After performing the very initial analysis whether a virtual provider is the rig

ht choice for the model, you have to choose the type of the VirtualProvider. In
SAP BW you have the following choices.
1.VirtualProvider based on Data Transfer Process (DTP)
This is certainly the easiest and the most transparent way to build this type of
InfoProvider. It could be based on a DataSource for direct access or on another
InfoProvider in BW. Technically, when a user executes a query or navigates insi
de the query, a request is sent through the virtual provider to its source and t
he needed data is returned back. To have that model perform well the most import
ant part is to be able to restrict the data, so that you do not request unnecess
ary data from the source system. For the more complex cases this selection is do
ne with the help of the inverse routine in the transformation.
2.VirtualProvider based on BAPIs
This type is used for cases, when you need to report on information coming from
a Non-SAP system and the information is stored not in a relational, but in a hie
rarchical database. A typical example would be an external system for market dat
a. When the VirtualProvider is used in reporting, the BAPI is called to collect
the data and after that pass it to the BW OLAP engine.
3.VirtualProvider based on function module
This is the most complex, but also the most flexible approach for building a Vir
tualProvider. It allows you not only to select the needed data from the source,
but freely make complex data calculations or changes before pushing it to the OL
AP engine. The effort to implement a VirtualProvider based on a function module
is bigger than the one with the other two types, but the options that the develo
per is allowed to use are limited only by the ABAP knowledge and confidence that
he/she has.