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Author's profile photo Jessica Raymond
Jessica Raymond
October 28, 2020 2 minute read

SAP Analytics Cloud Allocation Series – Introduction

In May 2020, I had the opportunity to host a webinar called “Getting the Most out of Allocations in the SAP Analytics Cloud”. This blog post series is intended to complement the webinar and to serve as a guide to succeeding with allocations in the SAP Analytics Cloud.

What are allocations?

Allocations in the SAP Analytics Cloud are a helpful tool for organizations to distribute out values collected on one object  to several other receiving objects, based on a driver. A driver is what tells the system how much of the collected value to put to each receiving object. For example, an organization wants to allocate out their IT expenses to other departments at the end of the quarter based on headcount.

Using Allocations in the SAP Analytics Cloud:

Setting up an Allocation Process:

The Allocation functionality in the SAP Analytics Cloud can be used to allocate plan data. In the SAP Analytics Cloud, we set up an Allocation Process, which consists of 2 parts:

 

  • Allocation Step: defines the structure of the allocation – the sending and receiving dimensions, options to keep source, overwrite target, filter by accounts, specify a reference dimension, specify a booking account and define the number of repetitions
  • Allocation Rule:  defines the specific values for the sending and receiving dimensions as well as the driver

Running an Allocation:

  • Allocations can be run from stories using the Allocation button or as part of a Data Action
  • When you run it, you will be prompted to select the Allocation Process you want to run as well as the version in which you would like to run it on (you can also choose to create a private version)
  • On the second prompt, you’ll be asked to confirm the scope of the allocation:
    • Use Point of View: uses the filters you have defined in the story you are in
    • Refine Filters: allows you to specify values for each dimension
    • No Filters: runs on all data

 

This Blog post series will cover the following scenarios (titles will be linked as they are published):

Part 1: Basic Scenario: Allocation by Entity
Part 2: Allocation using the overwrite dimension
Part 3: Allocation using a booking Account
Part 4: Allocation using a Calculated Account
Part 5: Allocation using a Reference Dimension
Part 6: Allocation with Repetition
Part 7: Multi-driver Allocation with Weight

 

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      4 Comments
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      Author's profile photo Chanchal Gupta
      Chanchal Gupta

      Thanks. I attended the webinar as well. Its was very well structured and very informative same this blog.

      What is your view of allocation in SAP PaPM vs allocations in SAC?

      I have seen many customers struggling to make this decision. Although, I have my view but would really appreciate to understand from your perspective.

      Thanks

      Author's profile photo Jay Gandhi
      Jay Gandhi

      Hi there,

      Honestly speaking PaPM is a much more robust and granular solution. Depending on the volume granularity and data source PaPM cost allocations is a much more robust tool.

      That being said, if we want to limit license cost, complexity and the data can be handled well in SAC including allocation complexity…SAC can be the way to go.

      Author's profile photo chanchal gupta
      chanchal gupta

      Thanks for sharing your views. if you dont mind what do we mean by more ''robust''? and can SAC not handle granular data?

      Author's profile photo Jay Gandhi
      Jay Gandhi

      It really depends on the volume and granularity of data.

       

      SAC is not meant to replace the rich features of PaPM and very complicated cost traceability scenarios.

       

      SAC would not be best for those scenarios.