How SAP is future-proofing business data with the unveiling of its newest technology and strategic partnerships

• Businesses spend enormous amounts of time and resources on data extraction but lose the context that gives it value.
• SAP Datasphere is a new data fabric architecture that integrates data and contextual metadata across enterprises.
• A data fabric architecture can seamlessly incorporate new partners and deliver cutting-edge solutions as they evolve.

Data is the lifeblood of any business. That's why organizations spend countless hours extracting it from internal and external applications, then reassembling it to generate critical insights.

But something is wrong with this picture. When data is lifted from its home, the vital business logic and context surrounding it is left behind or not shared at all. For example, a single purchase order — a dot on a sales chart — has a dynamic relationship with data in procurement, production, supply chain, finance, and demand planning.

The value of the currency used for the purchase may have risen or fallen significantly before payment was processed, and the customer may have ordered a related product moments later. And then there are multiple data definitions (metadata) for "sale" across the lifecycle of the purchase order. The little dot on the chart captures none of this important information.

Data severed from its vital relationships can't deliver the insights businesses need to make sound decisions. To fill the gaps, IT and business teams spend up to 80% of their time trying to recreate its original context, often using expensive tools or error-prone manual reconciliation procedures. It's an immensely frustrating, costly, and time-consuming process — a sort of hidden data tax that organizations must pay to understand and improve their own operations.

A new way to handle your data is here

A new technology, introduced by SAP in a recent webinar, is designed to remove that tax, freeing IT to do higher-level work and giving teams across the organization easy access to context-rich data that can shed light on operations and spark innovative solutions. SAP Datasphere connects data from everywhere — including internal and external clouds and SAP and non-SAP applications — while preserving the key metadata imbuing it with meaning and business intelligence.

"SAP Datasphere is a new approach that we believe will have a major impact on our industry and our customers," said Juergen Mueller, chief technology officer at SAP.

"The most competitive businesses will be those with seamless access to their data, no matter where it resides. When organizations fully harness the power of their data, they can innovate faster, create new revenue streams, and adapt to unanticipated changes." 

What a business data fabric architecture can do

SAP Datasphere's capabilities are enabled by its data fabric architecture, which integrates data from many sources into a single environment that can run multiple services and technologies.

Gartner describes data fabric as a foundational technology that reduces time for integration design by 30%, deployment by 30%, and maintenance by 70%. In addition to accessing existing technologies, a data fabric system can easily introduce new technologies, accelerating digital transformation and priming organizations for the future.

A data fabric structure is ideal for companies with a heterogeneous number of partners and services, such as Lufthansa, which gave a presentation in the webinar. With data streaming in from planes, booking systems, and over 300 subsidiaries and affiliates, Lufthansa's data needs are vast, complex, and growing.

A data fabric architecture also gives businesses better control over governance, business semantics, and data quality, increasing trust and allowing companies to maximize the value of their technology estate.

Building a powerful open ecosystem

The extensible nature of a data fabric system allows it to seamlessly incorporate cutting-edge technologies from partner companies. SAP Datasphere is currently collaborating with four partners to enable users to access mission-critical business data across any infrastructure and deploy it to drive the business forward. 

"These strategic partners will bring the richness and unique strengths of their ecosystem to the business data fabric and help us deliver our customer's unique benefits that are far more than the sum of their parts," Mueller said.

As the volume of business data continues to expand, unleashing its capabilities with a data fabric architecture is becoming essential to success.

Learn more about how SAP Datasphere works and what it can do for your business.

This post was created by Insider Studios with SAP.