What is SAP Analytics Cloud?

SAP Analytics Cloud is a unique answer for commercial enterprise intelligence, corporation making plans and
augmented with the strength of predictive analytics and device mastering technology.
Also known as SAP Cloud for Analytics, SAP Analytics Cloud is a software-as-a-solution (SaaS) business intelligence
platform designed by SAP. It was developed with the intent to provide all analytics capabilities to all users in one
product.
SAP claims this differs from different BI platforms, which regularly need data to be integrated from varied sources and
users to leap between different applications once acting tasks and appreciate making reports. With all the info sources
and analytics functions in one product, Analytics Cloud users will work additional efficiently, in step with SAP. The
key functions are accessed from an equivalent computer program designed for ease of use for business users.

After getting a brief about SAP Analytics Cloud now moving on to the components or key features of it:

Business Intelligence
In this option of SAC with clean self-provider analytics, you may discover statistics throughout the employer and
deliver insights in the intervening time of choice alongside intuitive self-provider analytics.

 Data Exploration and Visualization: Filter and delve through data to inspire audiences with interactive visualizations
and storytelling, regardless of volume size.
 Efficient Modeling and Preparation: Automate data cleansing to flag errors and categories measures and dimensions to
improve your data and acquire deeper insights.

Augmented Analytics
The capabilities of Augmented Analytics powered by AI, machine learning, and natural language processing are
embedded right into organizations’ BI and planning workflows with SAP Analytics Cloud.

 Last-mile Decision-Making Support: Provide machine-generated analytics and insights to everyone, including
untrained nontechnical businessmen, without needing them to look for it.
 Conversational Analytics: Uses natural language processing and generation to ask questions in conversations and get
instant answers, data visualizations, and explanations.
 Automated Machine Learning: Use machine learning algorithms to automatically discover relationships, hidden
patterns, and outliers in your data and quickly transition from insight to action.
 Intelligent Predictive Analytics: – At the push of a button, predict potential outcomes and forecasts, freeing data
scientists into higher-value activities without the need for data science skills.

Enterprise Planning
This function seamlessly links and creates monetary and operational plans in a single answer that will help you make
higher selections with included planning.

 Predictive Planning: It uses predictive forecasting and machine learning tools to understand your business today and
tomorrow.
 Integrated Financial Planning: By combining transactions, analytics, and planning with SAP S/4HANA, you act
instantly and spend more time on your strategy.
 Collaboration: Plan across all business areas to implement real-time insights into the majors, ensure strategic integrity,
and make credible decisions.

Design of Analytics Applications

In this feature, there is a creation of centralized, controllable analytics content, from guided analytics to advanced
planning and intelligent applications.

 Custom Interactions: Combine business intelligence, planning, and forecasting capabilities by developing state-of-the-
art analytical applications.
 Rapid Prototyping: Customization, integration, and extension of existing templates or user stories with existing data
models and widgets.
  Standardized Analytics Content: Reusable user interface elements and adjustable widget behavior enhance a consistent
and continuous user experience.
 Custom Widgets: It allows custom, reusable functionalities with tailor-made widgets, centrally controlled composites,
and facts capabilities.

Apart from these features, some core capabilities of SAP Analytics cloud are mentioned below:

 Data On The Go

 Real-time Cloud Insights

 Customized Dashboards

 Collaborative Planning

 Live Data Connection

Benefits of SAP Analytics Cloud – Time, optimization, and accuracy

SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) has made it very easy to

 create data models,

 select core algorithms (business logic from an SAC catalog),

 set parameters and controls,

 validate the accuracy of data models,

 monitor this accuracy for anomalies and faults,

 channel data into insights,

 create customized reports (stories and dashboards), and

 leverage augmented analytics to auto-mine and present insights with easy-

to-understand data visualization (and natural language queries).

SAC serves as a comprehensive solution that combines business intelligence, planning,

and predictive analytics to empower organizations. It’s easily integrable with SAP
and non-SAP data sources making data federation and visualization a real-time
affair. Users can build data models that can combine multiple sources of data. You can
define measures, dimensions, and create calculated columns to fit your analysis needs.
This includes handling missing values, dealing with duplicates, and standardizing data
formats.
As the data models churn with the power of SAP Business Technology Platform’s
(SAP BTP’s) core AI+ML abilities, SAC adds multiple levels of ease of interpretation
and reporting of the resulting data. Augmented analytics allows the user to engage
with the data and insights in a conversational and interactive way.

Augmented analytics with SAP Analytics Cloud | Smart discovery, auto insights,
and Natural Language Generation (NLG)

Legacy systems had power users creating core business logic, modulations, and
customizations to output reports and insights as required. Normal users, without the
required skill, were restricted to the presented reports and insights to form opinions
and make decisions.
SAC brings in data democratization where any user can simply ask the system any
pertinent question, in the search bar - like ‘show me product xx sales within North
America in 2022’ – and get the required answer visualized in relevant charts and
defined in natural language. This is called ‘Search-to-Insight’. It makes data accessible
and dynamic for all users in the company.
The user also can continue ‘conversing’ with the system and SAC would build on the
string of queries to refine the results. This is Natural Language Generation (NLG).
Perhaps the user asks, after the question mentioned in the previous para, ‘and Q4?’ –
SAC would interpret the question correctly and showcase the North American sales of
product xx during the holidays.
They can also, simply, click on auto-insights and the system will show the relevant
stand-out points (insights) from the data set or report. This would automatically scan
through the data and highlight key insights, such as trends, anomalies, or correlations,
without user intervention. It is particularly useful for exploratory data analysis and
preliminary reporting.
A more comprehensive version of this is the ‘Smart discovery’. This is an in-depth,
automated data analysis that can unearth relationships between variables, and the
influence of various factors on a particular KPI, and suggest what actions to take based
on these findings.

Predictive analytics with SAP Analytics Cloud | Classification, forecasting,

regression analysis

Predictive Analytics in SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) combines statistical algorithms and
machine learning techniques to analyze current and historical facts, thereby making
predictions about future events. One of the most common use cases is predicting
future values of a metric based on historical data. This could range from sales
forecasts to inventory levels. SAC offers built-in algorithms for automated time-series
analysis.
Predictive analytics can also classify data into different groups. For instance, it can
segment customers into different buckets like 'High Value,' 'Medium Value,' and 'Low
Value,' based on their buying behavior, demographic information, and other variables.
This gives in-time trends and insights on the market and gives the option to either
correct course or capitalize on the same.
For continuous data, SAC has the option of regression algorithms (regression
analysis) to understand the relationships between variables. This could help users
identify which factors are most influential in affecting a particular outcome, like sales
or customer churn. Such analysis also goes to the point of ‘what-if analysis’. This
allows users to simulate different scenarios to understand potential outcomes. You
can modify variables to see how they would impact your predictions.

Bottom Line

SAC enhances the impact of a company’s data visualizations by embedding them

within a meaningful context. It’s not just about what the data shows, but also about
what it means and why it matters, making it an invaluable feature for any data-driven
organization. The way to go about creating data models and stories (dashboards and
reports) is as easy as drag-and-drop. It makes the entire experience intuitive with high
possible adoption. All reports can be collaborative and auto-shared (specific sections
with specific people) for all-round usage. All info is updated in real time with zero data
duplication. It’s this agility, dynamism, and control that make SAC a surefire ally for
any company in any industry.
Crave InfoTech has been active with successful SAC implementations and SAP BI
migrations around the world. Being engineers at heart, we know how to transform
business logic into decipherable and easy-to-process models – primed for ideal
visualization, real-time notifications, and dynamic storytelling (insights
narrative).
As SAP BI will sunset in the near future (BI 4.2 ending priority support by Dec 2024,
and BI 4.3 ending maintenance support by Dec 2027), companies need to look to their
cloud-native counterpart – SAC.
Crave InfoTech has been handling such migrations and is very adept at seamlessly
translating the data models and universe logic (business logic built into the system)
from SAP BI to SAC. We understand the importance of data models created over the
years, and we look to sustain the consistent flow of insights from the same while
improving the validations and tolerance to offer insights with higher accuracy,
precision, recall, or the F1 score. If this is something that interests you, you can get in
touch with us here.
If you're curious about SAC and our migration strategies, catch me at the upcoming
SAP BTP summit this month. We'll talk about boosting analytical capabilities and
adopting AI, ML, and Predictive Analytics for data-driven decisions.