Questions & Answers
We don't want to use a tool (ADF SAP CDC Connector) which does not have any support from SAP
It has not been supported for many years. The status just changed from Unsupported → Unpermitted.
Do we think that SAP will implement any technical measures to prevent ADF and other non-SAP vendors to use ODP?
No, at least in the near future. ODP is the data distribution framework for data provisioning in all SAP systems. Having such major change will require huge effort and changes to virtually all existing products.
SAP is disallowing access "the usage of RFC modules of the ODP Data Replication API by 3rd parties" which is something different than the ODP framework or RFC protocol itself - they should still be permitted.
Different people have different views of the problem.
Possible Solutions
Keep using ADF/Qlik Replicate/…
SAP customers are not responsible for monitoring all changes in all SAP notes. SAP notes are not legally binding. More legal changes might come soon though, especially to SAP Rise.
This is more plausible than the technical limitation of ODP framework. However, I cannot say how realistic is this, as it will open a huge discussions with the existing customers that are using the functionality.
Both ADF and SAP Datasphere use parquet files to store data extracts. The transformation logic in Databricks may remain unaffected even if you need to switch to Datasphere.
SAP Datasphere
Need to use SAP Datasphere Replication Flows
Pricing
The minimum is 4300 CUs = ~50k EUR per year. But there are other limitations
Separate instance per environment (dev/test/prod/...)?
It is advisable to have separate environments for dev, test, and prod, especially for large implementations. In theory it is possible to use one and the same instance and connect it to all systems, but it will bring additional risks and complicate the day-to-day activities for the developers. Each instance is paid separately.
Other
Do we need BW Bridge even if we do not have SAP BW?
No it is not required