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Oracle Database Appliance vs SAP BW4HANA comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

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

Oracle Database Appliance
Ranking in Data Warehouse
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
44
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SAP BW4HANA
Ranking in Data Warehouse
8th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Data Warehouse category, the mindshare of Oracle Database Appliance is 5.2%, down from 6.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP BW4HANA is 4.5%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Warehouse
 

Featured Reviews

Charu Mazumdar - PeerSpot reviewer
Simplifies database management tasks and provides high availability and disaster recovery
Oracle Database Appliance has simplified our database management tasks. Our clients are using the solution for high availability and disaster recovery. Our overall experience with the solution was good, especially the DR. Oracle Database Appliance's integrated storage solutions have enhanced our data management. Oracle Database Appliance's integration with other solutions was straightforward. We faced compatibility issues while moving from another device to this one, and the integration was not seamless. I would recommend the solution to other users. Overall, I rate the solution an 8 out of 10.
Csaba Grünblatt - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is the ease of dashboarding and ease of reporting."
"We primarily use it for OLTP, which has improved our costs."
"We value the appliance architecture with its “everything-in-a-box” highly standardized setup."
"The Oracle database is able to get the data, process it, and return it to the company's CEO's and CFO's within a single day, and thus they are able to find out yesterday's P and L by today. It has drastically reduced the amount and time of processing from seven days to one day."
"Oracle Database Appliances are specifically designed for Oracle databases. They have built-in utilities and tools that simplify management, making them the best option for Oracle database management systems."
"The main feature is the management and manageability of the tool. We can create a VM on a laptop within a couple of clicks."
"The performance of the system is the solution's most valuable aspect. In combination with the database, it gives perfect results. It's a better system than using other kinds of integrated systems. In general, the ODA control is much simpler to use and offers up the best performance."
"The product is good value for money. It is a secure solution."
"I like how it blends no-code and ABAP code for complex transformations during data loading."
"The product is stable."
"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."
"It can calculate data in detail. Before we could not calculate financial documents and accountant documents in detail, we could not do it at a document level but now we can. This is the most important feature. It also has predictive analysis memory."
"Its direct approach is the most valuable. You get more real time and capabilities than BW."
"Technology-wise, it is a very robust tool."
"The most valuable feature is that we can transform a huge amount of data and apply business logic as per the requirements."
"It is a stable solution."
 

Cons

"I would be happy to see the Oracle Auto Service Request (ASR) pre-installed in it instead of installing it in a separate machine."
"In my opinion only one single command should be used for all ODA models, as it’s confusing."
"In terms of what can be be improved, I'd say Artificial Intelligence, AI. It would be really helpful if AI was incorporated within the solution."
"The product is quite complex to set up, initially. It would be ideal if it was simpler."
"The product's technical support services need improvement."
"There is room for improvement in better integration with third-party tools, such as Power BI or Redshift."
"The feature that I would like to see improve is the interface. It is really not good. I almost have to work on script by script in it. There is always some issue with the user interface."
"The setup is a bit complex."
"The speed of operations could be a little faster."
"The problem is the expensive pricing of technical support, making it an area where improvements are required."
"Challenges arise with real-time client requirements when clients are accustomed to Microsoft Excel's extensive features for data analysis. They expect similar flexibility and customization in the solution, particularly regarding headers displaying keys and descriptions or just keys. Achieving this level of customization can be challenging, and it's an area that may need improvement."
"One thing that could be enhanced in SAP BW4HANA is the user interface for process chains."
"The interface could be more user-friendly, as we often need to do low-level coding to get things done."
"Price wise, this solution is on the higher side."
"The solution does occasionally get a few bugs, but this is typical for any product."
"The UI is not user-friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"In regards to licensing, it is cheaper to maintain for Oracle applications, and it's an all-in-one solution."
"I don’t know ODA and alternative system prices. But Oracle the database license is quite expensive and a lot of my customers plan to migrate to open source databases like PostgreSQL."
"I would rate the pricing a four on a scale of one (high price) to ten (low cost)."
"Get benefit from the capacity-on-demand features. License your cores according to your licenses."
"The price should be lower."
"The product is costly."
"Oracle Database Application's support and maintenance are included in the contract."
"Compared to Oracle Exadata, Oracle Database Appliance is affordable."
"SAP BW/4HANA is expensive."
"The product is free if we have the ECC license."
"The price is high and currently only affordable for large organizations."
"The tool is affordable."
"We have a broad licensing arrangement, which is expensive but worth it for sizeable businesses."
"Price wise, this solution is on the higher side."
"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."
"It's a little expensive compared to Microsoft Azure."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
29%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Retailer
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Oracle Database Appliance?
Oracle Database Appliance provides high stability.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Database Appliance?
While I'm somewhat familiar with standard licensing, pricing isn't really my area of expertise. However, Oracle is on the higher end of the pricing spectrum, along with SAP.
What needs improvement with Oracle Database Appliance?
There is room for improvement in better integration with third-party tools, such as Power BI or Redshift. When dealing with federated data sources, this integration can be a challenge.
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.
 

Also Known As

X5-2
SAP BW/4HANA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

LifeLock, Incarlopsa, Al Yusur Industrial Contracting
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Oracle Database Appliance vs. SAP BW4HANA and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.