SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BusinessObjects BI) is SAP’s on-premise reporting and analytics suite. It is built around the BI platform’s Central Management Server, with Web Intelligence, Crystal Reports and related clients on top. SAP licenses it as a Package under the Software Use Rights (SUR). Capacity is counted per Deployment, and access is bought either as named Users (Package metric) or as Concurrent Sessions. The two metrics can be combined in one Deployment.[1] The current global text is SUR enGLOBAL.v.4-2026 (PDF dated 20 April 2026). BusinessObjects sits outside the SAP Named User types described in SAP Named User and Digital Access licensing, but the SUR states that the BI Users metric “does not replace the overall SAP Named User licensing requirement”.
Editions
SUR Exhibit 3 §10 recognises three platform editions, and each is sold in a user variant and a Concurrent Session (CS) variant:
| Edition | User SKU | CS SKU | Notes (SUR Exhibit 3) |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise | SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise (user) | SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise (CS) | Includes 1 Concurrent Session of SAP PowerDesigner EnterpriseArchitect, runtime SAP IQ and runtime Data Integrator, each capped at 8 cores (§10.1.1) |
| SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence | SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence (user) | Web Intelligence (CS) | Includes a runtime licence of the BI SDK (§10.1.2) |
| SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence | SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence, standard user | SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence, concurrent sessions | Includes a runtime licence of the BI SDK (§10.1.3) |
All three editions carry the same SDK restriction. Using any BusinessObjects BI SDK in a commercial software product to connect data from BusinessObjects semantic layers or documents to third-party products is prohibited without SAP’s written consent, and using it to convert BusinessObjects content or metadata to third-party products is not allowed.[1] SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise and SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence also include runtime licences for the Oracle OLAP Data Provider and for SQL Anywhere (§§10.1.9-10.1.10).
For midsize customers, Exhibit 3 §14 adds SAP BusinessObjects BI, Edge edition and SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence, Edge edition. Exhibit 3 §15 covers the SAP Crystal family: SAP Crystal Reports, SAP Crystal Server, SAP Crystal Reports Server and SAP Crystal Dashboard Design.
Metrics
- Deployments (Exhibit 2 §15.1) are single installations of the system repository component of the BI Platform, or of the Crystal Reports runtime engine.
- Users (Package metric) (Exhibit 2 §47.1) are individuals who use the software. A User cannot be assigned to more than one individual, and reassignment follows the same five conditions as SAP Named Users: vacation, sickness, termination, a job change, or a condition agreed by SAP.
- Concurrent Sessions (Exhibit 2 §39.1) are the aggregated sessions accessing the software at any one time, limited per Deployment by license keys.
- Servers (Exhibit 2 §38.1) are physical computers, cases, boxes or blades. The metric is used for some Crystal products.[1]
Counting / floors
Users and sessions together (effective 2026-04-20). For SAP Business Intelligence, there is no licence limit on the number of processors or servers. Users are identified at logon and do not consume a Concurrent Session licence, and Concurrent Session licences and Users can be purchased together for a Deployment. The customer may not use any program or system to cache or queue report requests. BI users may be entered into the SAP NetWeaver BW system to maintain security (BI Users do not consume Concurrent Sessions; no request caching or queuing).[1]
One edition per Deployment. A single Deployment of the BI platform may use only one edition: Enterprise, Web Intelligence, or the Business Intelligence model (One BusinessObjects edition per BI platform Deployment).[1] Customers holding licences from older editions alongside Business Intelligence model licences therefore need separate Deployments for each.
Ten sessions per User. Each User of Enterprise (user), Web Intelligence (user) or Business Intelligence, standard user may create at most 10 simultaneous sessions (BusinessObjects User licenses: maximum 10 simultaneous sessions).[1]
What a Concurrent Session licence excludes. The CS licences are consumption licences, not authoring licences. With SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise (CS), the following are not available: Business View Manager, Report Conversion Tool, Universe Design Tool, Web Service Query Tool, Information Design Tool, Translation Management Tool, Data Federation Administration Tool, Central Management Console and Central Configuration Manager; the Crystal Reports and Crystal Reports for Enterprise desktop clients; the Web Intelligence Rich Client; the SAP Lumira desktop client; and Analysis edition for Microsoft Office with the SAP NetWeaver platform (BusinessObjects Concurrent Session licenses exclude design and admin tools). Similar lists apply to Web Intelligence (CS) and Business Intelligence, concurrent sessions (§§10.1.7-10.1.8).[1] Developers and administrators therefore need User licences.
Edge caps. Each Deployment of SAP BusinessObjects BI, Edge edition is limited to 100 named users and 50 Concurrent Sessions on a single server (BI Edge: 100 named users and 50 Concurrent Sessions per Deployment). It may be installed on a separate server solely for use with SAP Lumira Server, and its runtime SAP IQ and Data Integrator may each run on up to 8 cores. SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence, Edge edition has the same 100 and 50 caps (§14.3.1). Certain Edge functions are supported only with the User metric.[1]
Crystal. A Desktop SAP Crystal licence used on a workstation dedicated to training applies to the workstation rather than the named user, with one licence per training workstation (§15.1.4). SAP Crystal Server may be installed and used only on a single Server per Deployment, may not be clustered across multiple live Servers, and cannot access data in SAP applications except SAP Business One (SAP Crystal Server: single Server per Deployment, no clustering). SAP Crystal Reports Server OEM Embedded has the same single-server rule whether licensed per User or per Server (§15.4).[1]
Virtualization & partitioning
Non-productive installations. SAP BusinessObjects software may run on an unlimited number of non-productive installations, such as development, test and disaster recovery, provided no single non-productive installation exceeds the total number of licensed Users or Concurrent Sessions (SAP BusinessObjects: unlimited non-productive installations).[1]
Multi-tenancy. When the BI Platform multi-tenancy feature is enabled, each tenant counts as a separate Deployment for licensing purposes (BI Platform multi-tenancy: each tenant is a separate Deployment).[1] Because Concurrent Sessions are allocated and key-limited per Deployment, splitting a platform into tenants also splits the session pool.
Hardware. The Users metric sets no processor or server limit. For products licensed per Server, the SUR states that multiple virtual machines on the same physical box are allowed and do not require additional licences (Exhibit 2 §38.1).
Repository database. When HANA REAB, HANA REAB-Partial or Limited HANA Runtime is the runtime database for BusinessObjects, it may host the Central Management Server repository and the audit database, and serve as the platform for the Design Studio runtime for SAP HANA (Exhibit 3 §19.15.5). See SAP HANA runtime and full-use licensing.
Cloud / BYOL
The SUR publishes no bring-your-own-licence mapping for BusinessObjects on hyperscaler infrastructure. The Deployment, User and Concurrent Session rules apply wherever the platform is installed. In SAP’s private cloud tailored option, “SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise, private edition” is offered as subscription software. Its SDG repeats the Concurrent Session definition, including key-limited sessions per Deployment and the rule that users in Deployments with unlimited sessions require a Named User licence.[2]
Programs
No SAP document cited here names a BusinessObjects-specific licensing program. BusinessObjects runtime rights also appear inside other Packages. For example, SAP Extended Sourcing and SAP Contracts Lifecycle Management include SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise as Runtime Software solely for use with those products (SUR Exhibit 3 §5.12), and SAP Tax Compliance for S/4HANA includes SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise limited to 5 Users per block of its licensed metric (§2.30).[1] Those embedded rights do not extend to general reporting.
Out of scope
- SAP Analytics Cloud, SAP Lumira and SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, beyond the tool names listed in the Concurrent Session exclusions.
- SAP Crystal Reports runtime distribution terms for embedding in customer applications (SUR Exhibit 3 §15.2).
- List prices and the conversion ratios between legacy BusinessObjects licences and the Business Intelligence model, which SAP does not publish in the SUR.