. This can be a great way to improve your business intelligence and analytics capabilities.
In this article, I will attempt to give a quick overview on BigQuery Connector for SAP. I will cover the following topics:
- What is BigQuery Connector for SAP?
- Highlights & Value.
- How to get started?
- Licensing and Cost.
What is BigQuery Connector for SAP?
BigQuery Connector for SAP is an add-on that allows you to send SAP data to BigQuery using the the power of SAP Landscape Transformation Replication Server (SLT). This means that you can sync your SAP data to BigQuery in real time and then use BigQuery’s powerful analytics tools to analyze, derive insights and build downstream applications. You can also kickstart insights and reduce the time to value by using the Google Cloud Cortex Framework for SAP.
Some of the common data pipeline patterns are:
- Extract, transform, and load (ETL)
- Extract, load, and transform (ELT)
- Extract and load (EL)
- Change data capture (CDC)
The BigQuery Connector for SAP allows only limited data transformation, adhering to an extract, load, transform (ELT) model, rather than the traditional extract, transform and load (ETL) model. The BigQuery Connector for SAP makes use of the change data capture (CDC) functionality of SAP SLT.
For more information on these models, see Procedures and patterns for data pipelines.
Highlights & Value
The following are some of the key capabilities:
- Real-time replication with high throughput with additional optimization options.
- Change data capture leveraging SAP SLT.
- Implicit data type mapping between SAP and BigQuery.
- Simplified configuration to enable SAP systems running anywhere to connect to BigQuery.
- Extensibility options using enhancement points for esoteric use cases.
How to get started?
The Data integration for SAP section on Google Cloud houses the detailed guides of BigQuery Connector for SAP. The product is compatible with Embedded and Standalone SLT deployment types and uses SAP provided UI Add On for serializing ABAP data into JSON which is the primary mode of data format used for communicating with BigQuery. A detailed matrix on SAP software version requirement is available in this link.
Setup involves downloading the installation package and importing the SAP transport files into the SAP SLT system.
Configuration involves setting the authentication & connectivity parameters based on your SAP SLT deployment setup followed by configuration for table replication which pairs with the standard SAP LT Replication Server configurations done using LTRC.
The product provides utilities and advanced settings which are filled with nuggets to fulfill variety of use cases and replication requirements. The Operations guide is a good starting point to understand them in detail.
Licensing and Cost
BigQuery Connector for SAP is currently offered at no cost, but you may incur cost for BigQuery service based on your usage.
SAP customers will have to procure the SAP SLT full license to send data out to any third-party target like BigQuery. Please refer to SAP Note: 2707835 for the licensing details.
References
The following are some references for additional learnings:
- BigQuery Connector for SAP: Power your cloud data analytics strategy
- How to replicate SAP data in BigQuery
- What’s new with BigQuery Connector for SAP v2.5
- Setting up JWT based Authentication in ABAP SDK for Google Cloud
- Hear from the innovators — SAP, ABAP and BigQuery at Alphabet
- Introducing Google Cloud Cortex Framework for SAP
