SAP Say "You Better Stop" using ODP-RFC - Here's What Qlik Customers Need to Do

[Adam_Mayer]

Something significant has shifted in the SAP ecosystem. SAP first prohibited ODP-RFC access for third-party tools back in February 2024. For over two years, that rule existed on paper without technical enforcement. In April 2026, that changed: SAP announced active enforcement was coming, and in June 2026, it arrived. Here is your plain-language explanation of what it means for Qlik customers, and where Qlik goes from here.

[Adam_Mayer]

In 1979, The Clash covered a track called "Wrong 'Em Boyo" — a London Calling deep cut built around a simple warning: "You better stop." They were singing about the perils of gambling, not SAP data pipelines. But if you're still running ODP-RFC without a migration plan, those three words should be ringing true right now.

What Changed, and When

For years, the ODP-RFC interface has been a widely used method for extracting data from SAP systems into analytics platforms, data warehouses, and lakehouses. It worked well. Many organizations built their entire data pipeline architecture around it - and that includes a significant number of Qlik customers globally.

In February 2024, SAP updated SAP Note 3255746, making it explicit that ODP-RFC is intended exclusively for data transfer between SAP applications. Use by third-party tools to extract data from systems running on-premise or in private-cloud setups with components like SAP BW, SAP BW/4HANA, or PI_BASIS was classified as unpermitted. We believe customers continued to use ODP-RFC because it was effective in their SAP data replication processes and it was functionality that SAP was already using internally for SAP-to-SAP data transfers.

SAP is offering a temporary revert option that allows customers to roll back to unrestricted ODP-RFC access - but that window closes in December 2026, and SAP is explicit that doing so is at the customer's own risk. The deadline is real. The clock is running.

Which Qlik Products Are Affected

Not everything is impacted equally. The two products most directly affected by the June patch are:

• Qlik Replicate - SAP ODP Endpoint
• Qlik Talend Cloud - SAP ODP Connector

If you have tasks running on either of these using the ODP-RFC interface, those pipelines will fail after applying the patch, unless you migrate to an alternative connection path first.

SAP has published a self-assessment utility (SAP Note 3439624) that will flag any ODP-RFC calls from Qlik connectors as "unpermitted." It's worth running it now to understand your exposure within your environment before doing anything else.

Other Qlik products that include ODP functionality - including Qlik Analytics (Qlik Sense / QlikView) and Talend Studio - are also in scope, though the immediate operational impact varies by use case. For Talend Studio customers specifically, a separate Qlik Community article covers what you need to know.

Qlik Gold Client does not use the ODP-RFC interface and is unaffected.

What You Can Do Today

Qlik supports several alternative connection paths that don't rely on ODP-RFC, the right one for your organisation depends on your SAP landscape, performance requirements, and timeline.

ODP-OData is fully supported by both Qlik Replicate and Qlik Talend Cloud today. It works, and migrating to it is the most straightforward near-term path for many customers. One trade-off worth knowing: OData is HTTP-based, which can mean lower throughput compared to ODP-RFC in high-volume scenarios. For many use cases that's acceptable. For others, it's a consideration worth modelling before you commit.

Beyond OData, Qlik supports a range of other SAP-native connection methods - SAP Extractors, database-level CDC, and more - depending on your system configuration. There is no single right answer, which is why we'd strongly encourage any affected customer to reach out to your Qlik representative before applying the June patch, so we can map the right migration path together.

For the full technical detail on your options, the Qlik Community Support Update is the definitive reference.

Something New on the Horizon

Qlik is constantly adapting to change for the benefit of our customers. The product team is heads-down actively developing a new SAP connector - an alternative to both ODP and OData - targeting general availability in late Q3 2026.

This new endpoint is designed to be fully compliant with SAP's runtime license requirements while offering CDC capability for SAP HANA environments. It will be made available in both Qlik Replicate and Qlik Talend Cloud, and for customers on S/4HANA, it's shaping up to be a meaningful addition to the toolkit.

We'd rather show you something finished than promise you a roadmap. But for those of you navigating the ODP transition and wondering what comes next: something is coming.

We will be making this new endpoint available through a Private Preview in early September. If you would like to be considered for early access, please complete the following form:

Private Preview Registration (SAP HANA RFC Endpoint)

What to Do Next

If you're using ODP-RFC today, start here:

1. Run SAP's self-assessment utility (SAP Note 3439624) to understand your current exposure
2. Audit your Qlik tasks - identify which rely on the SAP ODP endpoint across your Qlik products
3. Do not apply the June patch without a plan - Talk to your Qlik representative first, there's no upside in cutting your pipelines off without a plan in place
4. Watch this space - more is coming on Qlik's new SAP connector before the end of Q3

While you have to stop using ODP-RFC. You don’t have to stop using Qlik with SAP, and you don't have to navigate this one alone.

For the full technical detail, visit the Qlik Community Support Update on SAP ODP-RFC Changes, the Talend Studio-specific guidance, and Qlik's SAP integration documentation on help.qlik.com.