Inside the SAP Data Services data integration tool
SAP Data Services can be used alone or with other SAP products to provide data integration, transformation, data quality, data profiling and text data processing.
SAP Data Services give users the ability to discover, cleanse, enhance, integrate and manage data from SAP and non-SAP sources, including relational databases, enterprise applications, files and big data sources such as Hadoop and NoSQL databases. It provides data integration and data quality capabilities that can be used with SAP Information Steward for enterprise management and governance.
The platform, part of the data integration tools within SAP's family of data management products, enables users to integrate and cleanse data from disparate systems such as database management systems, big data structures, on-premises and cloud sources, messaging systems, web services, proprietary systems and social media.
SAP Data Services can deliver data transformations using batch-driven extract, transform, load or real-time services along with change data capture functionality. In addition, SAP Data Services enables deployment of integration processes on targets using extract, load and transform. The combination of data cleansing and data integration tool functionality in a single product enhances an enterprise's ability to improve quality and integrity of data used by business intelligence and analytical applications.
What additional features does SAP Data Services offer?
Features of SAP Data Services include:
- Design, development and administration functionality are tightly integrated with a repository that manages design and processing metadata.
- A combination of Data Services Design, Workbench and Management Console tools enables users to create, modify, run and manage integration services.
- Prebuilt integration transformations work with numerous source and target systems.
- Prebuilt cleansing functions perform various data quality processes to parse, standardize and enhance data.
- Data profiling and monitoring capabilities support integration development and data governance.
- Enhanced metadata and modeling functionality when used with SAP PowerDesigner.
- Integration with SAP products such as SAP Business Warehouse, SAP HANA, SAP Master Data Management, SAP Data Quality Management and SAP Information Steward.
Key improvements in the latest version, 4.2, include enhanced SAP HANA support as well as better connectivity to various relational and big data sources, including text and extensible markup language processing. This latest version also provides expanded developer workbench functionality and usability and enhanced deployment and monitoring operations.
Who benefits from using SAP Data Services?
SAP Data Services are typically used by large enterprises, especially those with data integration and data quality needs related to integrating enterprise applications and master data management. SAP Data Services work with a variety of sources and targets from SAP and other third parties, but its integration with other SAP products and SAP's use of it in its extensive enterprise applications means many users are existing SAP application customers.
When used in conjunction with SAP Information Steward, SAP Data Services can be used by business analysts and data stewards as well as data integration developers to support data governance processes.
What are the SAP Data Services availability options?
The product is offered as a standalone bundle, but is often used in conjunction with other SAP products. Data integration services have been bundled with SAP HANA Smart Data Integration and SAP HANA Smart Data Quality, which are sold separately.
SAP offers flexible licensing plans. Contact the company for specific bundling and pricing options.
