SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.2 has served organizations for over a decade, with support for new features ending in 2022 and customer-specific fixes stopping in 2024. As SAP shifts to BI 2025, users face a critical choice: upgrade to BI 4.3 or jump straight to BI 2025. With extended support and enhanced capabilities, BI 2025 is the future of SAP BusinessObjects.
Pearl, Northern Europe’s largest SAP partner, is here to guide you through seamless upgrades and migrations, ensuring your team is ready to maximize the full potential of BI 2025.
What’s Next for SAP BusinessObjects: Development Direction and Roadmap
SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.2 has been around for a decade, with SAP ending maintenance for new capabilities and code fixes in 2022, and customer-specific fixes as of December 31, 2024. This 10-year support period highlights the long-term security of SAP BusinessObjects investments.
For BI 4.3 users, support has been extended until the end of 2026, with Support Package 5 bringing new features in mid-2025. Looking ahead, SAP plans to align BI support with its broader strategy, offering three years of support for each new version — starting with BI 2025 and continuing with BI 2027 and BI 2029.
What should SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.2 users do?
With SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.2 Priority One support ending on December 31, 2024, even the most loyal users face a crucial decision: upgrade to BI 4.3 or BI 2025. While the "if it works, don’t touch it" mindset is understandable, continuing with BI 4.2 introduces several risks:
- Security Policy: Unsupported software may violate organizational security policies or be flagged as a preventable risk.
- OS Support: Third-party vendors may stop supporting server operating systems hosting BI 4.2 — for instance, standard support for Windows Server 2016 and 2019 has already ended.
- Compliance: Regulatory landscapes shift quickly. Previously compliant software can suddenly fall out of alignment, forcing costly, urgent upgrades.
The release of BI 2025 presents a perfect opportunity to upgrade. BI 4.3 offers a smoother transition, with minimal disruption and a more modern experience — including the upgraded BI Launchpad Fiori interface. Additionally, moving to BI 4.3 better prepares organizations for future migrations to SAP BusinessObjects BI PCE or SAP Analytics Cloud while reducing risks associated with jumping directly from BI 4.2 to BI 2025.
Next Steps:
- Review third-party integrations and custom configurations.
- Ensure your operating systems meet current requirements.
If there are no critical dependencies and your infrastructure is compatible, upgrading to BI 4.3 is a logical step to maintain support, ensure technical compatibility, and embrace modern capabilities. Gradual planning and development will help safeguard your reporting infrastructure for the future.
Image from SAP.
How does this affect SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3 users?
BI 4.3 users can feel confident — SAP has extended support until the end of 2026, with critical security fixes (CVSS ≥ 7.0) continuing until the end of 2027. This extension gives users extra time to prepare for the move to BI 2025, along with upcoming enhancements in Support Package 5 (SP5).
The transition from BI 4.3 to BI 2025 will be smoother than the jump from 4.2 to 4.3, as the familiar SAP Fiori design remains unchanged. However, BI 2025 brings major behind-the-scenes upgrades, making it more like a 5.0 release than a simple version update.
A few tools are being phased out based on usage data — the most notable being UNV universes and the Universe Design Tool. SAP offers alternatives to ease the transition.
Next Steps for BI 4.3 Users:
- Check for Deprecated Features: Ensure you’re not using tools like UNV universes, which won’t be supported in BI 2025.
- Review Infrastructure: Confirm your operating systems meet BI 2025’s requirements.
- Assess Product Compatibility: Understand how BI 2025 integrates with other SAP products.
If these checks align, now is the perfect time to plan your upgrade to BI 2025. Use this window to future-proof your reporting infrastructure and explore integration with cloud solutions.
Is SAP BusinessObjects the Future?
Absolutely! Organizations that value a proven architecture, robust administration, and predictable costs will continue to rely on SAP BusinessObjects. Despite suggestions that its design might seem dated, many companies invest in the SAP BI solution to manage their platforms locally, plan upgrades and training, and develop complex, tailored reports at their own pace.
Key points include:
- Long-Term Support: SAP BusinessObjects is expected to be supported until at least 2030, ensuring stability for future investments.
- Consistent Architecture: Users will continue to enjoy reliable connectivity, semantic layers (like UNX), centralized administration, and a modern user interface with predictable costs.
- Adapting to New Technologies: While emerging technologies may require large-scale data centers, SAP is actively integrating artificial intelligence into its portfolio. This ensures that BI solutions can eventually leverage secure and meaningful AI-driven insights.
- Private Cloud Readiness: SAP BusinessObjects BI 2025 is designed to run in private cloud environments (PCE), offering flexibility and future-proofing as technology evolves.
Image from SAP.
Pearl's Support
We help companies that trust us transition efficiently to the latest version of SAP BusinessObjects BI by providing a clear and structured upgrade path tailored to your organization's needs.
Our support for you on your way to SAP BusinessObjects BI 2025 includes:
- In-depth analysis and planning of the situation:
- We will conduct a technical and business analysis of your current SAP BusinessObjects environment, identifying necessary changes and possible challenges. We help you evaluate whether the best solution is to switch from BI 4.2 to BI 4.3 or direct migration from BI 4.3 to BI 2025.
- Migration strategy and implementation:
- Our experts develop a custom migration plan that minimizes risks and disruptions in your SAP BusinessObjects BI operation. We offer both in-place upgrades and parallel migration to a new environment, depending on your requirements.
- Testing and analyzing third-party integrations and customizations:
- We review how migration will affect your BI environment, including UNX semantic layers, data connections, custom scripts, and third-party integrations to ensure everything runs smoothly after you upgrade.
- Cloud transition and hybrid solutions
- If you want to use SAP BusinessObjects in the private cloud (PCE) or integrate with SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC), we help you find the optimal solution and ensure a smooth transition.
- Training and user support
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As Northern Europe's largest SAP partner, Pearl provides upgrade and migration services, comprehensive training, and long-term support. Our experts ensure your team is ready to maximize the new SAP BusinessObjects BI features post-migration
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Whether your organization is planning a simple upgrade or a complete transition to a new BI architecture, Pearl will is here to help you choose and implement the right strategy.
