Keep What Works, Unlock What's Next!

Every time SAP publishes an updated Statement of Direction for SAP BusinessObjects, the same question tends to come up with customers:

Is SAP still investing in SAP BusinessObjects, or should we be looking to move away from it?

The October 2026 Statement of Direction gives us a much clearer answer.

SAP BusinessObjects is not disappearing. In fact, SAP continues to position SAP BusinessObjects BI as its platform for governed, mission-critical enterprise reporting. At the same time, SAP Business Data Cloud is becoming the strategic platform for new cloud-based data, analytics, planning and AI requirements.

For organisations that have been running SAP BusinessObjects for many years, this is an important distinction.

SAP isn't saying that customers need to replace thousands of Web Intelligence reports, universes and Crystal Reports simply because its cloud strategy is evolving. The direction is much more practical than that: keep SAP BusinessObjects where it continues to do the job well, modernise the platform, and introduce newer SAP technologies where there is a genuine business case for doing so.

That is probably a more realistic strategy for most established SAP BusinessObjects customers.

What has actually changed?​​

Previous updates had already made it clear that BI 4.3 wasn't going to be the end of SAP BusinessObjects. BI 2025 has since arrived and SAP is now talking much more specifically about the next release, SAP BusinessObjects BI 2027.

What is different in this latest Statement of Direction is that we are starting to get a clearer picture of what the SAP BusinessObjects platform itself will look like over the coming years.

And it isn't simply SAP BusinessObjects as we know it today with another version number attached.

SAP is gradually simplifying the technology stack, retiring older components, modernising authentication and putting greater emphasis on Web Intelligence.

That has some very practical implications for existing customers.

Web Intelligence is clearly important to SAP's plans​​

​One of the more interesting parts of the October 2026 update is what SAP is planning for Web Intelligence.

With BI 2027, SAP intends to introduce two types of reporting experience within the Web Intelligence document model. One will concentrate on fixed-layout, pixel-perfect reporting and high-volume report distribution. The other will be aimed at responsive dashboards, interactive visualisation and offline consumption. Both will share the same underlying data preparation layer.

That might sound like just another feature announcement, but I think it tells us something more important.

For years, a typical SAP BusinessObjects environment could include Web Intelligence, Crystal Reports, Lumira, Analysis for Office and sometimes a number of older tools that were retained because particular departments or applications depended on them.

SAP now seems determined to make that landscape smaller.

We've already seen Web Intelligence move well beyond its origins as an ad-hoc query and reporting tool. The direction for BI 2027 strengthens that trend.

For customers with a large investment in WebI, that is good news.

It also means organisations planning their next upgrade should consider whether some reporting currently delivered through older SAP BusinessObjects components could be consolidated into Web Intelligence rather than simply migrated like-for-like.

Crystal Reports isn't going away either​​​

There has been similar uncertainty around Crystal Reports.

The October Statement of Direction continues to recognise Crystal Reports as an important tool for pixel-perfect reporting and says SAP will continue investing in its long-term sustainability, including its relationship with modern .unx universes.

There is an important distinction here: Crystal Reports continues. Crystal Reports for Enterprise does not.

If your organisation has business-critical Crystal Reports, particularly reports embedded into operational processes or applications, there is no announcement here that suddenly requires you to replace them. As always, though, it makes sense to understand exactly which Crystal technologies and versions you are using.

Analysis for Office remains supported, but don't expect major development

​SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office also remains supported and will continue to align with the BusinessObjects release cycle.

SAP has, however, stated that no new features are planned.

I would interpret that as a mature product being maintained rather than a product where customers should expect significant new investment.

Again, that doesn't mean customers need to remove it.

It simply needs to be taken into account when planning where future analytics requirements should be delivered.

There is now a timeline for Lumira Designer​

Another significant change is the clearer direction for SAP Lumira Designer.

SAP currently plans releases aligned with BusinessObjects BI in 2027 and 2029 but intends to sunset Lumira Designer after the 2029 release. Mainstream maintenance is planned through the end of 2031. SAP recommends Web Intelligence or SAP Analytics Cloud as alternatives.

There is no reason to panic about that. 2031 is still some way off. But there is now enough certainty that customers should start planning. If you have 100 Lumira applications, for example, I wouldn't automatically create a project to migrate 100 applications.

I'd start by asking:

• Which dashboards are still actively used?
• Which ones are business-critical?
• Which could now be delivered in WebI?
• Which are better suited to SAP Analytics Cloud?
• Which could simply be retired?

We regularly find that environments have accumulated reports and applications over many years that nobody wants to take ownership of, but everyone is reluctant to remove.

A major platform change is often a good opportunity to clean that up.

Authentication is another area customers should not overlook

There is also an important change coming for organisations using SAML.

SAP states that SAML will not be supported beyond BI 2025 and is moving towards OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect as the supported authentication frameworks going forward.

That is particularly relevant for organisations that have integrated SAP BusinessObjects with enterprise identity platforms.

Authentication changes tend to look straightforward on an architecture diagram. In real environments they can affect BI Launch Pad access, SDK applications, trusted authentication, load balancers, reverse proxies and other integrations.

It is therefore something I would include in a BI 2027 readiness assessment now rather than discover during the upgrade.

SAP is also simplifying the underlying platform​​

The same simplification is happening below the SAP BusinessObjects application layer.

From BI 2027, SAP plans to standardise on its embedded Tomcat runtime rather than supporting multiple external Java application servers. AIX and Solaris also drop away after BI 4.3, with Windows and Linux becoming the preferred operating systems.

On the surface, reducing platform choices can feel restrictive.

From a support perspective, however, I can see the logic.

Anyone who has maintained BusinessObjects environments for a long time knows how quickly the support matrix can become complicated when you combine SAP BusinessObjects versions with different operating systems, databases, Java versions, browsers, application servers and authentication technologies.

Reducing those combinations should ultimately make the platform easier to certify, patch and support.​

A different approach to upgrades

Another change that perhaps hasn't received enough attention is SAP's new BusinessObjects maintenance model.

Starting with BI 2025, SAP has moved to a two-year release cycle, with each release receiving three years of Mainstream Maintenance. This replaces the previous model of annual support package releases with shorter support periods.

Personally, I think this requires a change in mindset for many SAP BusinessObjects customers.

Historically, we've seen organisations run the same SAP BusinessObjects version for years before undertaking a major upgrade project.

Under the new model, customers should probably start treating BusinessObjects upgrades as part of normal platform lifecycle management.

Instead of asking every few years:

"Do we really need to upgrade?"

the better question becomes:

"When is our next planned upgrade?"

That allows regression testing, infrastructure changes, security requirements and application compatibility to be managed proactively rather than becoming an urgent project when support approaches its end.

What about customers still running BI 4.3?

This deserves particular attention.

When a supported SAP BusinessObjects release leaves Mainstream Maintenance, it moves into Customer Specific Maintenance.

According to SAP's October 2026 statement, during the first year of Customer Specific Maintenance, fixes continue to be provided for High and Very High security issues with a CVSS score of 7.0 or higher. After that period, support services remain available, but software updates are no longer provided.

That is an important distinction.

Being able to raise an SAP support ticket doesn't necessarily mean the platform continues to receive the fixes and certifications that an organisation expects from a fully supported production system.

For financial services, government and other regulated organisations, that becomes particularly relevant when security and technology risk teams start reviewing the platform.

Cloud doesn't mean you have to abandon BusinessObjects

One of the things I particularly like about the latest direction is that SAP's cloud message feels more realistic for existing SAP BusinessObjects customers.

SAP describes its modernisation approach as coexistence rather than disruption. Existing SAP BusinessObjects environments can continue on-premises or operate through private cloud, while SAP Business Data Cloud becomes the preferred platform for new cloud-native data, analytics, planning and AI scenarios.

That is a much more sensible proposition than trying to migrate every existing enterprise report into a new cloud analytics tool.

Consider a bank that has spent fifteen years developing several thousand BusinessObjects reports used for daily operations, regulatory reporting and management information.

If those reports are stable, governed and doing exactly what the business needs, what is the business case for rebuilding every one of them simply because a newer analytics technology exists?

There often isn't one.

A better approach can be to retain BusinessObjects for those established reporting workloads while delivering genuinely new requirements on a more modern data and analytics foundation.

Over time the balance will naturally change.

And, of course, AI

It wouldn't be a technology strategy in 2026 without AI.

SAP describes SAP BusinessObjects BI and Data Services as "AI ready", rather than positioning them as AI-native platforms.

Through their open SDK architectures, customers and partners will be able to integrate AI agents, large language models and third-party AI services. SAP also plans to publish reference samples and integration blueprints.

That's an important distinction.

I don't think SAP BusinessObjects needs to become an AI platform.

What is more interesting is the possibility of allowing AI-enabled services to interact safely with the governed semantic and reporting environment organisations have already built.

SAP BusinessObjects customers have spent years creating universes, business definitions, security models and trusted reporting processes. That governed information could become particularly valuable in an AI-enabled organisation.

SAP Business Data Cloud, meanwhile, is where SAP is positioning its native AI capabilities at scale.

That gives customers a potential pathway to introduce AI without throwing away the reporting architecture they already trust.

What should BusinessObjects customers do now?

I wouldn't suggest that every SAP BusinessObjects customer immediately launches another transformation project.

But I also wouldn't recommend sitting back and waiting until BI 4.3 becomes a problem.

Now is a good time to actually look at the BusinessObjects environment and understand what is there.

Start with the basics.

• What versions are you running?
• How many active WebI and Crystal reports do you really have?
• Are you still using .unv universes?
• Do you have multi-source universes?
• Are there Lumira applications that still matter to the business?
• What authentication model are you using?
• Which SDK applications and integrations depend on BusinessObjects?

And perhaps most importantly:

• How much of the environment is genuinely business-critical and how much is simply still there because nobody has reviewed it for ten years?

Once you know that, the roadmap becomes much easier to build.