SAP and Google Cloud have announced an expansion of their partnership with a new feature designed to simplify how businesses use their data for artificial intelligence and analytics. The new capability, called SAP Business Data Cloud Connect for Google BigQuery, will allow companies to access critical SAP data directly within Google's ecosystem without creating copies, a process known as zero-copy data sharing.
This integration aims to eliminate traditional data transfer methods that can be slow and result in outdated information. By providing a direct, real-time link between SAP's business data and Google Cloud's powerful tools, the companies intend to help organizations build more accurate AI models and gain faster insights from their information.
Key Takeaways
- New Integration: SAP and Google Cloud are launching SAP Business Data Cloud Connect for Google BigQuery.
- Core Technology: The feature uses a "zero-copy" framework, which means data is accessed in real-time without being duplicated.
- Primary Goal: To provide businesses with faster, more secure access to trusted SAP data for use in Google Cloud's analytics and AI platforms.
- Availability: The new connector is planned for general availability in the first half of 2026.
Addressing a Long-Standing Data Challenge
For many years, enterprise data has been fragmented. Core business information, rich with important context, has often been confined to transactional systems like those from SAP. To use this data for analysis or AI, companies typically had to perform a process called extract, transform, and load (ETL).
This traditional method involves creating copies of the data, which introduces several problems. The copied data can quickly become outdated, it is difficult to manage securely, and the process itself can be complex and time-consuming. This delay hinders a company's ability to make decisions based on the most current information.
The new partnership between SAP and Google Cloud is designed to solve this problem by removing the need for data replication. By connecting SAP Business Data Cloud directly to Google BigQuery, the companies are creating a unified data environment.
What is Zero-Copy Data Sharing?
Zero-copy data sharing is a modern approach to data integration that allows different systems to access the same dataset without physically moving or duplicating it. Instead of creating a separate copy for an analytics platform, the platform is given secure, direct access to the original data source. This ensures that any analysis is always performed on the most up-to-date information, reduces storage costs, and simplifies data governance.
How the Integration Works
The new feature, SAP Business Data Cloud Connect for Google BigQuery, acts as a bridge between two powerful platforms. On one side is SAP Business Data Cloud, which organizes and manages a company's crucial operational data with its full business context intact.
On the other side is Google BigQuery, a comprehensive data and AI platform. This integration will allow data to flow bidirectionally, meaning SAP data can be used in BigQuery, and insights from Google's platform can be fed back into SAP systems.
"SAP and Google Cloud have a long history of empowering global enterprises to harness the power of data and AI," said Christian Klein, CEO of SAP SE. "Bringing together Google BigQuery and SAP Business Data Cloud gives our customers choice without compromise, enabling them to fast-track their analytics and AI initiatives."
This direct connection is intended to help businesses build and deploy more reliable AI applications. For example, AI models like Google's Gemini can be trained on live, trusted business data, leading to more accurate predictions and automation.
Unlocking New Capabilities for Businesses
By removing data silos, SAP and Google Cloud aim to enable a new range of applications for their customers. The companies highlighted several key areas where the integration could provide significant value.
Building Trustworthy AI and Automation
With real-time access to SAP data, AI models and automated agents built using Google's Vertex AI and Gemini platforms can operate with the most current view of the business. This is crucial for automating complex processes that span multiple departments, such as optimizing supply chains or generating financial forecasts.
Combining Diverse Datasets
A major benefit of this integration is the ability to combine an organization's internal SAP data with large-scale public and commercial datasets available only on Google Cloud. This includes geospatial data from Google Maps and search trend information from Google Trends, allowing for richer, more contextual business insights.
Advanced Analytics for Everyone
The integration is also designed to make data analysis more accessible. By connecting SAP data to Google's natural language processing capabilities, employees across an organization could ask complex questions about their business data and receive immediate, intelligent answers without needing to be data scientists.
"By uniting SAP Business Data Cloud with BigQuery and Gemini models, we’re making it easy for enterprises to build a unified data foundation that breaks down silos and unlocks a new class of AI agents and applications," stated Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud.
Availability and Market Rollout
The announcement was made at the SAP Connect event in Las Vegas. The new SAP Business Data Cloud Connect for Google BigQuery is scheduled to become generally available in the first half of 2026.
In the meantime, SAP Business Data Cloud is already available in Google Cloud regions across the United States, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific area, with plans for further expansion. Additionally, SAP BW private cloud edition, which is offered through SAP's data cloud, is supported in over 40 Google Cloud regions. This broad availability helps customers meet data residency and compliance requirements in various countries.
According to the announcement, Google Cloud plans to offer incentives for customers and partners to encourage the adoption of these joint solutions and accelerate their transition toward AI-driven data strategies.