What you may not know is that a data fabric architecture can be a game-changing data management solution. It connects the data sprawled across your organisation’s disparate applications, systems, cloud environments, and on-premise storage, weaving them into a centralised, unified ecosystem.

But perhaps the most important thing you need to know is that the longer you wait to adopt a data fabric architecture, the greater the risk of falling far behind your competitors.

Seamless, scalable access to trustworthy, real-time data helps users throughout your business make smarter decisions faster with clear and actionable insights. SAP Datasphere, a comprehensive data management service, extends these benefits even further by providing the foundation for a business data fabric.

But what exactly is a business data fabric, and what gives it an advantage over the traditional approach?

Getting down to business with SAP Datasphere

Like a traditional data fabric, a business data fabric architecture simplifies and streamlines your data landscape, breaking down silos to provide a centralised, cohesive view of data. Unlike a traditional data fabric, a business data fabric delivers a semantic data layer that unifies your data based on its meaning, no matter where it’s stored or how it was designed.

Simply put, a business data fabric maintains your data’s business logic and application context—its DNA. This eliminates the need to recreate business context lost from extracting and replicating data whilst avoiding the issues associated with duplicate data.

A business data fabric helps you drive business semantic analytics—understanding the meaning behind your data—with speed and confidence supported by trustworthy, insight-rich data.

How a business data fabric generates value for AI

Keeping up with the latest AI value opportunities is crucial for staying ahead of the competition. In addition to simplifying data management, a business data fabric lays the groundwork for more advanced generative AI capabilities.

The manner in which a business data fabric preserves and presents the most vital aspects of your business data is ideal for training generative AI and large language models. The centralised focus of a business data fabric allows you to manage compliance and address potential risks in one place instead of across many disparate systems.

SAP Datasphere’s advanced analytics and AI capabilities further enrich your business data fabric with predictive insights and automated decision-making processes.

Don’t be delayed by DIY

Historically, data fabrics have been built using a do-it-yourself (DIY) approach with a grab bag of different tools. A DIY build offers increased flexibility and total control over the architecture, but the complex mix of tools and platforms it requires can lead to an even more fragmented data landscape that is difficult to scale and costly to maintain.

A GigaOm decision brief on data fabric solutions and SAP Datasphere outlines significant advantages to building a business data fabric with SAP Datasphere instead of a DIY approach. GigaOm reports that “across all organisation sizes, the overall three-year TCO for SAP Datasphere is less than half that of a DIY implementation (42%).”

The brief also references a recent analysis report, which found that deploying SAP Datasphere was significantly faster than a DIY implementation path with a timeline 2.5 times shorter.

Along with faster implementation and crucial cost advantages, GigaOm highlighted several additional benefits offered by SAP Datasphere, including:

• Utilising SAP Datasphere’s native integration capabilities with SAP and non-SAP data sources for smoother data flow
• Using the business semantics layer to simplify data models and enhance accessibility for business users
• Utilising SAP Datasphere’s cloud-native architecture for scalable data management solutions that grow with your business
• Taking advantage of an open data ecosystem with tailored integrations built by leading data and AI suppliers

Make the leap to modern data management

The future of data management is already here, bringing with it the urgent need not only to adopt a business data fabric architecture but to do so with a forward-looking, growth-focused mindset.

It’s critical that you consider your future data management needs even as you work to meet your current ones. SAP Datasphere’s roadmap ensures that as data landscapes evolve, so will your business data fabric, with enhanced AI and machine learning capabilities, deeper integrations with emerging technologies, and continuous performance improvements.

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