This was an ASUG webcast today given by SAP's Jie Deng. Be sure to register for more upcoming webcasts here.
Anything in the future is subject to change; legal disclaimer applies
Source: SAP
Source: SAP
Today you can use SAP Analytics Cloud to build stories
New capability Application Design - able to build enterprise dashboards, sophisticated planning/predictive application
Integrated into SAP Analytics Cloud platform; leveraging artifacts, data sources such as live/imported connections, leveraging visualization, planning functionality and integrate predictive applications into applications. Leverage the existing artifacts provided
Developing custom widgets, scripting capabilities, providing additional functionalities for developer/designer to create complex enterprise dashboards
Consume applications in Digital Boardroom, Mobile, Analytics Hub
Targeting enterprise, professional dashboards
Use scripting capabilities to build enterprise dashboards and sophisticated analytical applications
Source: SAP
What is an application? If using SAC to build story
Story is targeted for self-service
Application is an enterprise aspect
Analytical application is a centrally designed application
An application - need scripting capability to build application and customer specific scenarios
Provide widgets, visual component such as filter line, drop down box, scripting capabilities for application design
Coding defines interaction between widgets, pages, applications and from application to story
Application Design has a dedicated development environment
Enterprise aspect, standardization aspect, create reusable part (same application header/footer)
Source: SAP
Picture to see difference between story and application
Story - walk bridge, guided way, not technical equipment, no specific IT knowledge, self service
Application: walk in glaciers with special equipment - professional equipment, body conditions and technical skills
Need IT knowledge, scripting capabilities, no guided way (or bridge) - application doesn't have guides ways, full flexibility to do what you want.
Source: SAP
Map to SAC (SAP Analytics Cloud)
Story is for self service use cases; covers standard scenarios
For applications - filter products in a group, key figure in a group, not use standard input control but use drop down, list boxes
You can write your own filter logic using scripting capabilities
2 different artifacts but share tables, charts, same user experience
End user should not notice which artifact they are consuming
Source: SAP
Targeting enterprise dashboard scenario, application developers create application and end users consume
Different category of capabilities - typical dashboard capabilities, build interactive enterprise dashboards, providing widgets, data driven widgets, R widget, will provide a dynamic layout
Define interactions between table and chart and widgets using scripting capabilities
Reuse code in different places - create script objects for onclick on table or chart
Source: SAP
Another category is extensions to allow developers to extend applications with visualizations
Can use R widgets to do this; R coding from internet and put them in design time for R widget; with app design you have scripting for the R widget
Later will provide composites - a reusable object
Will provide custom widgets - developer can use interfaces to create visualizations
Does not mean this is all provided today
Source: SAP
With app design, cover closed-loop scenarios, cover planning/predictive and then using app design scripting to do simulations, create an action (create purchase order using OData calls to go to S/4HANA system)
Source: SAP
Another category - navigation and integration
Navigation - explorer, Smart features, able to integrate with analytical applications
Provide API to use image/button to use Explorer - jump to explorer, smart grouping
Generate story based on result of table
Jump from analytical application and story automatically created for you
Embed aspect - embed into any other business applications - SuccessFactors, Concur
Communicate to other web pages
Scripting API's available too
Source: SAP
Enterprise readiness - translation, bookmark, composite, export, shared data source object, performance - deliver lazy loading, parallel execution
where at today
Source: SAP
In Beta today, GA is planned Q2
Source: SAP
This was featured in the demo
Source: SAP
This was featured in the demo
Source: SAP
This was featured in the demo
Source: SAP
This was featured in the demo
Source: SAP
This was featured in the demo
Source: SAP
This was featured in the demo
Source: SAP
This was featured in the demo
Source: SAP
Some POC's (proofs of concept) were shown in the demos
Source: SAP
Some POC's (proofs of concept) were shown in the demos
Source: SAP
Q1 - planning and predictive support with smart insights, discovery, embedding scenario, jump to explorer with scripting
Q2 - GA release, provide additional predictive scripting support; planning scripting access for toolbar, OData functional calls, container widget, create story from widget (in demo), geomap/blending catchup, new API's
After GA, future direction includes mobile support, standard analysis for BW data (BEx WAD template, Lumira Designer Generic Analysis template), digital boardroom capabiltiies.
Please note that we had several open questions - I sent them to Jie and will update when I have them. Thank you to Jie Deng and our SAP Point of Contact Ingo Hilgefort.
You can watch the replay with demos here.
Question and Answer
Question about functionality gap between stories and applications - will it be reduced/removed as stories give more functionalities as of now?
Yes, we will close the function gap between stories and apps over the time. Our goal is to have feature parity between stories and apps
how long do you believe it will take until SAC will match scripting capabilities of Lumira Designer?
One of the goal for SAC Application Design is to cover the business scenarios that Lumira Designer is covering today. So the goal is not to build all APIs that Lumira Designer has today into SAC. We don’t compare these 2 products on the level of API.
How to control performance in Application design. Should we be "afraid" of slower performance than with SAC dashboards?
No reason for being afraid of slower performance than SAC dashboards/stories. Stories and Applications are leveraging the same SAC Infrastructure and should have comparable performance. For application we are working on performance features that you can have the control/flexibility of where and when the time is being spent for analytical applications.
Is application designer working with models based on live connection? What kind of licensing is needed?
Yes, Application Design supports all the connections that SAC is supporting. So live connection /BW connection is supported as well.
The same license as story.
Will there be a way to reuse Lumira Designer Applications in SAC Application Design? So perhaps a Tool that transforms the Lumira Application to the SAC Application
No, the 2 product has totally different technology, its not planned to provide automatic conversion between SAP Lumira Designer and SAC Application Design.
Is BW live connection avialable?
Yes, we support BW live connection as SAC is supporting today.
Are there any plans to do cell-level formatting of table widget with scripting?
If you want to do that via scripting, can you please let me know the exact use case?
Does the Live query feature works on Universe data source utilizing HANA database?
The same as what SAC is supporting regarding of DataSource
As SAC designer and Lumira Designer may be using the same technical framework like Javascript can the code lines be exported from Lumira designer and imported from SAC app designer .. This is going to help our adoption and other customer who have highly invested in Lumira designer
SAC Application Design is using a subset of JavaScript, very similar to Lumira Designer. But with SAC Application Design, user has more flexibility to use the java script as the language itself. That means SAC App Design allows a different subset of JavaScript comparing to Lumira Designer. In addition, the widgets/components are different from SAC Application Design and Lumira Designer. So its not possible to directly reuse these scripting’s from Lumira Designer into SAC Application Design.
How does Authorization work with embedding the Application in e.g. a Webpage? especially with a liva Data connection to SAP HANA
In general there is no difference when it comes to authentication for stand-alone app or embedding app. Basically the parent container has no influence to the imbedding container. However, there could be cases where the logon the user did in the parent container results in a logon happening automatically inside the analytical application (or to the underlying live HANA or S/4 connection), for example, due to some authentication cookies being set.
what is the expected training path
We are going to deliver tutorials and samples to help customer to getting start with application design.
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