How Customers are Succeeding with SAP Cloud Analytics?

With businesses transitioning towards a digitized future, the need for better access to real-time information and streamlined operations is improving simultaneously. Further, it’s no secret that keeping everything on track in a company is challenging, there are varied processes that need to be organized in a scheduled manner. But, with technological advancements like SAP Analytics Cloud, the entire business is revolutionizing!

To know how Cloud Analytics technology stimulates data visualization and enhances business intelligence, read along!

What is SAP Analytics Cloud?

SAP Analytics Cloud, widely known as SAC, is a Software as a Service BI platform designed by SAP.  This business tool is built specially to offer all analytics capabilities in one product for the users.

SAP Analytics Cloud was extended out from SAP Cloud as an analytics engine, that was released way back in February 2015. With business planning, other main components of SAP Analytics Cloud are Predictive Analytics, GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance), and Business Intelligence. The BI functionality includes data discovery, reporting, visualization, and dashboarding. These BI functions were released first; and, predictive analytics was added later.

It is created in such a manner that it can be a stand-alone solution that can talk to multiple sources for data input so that you don’t have to juggle between different applications for getting the right inputs for analytics all the time. Plus, the key features can be accessed from a single UI that is developed to offer ease of use for the users.

Added Advantages of SAP Analytics Cloud:

Understanding the added value of SAP Analytics Cloud is important as you cannot make the best out of it unless you know more in detail. SAP Analytics Cloud, when integrating with S/4 HANA, also offers a plethora of business benefits. Here are some benefits of SAP Analytics Cloud represented in a typical management meeting within an organization.

a. SAP Digital Boardroom

This is an amazing data visualization tool! The SAP Digital Boardroom is specially built to make all your management meetings productive. There are various agenda elements of the meeting that can be addressed by each presenter. Plus, every presenter can incorporate sub-points to their respective agendas. You can also share the presentation screen to let more people join the presentation remotely.

Each agenda item includes three screens, and each of these screens can be presented simultaneously employing multiple monitors or, one by one, text per your requirement. The agenda-item is categorized into three parts.

• The Overview- In this screen, the main agenda item is briefly summarized.
• The Content- This screen contains important points and data of related topics and discussions.
• The Context- Presenters get a detailed description of the context screen.

These three screens help attendees of the meeting to interpret the situation at the beginning of the meeting before proceeding with the actual analysis and data.

An added benefit of SAP Analytics Cloud is the use of calculative measures. Within this tool, it is possible to use different calculations and show outcomes in the form of tables and charts.  For example – you can show the calculation of the revenue difference in the percentage of past years.

b. Agenda Functionalities

With SAP Analytics Cloud, there is always a possibility to create an agenda. And within the agenda, one can create and add different business processes. These processes can also be segregated into various events.

After segregating business processes into various events, different functions can be appointed to the end-users. The appointed users will be informed by official mail, and at times reminders are also sent before the task’s date of delivery.  For reviewing tasks, you can even add final reviewers.

c. Streamlined Communication with Colleagues

To increase productivity, communication among the employees is important. With SAP Analytics Cloud disseminating information with colleagues has become easy and simple. You can communicate within the tool by adding comments to reports, visualization, answering back to your colleague, and liking the comments.

d. Visualization

The use of calculative measures with SAP Analytics opens up a lot of possibilities to filter and visualize data. There are additional 20 visualization possibilities to enhance the quality of management meetings. You can easily add tables, graphs, shapes, pictures, to the dashboard.

Features of SAP Analytics Cloud:

1. Business Intelligence

SAP Analytics Cloud is able to read data through two sources:

• By importing data – In this case, the data source can either be a file, an Odata Service, an SAP system, or an SQL Database.
• Directly read from the database – In the case of a direct read, renewed real-time data is captured by connecting to an SAP system.

2. Data Modeling

This enables data modifications by adding extra elements such as inserting formulas, adding indicators, and revised values of recovered elements.

3. Data Visualization

As discussed earlier, this feature allows users to explore data and highlight them with graphs, graphical components, and tables.

4. Predictive Analysis

This helps to anticipate future results or relevant metrics, with the AI capabilities infused in this tool by SAP. Some application examples include automated content creation through detection of trends, identifying influencing characteristics, and more.

5. Planning

The planning section comprises both operational statements and financial records in the same app for a detailed view of the present state.

What Makes SAP Analytics Cloud Works?

The basic configurations of SAP Analytics Cloud are referred to as models. These units include dimensions that are hierarchal structures for managing a company’s organizational structure, accounts, or other aspects that are needed to evaluate outcomes.

SAP Analytics generally comprises of two models: Analytics and Planning. As the term suggests, the first type is a restricted read structure that enables users to analyze with the stacked up data.

You can create models manually by importing files from your PC or integrate them into data sources such as SAP BW, SAP HANA, BPC, or fetching data from cloud applications like Google Drive. Analyzing data is simple, all you need to do is select the cells and instruct SAP Analytics to build a chart with the units. The app will research and provide the best way to visualize the data input. Presenters can modify the format, chart type, and distribute it to the management meeting attendees.

On the other hand, while planning, SAP Analytics Cloud enables configuration to users and procedures to different accounts, and manages allocations. It can efficiently manage multiple data scenarios in real-time. And also sets up reminders to ensure the task is concluded in the suggested time frame. The collaboration quotient stays higher throughout the application, enabling users to communicate and add feedback based on an element. You can even create tasks through these discussions.

Who can use SAP Analytics Cloud?

For using SAP Analytics Cloud, you don’t need to be an IT professional; this tool is intended to be easily accessible for all kinds of users. In fact, one can easily understand the basics within the first week of usage.

Want to make the best out of SAC? Connect it to your ERP as a data source and enjoy the benefits of mass data analysis. And by utilizing more data, results are automatically improved, leading to higher ROI.  This solution can be employed in any large industry or SME to improve productivity as a stand-alone solution as well!

Conclusion

SAP Analytics Cloud is built natively on the SAP HANA Cloud Platform and enables business decision-makers and analysts to envision, make predictions, and plan under one cloud-based environment. SAP has built this product to integrate data information from all sources to enhance productivity.