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As you continue with your journey towards Digital Transformation and analyze the innovative S/4 HANA solution, I would like to present how in this journey you could leverage the benefits of the embedded analytics, one of the cornerstone of our new product. In this blog I would briefly touch upon how embedded analytics adds value to your digital enterprise, explaining the evolution of the embedded analytics architecture and the components which makes up the “Embedded Analytics” Solution.

Digital Transformation is stretching the limits of the existing enterprise systems and almost bringing it to the point of breaking. Order volumes and transactions handled in enterprise systems are increasing at least by factor of 10, as companies are reinventing their B2B models to B2B2C and would like to serve more customers directly. As organizations start to serve more customers directly we are set to see an exponential rise in the number of transactions which are processed daily in the enterprise systems. While order volumes are on the rise, the cycle times required to serve this order is compressed. Customers are pushing for lower the cycle times and this becomes critical in a global supply chain when the components are sourced across multiple geographies.

As companies are dealing with an increasingly complex supply chain which becomes more diverse with time, the rising demand of the customers and the intense competition now makes it imperative that we have systems which can be “Live”. We need insights instantaneously so that most optimal decision is possible at the right time with the right context and in real time. This becomes difficult to achieve with the current architecture of the enterprise systems where we have artificial separation between the transactional systems and the analytical systems.  Analytics today needs to be integrated with the moment of truth or at the point of transaction. No longer is it viable or competitive to maintain separate systems for transaction and analytics. We need to have the analytics embedded in the transactions and be able to react to any insight with an action in the transactional system at real time. Combining all these trends we see the genesis of the “Embedded Analytics”.

Embedded Analytics has its origins in two dominant themes namely the Fiori User Experience and the merging of the transactional system (OLTP) and the analytical (OLAP) systems. The central theme of any analytical application in S/4HANA begins with the context of the persona or the role of the end user. Continuing our simplification journey with user experience for the end user, we bring all the relevant information and the context required by the role in a personalized, visual and a responsive Launchpad.

In case you are interested in the further details, I would like to direct your attention to recording of TechEd presentation hosted by S/4HANA Embedded Analytics Product team.  (Embedded Analytics)


So how does the embedded analytics differ from the traditional analytics? For starters we have a role based Fiori Launchpad for the end user where the user is able to view his transactional and the analytical apps that are most frequently used and is able to seamlessly navigate between transactional and an analytical system which comes from a single repository. The role based access provides the user with the relevant context for decision making and finally the end user would be able to complete the Insight to Action, from one system in real time without the need for data replication.

In the figure below you would find KPI tiles which are available in a Fiori Launchpad, which in a visual manner would highlight the threshold breaches, current performance and an up to date view of the business in real time. From this I could analyze further the details in a drill down application of my choice and finally take an action resulting in the resolution of the issue.

Taking a step further I would like to detail the multiple use cases which are part of S/4 HANA Embedded Analytics. The enabler of the embedded analytics is the Virtual Data Model realized in S/4 HANA by Core Data Services. The CDS views could be consumed by the generic BI clients or you could use consume them via Smart Business KPI Modeler to develop Analytical applications based on oData protocol. Integration with the BW is also available and CDS view forms an integral part of the search.

In the figure below you would see the high level logical model for the embedded analytics. The virtual data model concept is realized by the CDS (Core Data Service) views which are built in the ABAP layer. The CDS views be exposed as the oData which can be rendered in a browser. Modeling tools like Smart Business allows consumption of the oData exposed by the CDS views and generation of KPI tiles and drill down application adhering to the Fiori design principles in a codeless manner. Also the CDS views can be consumed by the InA protocol for the BI suite of products. Additionally if you need to create a custom analytical application you could make use of the oData exposed via the CDS views.     

To address the need of the end user, key user involved in the modeling of KPIs and drilldown and the power users SAP provides a number of tools as part of the S/4 HANA Embedded Analytics. For the end user SAP provides the SAP Smart Business Cockpits with predefined content for roles in Finance and Logistics and an array of multi-dimensional reports and analytical Fiori Apps.  For the key users tools like Query Browser and KPI Modeler allows the configuration of the KPIs, Reports and Drill-down Application. Additionally tools like Query Designer and ABAP on Eclipse helps in the modelling and extension of the CDS Views.  The list of analytical application available with S/4 HANA is available in the Fiori Reference App. The picture below indicates integration of the S/4 Hana Embedded Analytics with the other tools in SAP Analytics portfolio.  If you would like to look deeper into the S/4 Analytics integration with SAP BW I would strongly recommend to go through these 2 insightful blogs on SCN  Integration of S/4 Hana and SAP BW  and Unified Solution SAP S/4HANA and SAP BW.

Finally I would suggest to view the Hana Academy YouTube Playlist Hana Academy for CDS Views which contains information on how to get started with CDS and various consumption options. I hope this blog and the associated links would help you to get started with the S/4 HANA embedded analytics. I look forward to your comments and queries.  In a later blog I would explain the details of S/4 HANA embedded analytics architecture and associated components in more details.

13 Comments
Shivakumar21
Advisor
Advisor
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Anirudh,

This is a great blog and very relevant for our OEM partners who can embed analytics as a pat of their solution. Could you post this blog on our section of SCN as well here Best-Built Applications where we have a lot of OEM partners and Application development partners who come to read about how they can embed SAP solutions into theirs and drive more benefit.  let me know if you have any  issues , but this would be great content to read for our audience too

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Thanks Shiva -

Also would there be a way to link this blog in the Best Built Application page.

we are planning a education series on embedded analytics and would like to host the content in one place. let me know your thoughts.

Anirban.

Former Member
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Hi Anirban,

This is indeed a good summary on Embedded Analytics. I was going through the pre-built ABAP views and subsequent HANA catalog views and they are good in numbers. Is there any document which gives details on what each of this view does? It will really help to exploit this asset.

Nilesh

Former Member
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The integration of analytics, and the availability to make deep analysis from monitoring through deep insight (by the use of CDS, BW and BI) make possible the digital transformation, having different roles in fiori and also in S/4. While business users need speed, some users need a deeply analysis and understanding of some problems, all this kind of information and roles can be managed and solved with BW and S/4.

Former Member
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Hello, is the embedded analytics only come with 1511? - not 1503

Thanks

Tansu

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As part 2 of the series please do check the blog:

Journey of Data:From Tables to Tiles - A sneak peek into the S/4 HANA Embedded Analytics Architectur...

which contains more details on the SAP S/4 HANA Embedded Analytics Architecture.

prabhu_sundararaman2
Active Participant
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Hi Anirban,

thanks for your informative blog.

I have a query. We are in the process of converting our client's ECC system to S/4 HANA.  Client is using LIS based reports for inventory controlling (MC.1, MC.4, etc.) based on S031.. S035 info-structures.  However, we need to de-activate them to enable late-lock strategy for material document processing.

Therefore, I would like to know if there are any alternate reports available in S/4 HANA in the form of embeded analytics reports/FIORI apps?

Kindly advise.

Prabhu
Former Member
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Thank you, this is great! Question: how can we create custom ALP (Analytical List Page) with S/4HANA Public Cloud? We have read about the ALPs but cannot determine how to build them.
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Hi Stefanie ,

You could create the ALP with the Smart Business KPI modeler, available in S/4HANA 1705 cloud release or S/4HANA 1709 for on-premise.

 

As this is a Fiori element you could also use the following documentation and this can be built in WebIDE like the other Fiori elements.

https://sapui5.hana.ondemand.com/sdk/#docs/guide/03265b0408e2432c9571d6b3feb6b1fd.html

Regards,

Anirban.

 
former_member287033
Discoverer
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Hi Anirban,

Can we use WebIDE with SAP S/4 HANA Public Cloud ?

Currently we have SAP S/4 HANA Public Cloud 1705 system. But we are unable to find any app which can give us access to create a custom ALP.

Is there any prerequisite that has to be installed or imported before we can get access to ALP related apps ?

 
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former_member361278
Discoverer
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Hi Anirban,

Thank you for sharing this informative post, it is helpful.

I'm working to create the ALP with the Smart Business KPI modeler, available in S/4HANA for on-premise.

Could you guide me in the right direction since I'm unable to see the Analytical List Page modeler work-space in my list of fiori applications.

Regards, Sheejo