SAP’s Jeanne Bigonnet joined us recently to discuss the latest updates for SAP Analysis for Office (AO), including both the Standard Edition for SAP BusinessObjects and the Edition for SAP Analytics Cloud.
Jeanne began by outlining the history of SAP Analysis Office and identifying some of the major trends occurring during her time in Analysis for Office product management. The biggest development has been SAP Analysis for Office for SAP Analytics Cloud, which follows the trend toward SAP Analytics Cloud, and continues a strong partnership with Microsoft.
Jeanne then turned to the larger topic of Microsoft integration. SAP’s Analysis for Office product exists in two “flavors,” the Standard Edition, which is included in the licenses for SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise and SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation, and the Edition for SAP Analytics Cloud, which is included with the subscription to SAP Analytics Cloud Enterprise.
Jeanne noted that connectivity for the Edition for SAP Analytics Cloud has been roughly equivalent to the Standard Edition since Version 2.8 SP9, which was released in June, 2021, and includes BEx workbook conversion.
Note that there are no plans to include PowerPoint integration and BI platform scheduling. The EPM add-in and BPC activity pane/plug-in are not included, because the Standard Edition of Analysis for Office is included with BPC.
In addition, you cannot store AO workbooks in SAP Analytics Cloud.
Jeanne then turned to improvements that have been made to AO for SAP Analytics Cloud, including direct access from BW/HANA and SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise.
AO for SAP Analytics Cloud also includes the ability to open your work directly from BW/HANA and SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise, as well as the ability to convert your BEx workbooks.
The process of moving from AO Standard to AO for SAC is simple. However, because there is no storage for workbooks in SAC, you will need to use a manual process with the Link option in the SAP Analytics Cloud File Repository menu.
Storing workbooks directly in SAC is currently the subject of a POC, but no delivery date on this capability has been announced.
In May of this year, SAP added the ability to link directly to SAP Data Warehouse Cloud from both editions of AO, with the limitations shown below.
See note 2038663 for more information.
Jeanne then provided a brief demonstration of AO to DWC connectivity.
She followed this demonstration with discussion of SAP’s Statement of Direction regarding the newer SAP Analytics Cloud add-in for Microsoft Office.
SAP Analytics Cloud add-in for Microsoft Office is not a successor to AO, as it is based on different technology. Completely rebuilt on JavaScript, this add-in is the strategic go-to front end for Office 365 Excel in use with SAP Analytics Cloud, SAP Data Warehouse Cloud, and potentially other SAP Cloud sources. For more information on other potential Cloud sources, see the Roadmap.
SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office will continue to be supported and enhanced, as illustrated by the addition of Cloud connectivity, but the SAC add-in represents the way forward.
Because the solutions are based on entirely different technologies, there will be no direct migration path.
For information on AO connectivity limitations with SAP Analytics Cloud, see note 2787445.
Jeanne provided more detail on the new SAC add-in for Microsoft Office.
The new add-in for Microsoft Office is dedicated to SAC, allows you to work from anywhere with Office 365’s online capabilities, as well as with desktop Excel, and is available through the Microsoft Store.
SAP is working closely with Microsoft on an aggressive roadmap for the new add-in, with new releases approximately every four weeks focusing on the elimination of limitations.
Jeanne provided resources for those who want to investigate this new add-in more deeply.
Note: You can view this entire webinar on demand, and download a PDF version of the presentation; there in which all links are live.
Jeanne also discussed the relatively light road ahead for AO, which consists of continuous improvement, rather than strategic investment.
Jeanne noted that this roadmap is not available in the SAP Roadmap Explorer, because it is not part of SAP’s strategic direction moving forward, but she does maintain the roadmap on the SAP Community page dedicated to AO.
Allan Pym joined the conversation to talk about related solutions from APOS in two categories:
APOS Publisher and other APOS solutions for SAP BusinessObjects provide the following capabilities for AO:
APOS Publisher for Cloud is an APOS solution that lets you replace BEx Broadcasting workflows. This has become a critical issue for organizations that have adopted SAP Analytics Cloud.
Jeanne began by outlining the history of SAP Analysis Office and identifying some of the major trends occurring during her time in Analysis for Office product management. The biggest development has been SAP Analysis for Office for SAP Analytics Cloud, which follows the trend toward SAP Analytics Cloud, and continues a strong partnership with Microsoft.
Jeanne then turned to the larger topic of Microsoft integration. SAP’s Analysis for Office product exists in two “flavors,” the Standard Edition, which is included in the licenses for SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise and SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation, and the Edition for SAP Analytics Cloud, which is included with the subscription to SAP Analytics Cloud Enterprise.
Jeanne noted that connectivity for the Edition for SAP Analytics Cloud has been roughly equivalent to the Standard Edition since Version 2.8 SP9, which was released in June, 2021, and includes BEx workbook conversion.
Note that there are no plans to include PowerPoint integration and BI platform scheduling. The EPM add-in and BPC activity pane/plug-in are not included, because the Standard Edition of Analysis for Office is included with BPC.
In addition, you cannot store AO workbooks in SAP Analytics Cloud.
Jeanne then turned to improvements that have been made to AO for SAP Analytics Cloud, including direct access from BW/HANA and SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise.
AO for SAP Analytics Cloud also includes the ability to open your work directly from BW/HANA and SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise, as well as the ability to convert your BEx workbooks.
The process of moving from AO Standard to AO for SAC is simple. However, because there is no storage for workbooks in SAC, you will need to use a manual process with the Link option in the SAP Analytics Cloud File Repository menu.
Storing workbooks directly in SAC is currently the subject of a POC, but no delivery date on this capability has been announced.
In May of this year, SAP added the ability to link directly to SAP Data Warehouse Cloud from both editions of AO, with the limitations shown below.
See note 2038663 for more information.
Jeanne then provided a brief demonstration of AO to DWC connectivity.
Statement of Direction
She followed this demonstration with discussion of SAP’s Statement of Direction regarding the newer SAP Analytics Cloud add-in for Microsoft Office.
SAP Analytics Cloud add-in for Microsoft Office is not a successor to AO, as it is based on different technology. Completely rebuilt on JavaScript, this add-in is the strategic go-to front end for Office 365 Excel in use with SAP Analytics Cloud, SAP Data Warehouse Cloud, and potentially other SAP Cloud sources. For more information on other potential Cloud sources, see the Roadmap.
SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office will continue to be supported and enhanced, as illustrated by the addition of Cloud connectivity, but the SAC add-in represents the way forward.
Because the solutions are based on entirely different technologies, there will be no direct migration path.
For information on AO connectivity limitations with SAP Analytics Cloud, see note 2787445.
SAP Analytics Cloud add-in for Microsoft Office
Jeanne provided more detail on the new SAC add-in for Microsoft Office.
The new add-in for Microsoft Office is dedicated to SAC, allows you to work from anywhere with Office 365’s online capabilities, as well as with desktop Excel, and is available through the Microsoft Store.
SAP Analytics Cloud add-in for Microsoft Office Roadmap
SAP is working closely with Microsoft on an aggressive roadmap for the new add-in, with new releases approximately every four weeks focusing on the elimination of limitations.
Jeanne provided resources for those who want to investigate this new add-in more deeply.
Note: You can view this entire webinar on demand, and download a PDF version of the presentation; there in which all links are live.
SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office Road Map
Jeanne also discussed the relatively light road ahead for AO, which consists of continuous improvement, rather than strategic investment.
Jeanne noted that this roadmap is not available in the SAP Roadmap Explorer, because it is not part of SAP’s strategic direction moving forward, but she does maintain the roadmap on the SAP Community page dedicated to AO.
Related APOS Solutions
Allan Pym joined the conversation to talk about related solutions from APOS in two categories:
- Solutions for Analysis Office
- BEx Broadcasting Replacement
APOS Publisher and other APOS solutions for SAP BusinessObjects provide the following capabilities for AO:
- Report Publishing
- High-Volume Scheduling
- Report Management
APOS Publisher for Cloud is an APOS solution that lets you replace BEx Broadcasting workflows. This has become a critical issue for organizations that have adopted SAP Analytics Cloud.
SAP Resources
- See Note 2038663 for more information on AO with DWC.
- Roadmap for SAP Analytics Cloud add-in for Microsoft Office.
- See Note 2787445 for information ono AO connectivity limitations with SAP Analytics Cloud
- SAP Analytics Cloud add in for MS office – Community page & blogs & FAQ
- SAP Analytics Cloud add in for MS office – Road Map
- SAP Analytics Cloud add in for MS office –Deploying the add-in
- SAP Analytics Cloud add in for MS office – See it in action!
APOS Resources
- SAP Managed Tags:
5 Comments
