SAP’s BW Information Model: Overview

SAP’s BW information model is based on the core building block of InfoObjects which are used to describe business processes and information requirements. They provide basis for setting up complex information models in multiple languages, currencies, units of measure, hierarchy, etc. The key elements in the SAP’s BW information model are:

* DataSources
* InfoSources
* ODS Objects
* InfoCubes
* InfoProviders
* MultiProviders

Data Sources

DataSources are flat data structures containing data that logically belongs together. They are responsible for extracting and staging data from various source systems.

InfoSources

InfoSources are the group of InfoObjects that belong together from a business point of view. It contains the transactional data obtained from the transactions in online transactional processes (OLTP) and master data such as addresses of customers and organizations, which remain unchanged for longer time period.

ODS objects

An ODS object is a dataset which is formed as a result of merging data from one or more info sources. In it information is stored in the form of flat, transparent database tables that are used for preparing reports and quality assurance purposes.

InfoCubes

InfoCubes are multidimensional data storage containers for reporting and analysis of data. They consist of keys figures and characteristics of which latter is organized as dimensions facilitating users to analyze data from various business perspectives such as geographical area or types of sales channel.

InfoProviders

InfoProviders refer to all the data objects that are present in the SAP BW systems. These include all the data targets viz. InfoCubes, ODS objects and master data tables along with Info sets, remote Infocubes and MultiProviders.

MultiProviders

MultiProvider is a virtual information provider which is a combination of any two physical or virtual info providers. MultiProviders do not contain any data and are used to combine data from different info providers. Their main purpose is to make this data accessible for reports and analysis.