If your organisation moves SAP data into non-SAP platforms, you may be asking an increasingly important question:
Are our current extraction processes still compliant with SAP’s latest guidance?
If the answer is not immediately clear, you are not alone. SAP’s updated position introduces questions about how data can be extracted, replicated and exposed outside the SAP platform. For organisations with established data pipelines, understanding the implications can feel complex.
The two key sources are:
- SAP Note 3255746, “Unpermitted usage of ODP Data Replication APIs”
- The SAP API Policy on the SAP Help Portal
Together, they place clearer restrictions on certain SAP data extraction and replication practices. The latest updates referenced in the original article were made in June 2026, so organisations running SAP should already be reviewing their position. However, the questions we continue to hear suggest that many are still working through what the changes mean in practice.
This article explains what to check now, where uncertainty remains and how to start building a practical route towards long-term compliance.
Start with SAP’s self-assessment tool
The first step is to run SAP’s self-assessment tool.
This checks whether your SAP system uses Operational Data Provisioning, or ODP, replication in a way that SAP considers non-compliant. It is designed specifically to address the restrictions set out in SAP Note 3255746.
If your SAP system is up to date, the tool should already be available. If it is not, you may need to install it separately. The process is described in SAP Note 3439624.
What if the result is unclear?
Unfortunately, the result is not always a straightforward “permitted” or “unpermitted”.
The tool may identify some processes as unclear. When this happens, the answer often depends on the final destination of the data and how that data is being used.
For example, SAP SLT usage through ODP may be flagged as unclear. The organisation then needs to identify the ultimate target and use case:
If the target is SAP BW, the process would generally be considered permitted because the data remains within an SAP platform.
If the target is an Oracle Data Warehouse, the organisation should conclude that the usage is no longer permitted.
An unclear result is not necessarily a sign that you have done something wrong. It is a prompt to investigate the complete data journey before reaching a conclusion.
The self-assessment is only part of the picture
The self-assessment tool primarily addresses SAP Note 3255746 and the use of the ODP framework. It does not confirm whether your extraction processes comply with the broader SAP API Policy.
This distinction matters.
The note focuses on ODP. The API Policy applies across API interfaces and requires customers and third-party applications to use published APIs for documented purposes. It also states that customers may use custom-developed ABAP interfaces in private cloud and on-premise deployments.
However, the policy also prohibits API use for certain activities unless they take place through SAP-endorsed architectures, data services or explicitly intended pathways. These activities include:
- Interaction or integration with semi-autonomous or generative AI systems that plan, select or execute sequences of API calls
- Scraping, harvesting or systematic, large-scale data extraction or replication
This is where the position becomes less clear.
One part of the policy suggests that customers can create custom-developed extractors. Another introduces restrictions around large-scale extraction and replication. That leaves room for interpretation, particularly for organisations moving significant volumes of SAP data into external platforms.
SAP may provide further clarification in future policy revisions. In the meantime, organisations should be cautious about building new integration patterns that rely on favourable interpretations of policy wording that remains open to interpretation.
Review where your SAP data is going
Once you understand your current position, the next step is to consider the future architecture for your SAP integration scenarios.
Broadly, organisations are likely to consider one of two routes.
Option 1: SAP Business Data Cloud as the strategic direction
SAP Business Data Cloud, or SAP BDC, offers the clearest strategic route from a compliance perspective.
Through recent partnerships and innovations, SAP BDC has native integration with Snowflake, Databricks, AWS and Google BigQuery. The original article notes that Azure Fabric integration is expected to follow. Its zero-copy data-sharing mechanism also gives organisations a way to make SAP data available without relying on traditional replication patterns.
From a compliance perspective, this can offer greater peace of mind. Technically, the zero-copy approach works well.
However, moving to SAP BDC may require significant re-architecture of your existing data warehouse. That is an important practical and commercial consideration.
There may also be wider benefits. SAP BDC data products and zero-copy sharing have the potential to reduce development and ongoing support effort. Even so, the business case for an immediate move may not exist for every organisation.
The key is to separate two questions:
- What is our preferred long-term strategic direction?
- What do we need to do now to address any immediate compliance risk?
These do not always need to have the same answer. A phased roadmap may be more realistic than an immediate platform change.
Option 2: Continue using third-party integration tools
Third-party integration tools can still be used compliantly, provided they do not rely on interfaces or extraction mechanisms that SAP has explicitly restricted.
This means the issue is not simply whether you use a third-party tool. You need to understand how that tool accesses SAP data, which interfaces it uses and where the extracted data ultimately goes.
Future policy changes could place further restrictions on third-party tools, although the timing and likelihood remain uncertain. Each enterprise data and analytics team should assess that risk based on its own architecture and use cases, ideally with input from its legal team.
What should you do if you are not compliant?
Discovering a potential compliance issue can be uncomfortable, especially when the affected pipelines support important operational or analytical processes.
The priority is to establish the facts and create a realistic remediation plan.
SAP understands that large organisations need time to adapt to changing policies. However, the first related policy changes were announced in February 2024, so SAP could reasonably argue that customers have already had sufficient notice.
If your organisation is not currently compliant, the recommended approach is to open a dialogue with SAP and clearly explain your planned path to compliance.
SAP may show some leniency where reasonable progress is being made and may hold off restricting existing pipelines. There is also a formal temporary exception process for situations where operational processes are being disrupted. This is covered in SAP Note 3731818.
The exception is temporary and, according to the original article, will not apply beyond 2026.
A practical SAP extraction compliance checklist
If you are reviewing your position, start with these questions:
- Have we run SAP’s self-assessment tool?
- Have we investigated every result marked as unclear?
- Do we know the final destination and use case for each extraction?
- Are we using published APIs for their documented purpose?
- Do any pipelines rely on interfaces or extraction mechanisms that SAP has restricted?
- Have we reviewed compliance with the wider SAP API Policy, rather than SAP Note 3255746 alone?
- Do we understand how our third-party integration tools access and replicate SAP data?
- Have we agreed a remediation plan for any areas of non-compliance?
- Do we have a long-term architecture roadmap?
- Have our technical, legal and SAP stakeholders reviewed the approach?
Compliance is not a one-off exercise
SAP extraction compliance should not be treated as a single technical check. It needs to become an ongoing part of your SAP data strategy.
The immediate priority is to understand your current extraction patterns, investigate areas of uncertainty and agree a practical remediation plan where needed.
At the same time, it is worth reassessing your longer-term architecture. That means balancing compliance with cost, complexity and business value.
For some organisations, SAP BDC may become the strategic direction. For others, a managed transition using existing third-party tools may be more realistic.
There is no single answer for every SAP environment. What matters is making the decision deliberately, with a clear understanding of your current position and the likely direction of SAP’s policies.
Please note: This article provides general guidance and should not be treated as legal advice. Your organisation should review its specific SAP agreements, architecture and use cases with SAP and its legal advisers.
If you're navigating the recent SAP data extraction changes and want some advice on where to go now, book a call with an expert today.