Starting your learning journey with SAP Analytics Cloud Planning

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Are you curious about Planning with SAP Analytics Cloud?  Willing to learn more about it and wondering where to start?...

If you are new to Planning with SAP Analytics Cloud Planning, you may want to consider the starting point I will suggest in this blog. The ways to get knowledge with SAP Solutions are many and diverse, this is just one suggestion on my side, based on my own personal experience.

It´s a zero-budget learning path and I hope it helps you get kick started. So let´s go!

 

What you will need

• Basic understanding of BI, planning, and predictive concepts.


• Experience with SAP S/4 HANA or ECC is not required (the suggested trainings do not cover live connections). However, previous knowledge can help to understand potential use cases


• Previous knowledge/experience in Planning processes is required.


• Previous knowledge on JavaScript can be helpful to follow the explanation of scripts and APIs covered in trainings when explaining SAC Analytic Applications. However, it´s not mandatory. If you are totally know to Java (like me), and you would like to learn just very basic stuff, you may want to have a look at this.


• Access to an SAP Analytics Cloud tenant (to do the exercises and practice) or be able to get a SAP Analytics Cloud trial version ("be able to get" in the sense of not having made used of this trial period before).

 

Where to find the knowledge / training material

OpenSap is "SAP's free learning platform for everyone interested in learning about SAP's latest innovations and how to survive in the digital economy", according to the website.

OpenSap offers great e-learning modules for SAC that are a very good starting point to get you going. There are 4 SAC OpenSap courses currently available, but I will focus on the 2 courses specific for the Planning Process. The following are the links to the trainings and their content details:

1) Planning with SAP Analytics Cloud (2020 edition, *)

Week 1: Core Planning Capabilities
Week 2: Advanced Planning
Week 3: Managing the Planning Process
Week 4: Predictive Planning
Week 5: Building Custom Planning Applications
Week 6: Final Exam

2) Planning with SAP Analytics Cloud – Advanced Topics (2021 edition)

Week 1: Core Planning
Week 2: Advanced Planning
Week 3: Managing the Planning Process
Week 4: Building Custom Planning Applications
Week 5: Final Exam

(*) Be aware that the first course was created and recorded in 2020, when SAC had different data model.  In 2021's course, the model is referred as "New Model" as opposite to the "Classic Account Model". But in 2020's course, the New Model did not exist yet, so no distinction is made. To follow the exercises of the first course with SAP Analytics Cloud now, you need to be aware of these differences and create the new data models suggested in 2020's exercises with the option "Classic Account Model").

 

Confirmation of Participation / Record of Achievement

At the date I am writing this post, the mentioned courses have already finished. You can find the original dates on the tab "Course Details" of each course, under the title "Course Characteristics". The courses lasted 4-5 weeks, of an average of 3-4 hours per week.

Even while the dates for submitting assignments and taking the course exam have already passed, you are still able to complete the trainings, gain lots of knowledge and obtain a "Confirmation of Participation", in this case, for free.

But if you would also like to get a "Record of Achievement" for completing the assignments and taking the exam, you are also able to purchase a reactivation code. I will not get into the details of that process, as it is very well explained here, in the OpenSap platform.

 

How to get hands on experience with SAC Planning

You may also follow the trainings along with exercises provided in each course. To do so, you need access to a SAP Analytics Cloud tenant. In case you are totally new to the technology, you can download a 30-day free SAP Analytics Cloud trial version here (edition: the free trial edition  can be extended to up to 90 days, you will get a pop-up to confirm that).

Considerations:
1) be sure you are familiar with the OpenSap platform and the course(s) you will follow BEFORE starting your trial. In that way you will have enough time to familiarize with SAC while you learn it, otherwise your trial period will finish before completing the course(s).
2) Keep in mind the consideration regarding the "New Model" and "Classic Account Model" mentioned above when you follow the first course (2020 edition).

 

Why you should try this learning path

I can think of many reasons to give this path a try:
1) they learnings are self-paced, you decide when/where to learn,
2) they are free (you need to register and log into the OpenSap platform, which is also free)
3) if you would like to get a Certificate of Achievement, you have the chance to reactivate the course(s) and take the assessments and final exam, you can later share the certificate in your professional network.
4) Both trainings can be followed along with exercises provided, with data you can download and use for data acquisition and visualization.
5) the instructors, video quality, content and demos are fantastic and they provide lots of information and tips.

 

Wrapping up

So... wait no longer.
Start learning SAP Analytics Planning today.

 

Disclaimer

I do not have any direct affiliation with SAP, nor openSAP, I am just really satisfied with the user experience, and I wanted to share it with the SAP community.