Business Intelligence for the Cloud: Debunking Common Misconceptions

SAP’s market leadership in the analytic area is well known – for the past five years, we’ve topped Gartner’s Business Intelligence and Analytics category.[1]However, it’s not yet common knowledge that business intelligence (BI) offerings from SAP go beyond licensed-based, on-premise options to a full range of cloud-based solutions. Now, with the release of analytic solutions in the SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud, there’s no time like the present to debunk a few common SAP BI misconceptions.

Misconception #1: SAP BI is for on-premise use only.

SAP offers multiple BI solutions geared toward, and deployed in, the cloud. The SAP Business Intelligence 4.1 solution, for example, is fully cloud enabled and can be deployed to the cloud in a number of different ways. SAP Lumira Cloud is a full cloud solution whose self-service BI features allow users to analyze and collaborate on data, visualizations, and other business intelligence artifacts. We’ve made it our mission to become the cloud company powered by SAP HANA – and more cloud solutions are on the way.

Misconception #2: The only way to do cloud is to host it yourself.

Many companies think they have to host their own cloud solutions. In reality, there are several ways to accommodate cloud applications. For example, SAP BI 4.1 can be deployed through Amazon Web Services or any of our other hosting partners. Another option is to deploy SAP BI solutions on SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud, our fully managed subscription-based cloud service. Or SAP can help you deploy, maintain, integrate, and extend your BI solutions in a private cloud environment—with support provided through a single contact for all your solutions and services.

Misconception #3: You have to bring your own BI licenses.

The truth: SAP offers true flexibility in how you plan your expenditures for analytics in the cloud. As an existing customer, you can choose to bring your own license (BYOL). As a new customer, you can choose a full subscription offering for analytics when deployed with SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud. Using a subscription model for your SAP BI solution can shift costs from capital to operating expenses, with important effects on your budget. Our flexible subscription model lets you take advantage of powerful BI solutions without the infrastructure investment.

Misconception #4: SAP doesn’t have a visualization solution for analytics.

In fact, we’ve got that one covered as well. SAP Lumira Cloud – our cloud-based self-service BI tool – lets you access, visualize, and share data in a secure cloud environment, without the help of IT. An intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to visualize data and reveal hidden insights. And because SAP Lumira Cloud is cloud-based, your BI and visualization solutions can be up and running quickly without any software or hardware deployment.

Misconception #5: You have to move all your analytic applications to the cloud at once.

You don’t have to subscribe to a big bang theory to benefit from the cloud. Move as many or as few of your analytic solutions to the cloud as you like, transitioning to a hybrid model (a blend of on-premise and cloud deployments) at your own pace. For example, you might first keep data on premise and use BI tools in the cloud, then later migrate your data to the cloud with SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud or any of our cloud hosting partners. Choose SAP Lumira Cloud to enjoy a fully cloud-enabled BI solution with quick time to insight, lower risk, and subscription pricing.

Embrace BI in the cloud

SAP BI solutions are designed to quickly connect individuals, data, and processes on any device, across any platform, to help drive better decisions. Powered by the SAP HANA platform, our solutions make it possible to analyze vast amounts of live transactional data instantaneously, transforming
the way you run your business. We can help you chart a clear path from on-premise to the cloud – for any or all of your BI needs – all through your
current vendor. To learn more, visit us online at SAP Lumira Cloud or SAP Business Intelligence Solutions.

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[1]
Gartner: “Market Share Analysis: Business Intelligence and Analytics Software,” 2013.