Microsoft Fabric & Open Mirroring: Efficient SAP Data Integration Without ODP

Companies that rely on SAP data for analytics are facing a new challenge: SAP Note 3255746 limits the use of the ODP connector, prompting many to search for alternative ways to efficiently and incrementally replicate their SAP data. Xtract Universal by Theobald Software offers a streamlined solution for integrating SAP data into Microsoft Fabric OneLake – without relying on the ODP approach. Thanks to powerful Change Data Capture (CDC) technologies like Table CDC and DeltaQ, only changed data is extracted, reducing system load and optimizing data pipelines. In combination with Microsoft Fabric Open Mirroring, these changes are automatically stored in OneLake and merged into Delta tables, ensuring up-to-date data is always available for Power BI, AI applications, and advanced analytics—without complex ETL processes. 
This blog post shows you how to efficiently integrate SAP data into Microsoft technologies and future-proof your data strategy. 

Contents

1. Microsoft Fabric: A solution for modern data management 
2. OneLake – the data backbone of Microsoft Fabric 
3. SAP integration with Microsoft Fabric: Why does it matter? 
4. Challenges of integrating SAP with Microsoft Fabric 
5. The solution: SAP data integration with Xtract Universal 
6. Open Mirroring: Near real-time SAP data replication in Microsoft Fabric 

1. Microsoft Fabric: A solution for modern data management

As an end-to-end data platform, Microsoft Fabric offers a comprehensive solution for organizations that want to centralize, manage, and analyze their data. One of its key components is OneLake, Microsoft Fabric’s unified data lakehouse, which enables scalable and consistent data storage. Teams across Data & Analytics, IT, and business departments benefit from seamless integration with Microsoft services and powerful analytical capabilities. 

However, in practice, many organizations struggle to consolidate data from various sources—including SAP systems—and make that data usable. Microsoft Fabric simplifies this process by integrating heterogeneous data sources and making them available for in-depth analysis. Efficient SAP data integration plays a crucial role here. With technologies like Open Mirroring, SAP data can be replicated into Microsoft Fabric OneLake in near real time and used immediately in Delta tables for analytics. This paves the way for data-driven decisions and increases operational efficiency.  

To enable seamless connectivity with SAP systems, companies turn to specialized interfaces like Xtract Universal. These tools automate the delivery of SAP data in the right format and support modern technologies like delta loading and integration with Open Mirroring—without requiring deep changes to the SAP system itself. 

How Microsoft Fabric supports modern data strategies 

Data management and analytics are critical to the success of today’s organizations. To meet growing demands, more and more companies are adopting Microsoft Fabric. The platform unites various data and analytics services into a single environment, laying the groundwork for a scalable and efficient data strategy. But what makes Microsoft Fabric especially valuable for businesses?  

2. OneLake – the data backbone of Microsoft Fabric

Microsoft Fabric unfolds its full potential through centralized data storage that enables seamless data processing and analysis. At the heart of this architecture is OneLake — the core storage layer of Microsoft Fabric. It forms the foundation for modern and efficient data management by bringing together all enterprise data in a unified environment. A key component here is the integration of SAP data, which can be transferred into OneLake via dedicated SAP connectors such as Xtract Universal. Thanks to Open Mirroring, incremental changes to SAP data are automatically written into Delta tables. This allows SAP data to be combined with other enterprise data and used for near real-time analytics. 

OneLake features and benefits at a glance

As the central storage layer of Microsoft Fabric, OneLake is a unified, cloud-based platform that provides the flexibility and scalability companies need for their data strategy. Compared to traditional data warehouses, OneLake offers several key advantages:  

3. SAP integration with Microsoft Fabric: Why does it matter?

The benefits of Microsoft Fabric und OneLake are clear – but to fully unlock their potential, enterprise data must be efficiently brought into the platform. SAP data plays a crucial role here, as SAP systems often form the backbone of business operations. A robust SAP integration is therefore essential to ensure smooth data flows and to optimize business-critical processes. With the right interface – such as Xtract Universal – SAP data can be integrated into Microsoft Fabric in a flexible, high-performance, and secure way, forming the basis for company-wide analytics and data-driven decision-making. 

SAP as the central ERP system

SAP is used globally across industries to manage core business functions like finance, logistics, production, and more. The data stored in SAP systems represents a valuable asset for analysis, forecasting, and strategic planning. The challenge, however, lies in efficiently transferring this data into modern cloud-based analytics platforms like Microsoft Fabric—while maintaining data quality and meeting the needs of various departments. 

Xtract Universal addresses exactly this challenge by extracting data from SAP systems—whether SAP ERP or SAP S/4HANA—and preparing it for use in Microsoft Fabric. With support for multiple extraction methods (such as Table, Table CDC, CDS Views, Reports, BW objects, and OData services), the solution provides maximum flexibility while ensuring high performance and stability. This allows companies to tailor their SAP integration strategy to their specific needs while enabling scalable, cloud-native analytics in Fabric. 

4. Challenges of integrating SAP with Microsoft Fabric

Connecting SAP systems to Microsoft Fabric presents both technical and conceptual challenges in practice. To integrate SAP data efficiently into the Microsoft ecosystem, organizations must overcome common hurdles—from complex data structures to the need for near real-time data availability. 

• Complex data structures and proprietary formats
  SAP data is often stored in highly structured tables and proprietary formats that cannot be directly processed by cloud-based analytics platforms. Without a suitable interface, companies must manually prepare and convert this data before it can be used in Fabric. Xtract Universal handles this step reliably automated, high-performance, and in the required structure.
   

• Limited capabilities of native Microsoft connectors
  While Microsoft provides its own connectors for accessing SAP data, these are primarily suited for standardized scenarios. The situation has become more complex due to SAP Note 3255746, which deprecates the use of ODP Data Replication via RFC APIs. This makes it more difficult to extract SAP data incrementally or at scale using native Microsoft connectors. 
  Companies therefore need a more flexible solution to transfer SAP data into OneLake efficiently and without manual effort. Xtract Universal offers a certified and future-proof alternative, supporting a variety of extraction technologies and ensuring secure, reliable, and continuous access to SAP data in Microsoft Fabric—without manual interventions.
   

• High demands for real-time data processing
  Many business processes—particularly in finance, production, or logistics—depend on up-to-date, consistent SAP data. Forecasting, simulations, or inventory analysis can only be trusted if based on near real-time information. 
  With Open Mirroring, Microsoft Fabric—when combined with a dedicated SAP interface—enables automated transfer of current SAP data into OneLake, where it is made available in Delta tables. This provides a stable foundation for both operational and strategic analytics.

5. The solution: SAP data integration with Xtract Universal

To overcome the challenges of SAP integration with Microsoft Fabric, organizations need a powerful interface that enables seamless data transfer from SAP systems into Fabric. This solution must bridge structural differences between the platforms, support high-performance data extraction, and meet near real-time requirements—all without disrupting critical business operations. Xtract Universal delivers exactly that: a reliable, high-performance, and flexible solution for SAP data integration. 

6. Open Mirroring: Near real-time SAP data replication in Microsoft Fabric 

Open Mirroring in Microsoft Fabric allows near real-time replication of data from external sources like SAP into OneLake—automatically and in the open Delta Lake format. Using Change Data Capture (CDC), Xtract Universal identifies incremental changes in SAP systems (e.g., ECC or S/4HANA) and writes them directly into OneLake. 

This brings several key advantages: Data remains up to date at all times without delays caused by batch processing. Because only incremental changes are transferred, the load on SAP systems is significantly reduced, and processing becomes much more efficient. The integration is seamless, as data is automatically transformed into the Delta Lake format—perfect for Power BI, AI/ML applications, and other analytics platforms. All inserts, updates, and deletes are automatically reflected in Delta tables to ensure data completeness and consistency. 

How does data refresh with Open Mirroring work?

Once data is replicated to OneLake, the Open Mirroring replication engine processes it automatically. Changes are merged directly into Delta tables, enabling analytics on always up-to-date data. 

Want to see Microsoft Fabric OneLake in action?

Watch our exclusive webinar to learn how to optimize your SAP data integration with Microsoft Fabric. You’ll discover:

• How to implement incremental data loads from SAP using our CDC mechanism 
• The advantages of incremental loading over full data loads 
• An alternative to ODP RFC and ODP OData for SAP data extraction 
• A live demo of Xtract Universal and Microsoft Fabric OneLake 

Watch the free webinar recording here:  

Conclusion 

Integrating SAP with Microsoft Fabric offers a wide range of benefits that help companies modernize and streamline their data strategy. By centralizing data in OneLake, organizations can break down silos and build a unified, cloud-based platform that enables faster access to critical information. The result: better performance, real-time insights, and the ability to make smarter business decisions. 

The seamless connection between SAP and Microsoft services like Power BI and Azure Synapse allows businesses to work with their SAP data more efficiently—without relying on time-consuming ETL processes. With Xtract Universal and Open Mirroring, companies have powerful tools at hand to transform the way they integrate and use SAP data across the Microsoft ecosystem. 

Get exclusive benefits – join our Premium Customer Program!  

Make the most of Microsoft Fabric and Open Mirroring for your SAP data integration by joining our Premium Customer Program. As a member, you’ll gain early access to new features and updates before they’re officially released, benefit from priority access to our expert support team, and have the opportunity to actively shape the future of our product development with your input. Learn more at: https://theobald-software.com/en/fabric-mirroring#premium 

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