SAP Analytics Cloud, analytics catalog – Enable metadata discovery and manage centralized access to analytics

How many times have we been asked the following question since the launch of SAP Analytics  Cloud, analytics catalog:  How can I view and request access to a listed item that I am not yet authorized to open & refresh?

Until now, users had to find out by themselves if an analytics content was available in the catalog and personally ask the administrators to grant them access. On their side, the administrators did not have a structured workflow to manage the requests and answer them in good conditions.

SAP Analytics Cloud users wanted us to quickly provide a functionality that would allow them to manage access to the different items in the Catalog provided as standard in the solution. We were aware that this need was a necessity for all our customers who have implemented a centralized IT governance and must meet the governance set-up in place in their organizations. So, we enhanced the Catalog to meet this expectation so that users can browse it and ask administrators to allow them to access the resources they need to complete their missions. SAP Analytics Cloud administrators can filter these requests and allow authorized users to access them.

In summary, we have decoupled the ability to view the metadata of a catalog object from its rights in the system so that users can request access to a catalog item under the control of administrators who can approve or reject access requests.

Both users and administrators benefit from this innovation:

• Users can now view and discover catalog content and request access to the content they need.
• Administrators receive notifications about the requests and can easily approve or reject the same

Let’s now discover the collaborative process that users and administrators will follow. With a few clicks, the different parties can, depending on their function, make access requests, or take charge of and manage them.

1. When an administrator wants to publish an asset, they can decide to Publish without giving the ‘read’ access

2. If the admin does not grant the asset to Read Access, users will request for authorization to admin. By default, a ‘request’ button appears on the tile.

3. The user can add comments to specify reason for the request and submit the same

4. The admin will receive a notification in SAP Analytics Cloud and an email in his mailbox. The email notification is enabled by default but the admin can decide to disable it.

5. The admin opens the notification to access a new security page embedded in the security section. This page is only available to the administrator.

6. The admin selects the asset and can approve or reject the request

7. If request is approved, user can now access the story and ‘open’ the same

Thanks to this new authorization request functionality, companies with a centralized IT governance policy can now open the Catalog to users with confidence. Users will be able to have an overview of all available content and request access to the content that is useful and necessary to them, without making any effort. Analytics Catalog will make their daily work with SAP Analytics Cloud even easier, more comfortable, and more productive.

Watch the video demonstration to learn more

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