ABAPvsBW

Question

Hi...Friends,
                what is the Exact diffence between ABAP and BW.I mean to say In ABAP we can generate reports ,According to clients requiremnts, where as BW can also generate reports by gathering data from OLTP application and anlysis and then finally generate reports.
               Both the modules required coding , moreover BW reuires little bit coding compared to ABAP .But both performs same operation like generating Business reports.
               Otherwise ,both will come under Technical consultants for SAP.
cheers
Lohit.

Answer 1

Hello,
You mean R/3 reporting vs BW reporting.
The differences are:
R/3 was designed as an OLTP system and not an analytical and reporting system.
Yes you can run as many reports as you need from R/3 and web enable them but consider these factors:
1. Performance - Heavy reporting along with regular OLTP transactions can produce a lot of load both on the R/3 and the database (cpu, memory, disks, etc). Just take a look at the load put on your system during a month end, quarter end, or year end - now imagine that occurring even more frequently.
2. Data analysis - BW uses a Data Warehouse and OLAP concepts for storing and analyzing data, where R/3 was designed for transaction processing. With a lot of work you can get the same analysis out of R/3 but most likely would be easier from a BW.
Major benefits of BW include:
1. By offloading ad-hoc and long running queries from production R/3 system to BW system, overall system performance should improve on R/3.
2. Another key performance benefit with BW is the database design. It is designed specifically for query processing, not data updating and OLTP. Within BW, the data structures are designed differently and are much better suited for reporting than R/3 data structures. For example, BW utilizes star schema design which includes fact and dimension tables with bit-mapped indexes. Other important factors include the built-in support for aggregates, database partitioning, more efficient ABAP code by utilizing TRFC processing versus IDOC.
3. Better front-end reporting within BW. Although the BW excel front-end has it's problems, it provides more flexibility and analysis capability than the R/3 reporting screens.
4. BW has ability to pull data from other SAP or non-SAP sources into a consolidated cube.
In summary, BW provides much better performance and stronger data analysis
capabilities than R/3.
Regards,
Jorge Diogo