SAP: Future of Analytics webinar Sept 8th. Your questions answered

On Sept 8th we delivered the public webinar: the Future of SAP Analytics hosted by Oliver Conze and Iver van de Zand. A massive amount of people attended. If you missed that webinar, you can find the recording here.

In the webinar, we received numerous questions. We grouped them and try to answer them with below.

What is the difference between SAP Analytics Catalog and SAP Analytics Hub

SAP Analytics catalog & SAP Analytics Hub are complementary services. Both solutions can be quickly operationalized. They also help your IT team point all types of content to a single access point. At the same time, it frees IT from mundane tasks by allowing users to access the analytics they need on their own and manage the lifecycle for content retention and validation.

• SAP Analytics Catalog is a new feature of SAP Analytics Cloud that offers all SAC users single user-friendly landing page to all SAC and non-SAC content. It is recommended for all customers who do not yet have Analytics Hub.
• SAP Analytics Hub is only recommended for customers who do not have an SAP Analytics Cloud, do not want it in the short term and have a lot of non-SAP analytical reports on premise.

SAP Analytics Cloud vs S/4 Hana Embedded Analytics

SAP Analytics Cloud integrates seamlessly with SAP S/4HANA, combining all lines of business into one powerful and robust analytics solution

• There exists a standard interface between SAP S/4HANA embedded analytics and SAP Analytics Cloud.
• With the new app “Create Tile for SAP Analytics Cloud Story”, the Analytics Specialist in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Edition can view the list of all the available stories created in Analytics Cloud system. Key user can then create a tile in SAP S/4HANA system which can launch a story directly created in Analytics Cloud system.

Is it Possible to connect Smart Predict to SAP HANA tables and SQL Views?

• Smart Predict on live SAP HANA is included with the 2019 Q4 quarterly release of SAP Analytics Cloud. It is possible to connect Smart Predict to SAP HANA tables and SQL views.
• Smart Predict Live currently works today against on-premise SAP HANA, not on the cloud deployments of SAP HANA.

Regarding SAP BW on HANA and SAP BW/4HANA customers, please note:

• SAP BW customers with SAP HANA Enterprise Edition or SAP HANA Predictive Option licenses have the right to create tables & SQL views. Smart Predict on live SAP HANA can be used by these customers from Q4 2019.

SAP Smart Predict on live SAP HANA

Does SAP Analytics Cloud for planning replace SAP BPC?

SAP Analytics Cloud does not replace any of the versions of SAP BPC.  SAP Analytics Cloud is our strategic direction for planning, integrating with S/4HANA and other solutions within the SAP portfolio.  SAP BPC is still available for customers looking for an on-premise tool, or customers looking for a solution with both planning and consolidation capabilities.

• One can import SAP BPC data into a new or existing model
• SAP Analytics Cloud enables you to import data from both SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC) for NetWeaver and Microsoft Platform versions
• One can also export planning data back to your SAP BPC system, to synchronize with enterprise data
• To setup a connection to SAP BPC Microsoft Platform version, you’ll require the installation and configuration of the SAP Cloud Connector and SAP Analytics Cloud Agent, whereas the NetWeaver version requires only SAP Cloud Connector
• After the connectivity components setup, a connection can be created by providing SAP BPC system details and user login credentials, then the data needs to be imported into a model

Is data replicated to SAP Analytics Cloud when using a Live local connection to SAP S/4HANA?

One can create live data connections to on-premise and cloud systems. Data is “live”, meaning that when a user opens a story in SAP Analytics Cloud, changes made to the data in the source system are reflected immediately. In SAP Analytics Cloud, you can create models from data sources in on-premise or cloud systems, build stories based on those models, and perform online analysis without data replication. This feature allows SAP Analytics Cloud to be used in scenarios where data cannot be moved into the cloud for security or privacy reasons, or your data already exists on a different cloud system

SAP Analytics Cloud data connections environment

How does the SAP S/4HANA embedded analytics architecture look like?

S/4HANA embedded analytics architecture overview

• Provide embedded insights within the solution, to optimally support business user in defined business processes with decision support and information at the users fingertips.
• Integrate seamlessly into the enterprise intelligence offerings such as SAP Analytics Cloud and SAP BW/4HANA
• Provide real-time access to solution data as well as replication of data and blending with multiple other sources for end2end enterprise intelligence

To join the next webinars in this series and learn more about extending your analytics to the cloud, visit this resource page