SAP Analytics Cloud Roadmap #ASUG Webcast Recap wi...

TammyPowlas · ‎2019 Feb 07

Source: SAP

SAP's Ty Miller presented as an ASUG webcast from last week.

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Please register for more upcoming February webcasts below:

February 13 BI: What's New: Data Wrangling and Modeling in SAP Analytics Cloud

February 14 BI: Empowering Business Users with Analytics On The Go

February 19 BI: SAP Analytics Cloud for BW Customers

February 21 BI: What's new in SAP BI4.2 SP7

February 26 BI: Enabling SAP Analytics Cloud for SAP BusinessObjects BI customers

February 28: #askSAP Call: SAP Analytics 2019 Strategy and Roadmap

You can watch the this webcast replay here

Ty suggests going to https://sapanalytics.cloud/ site for more details

Source: SAP

The legal disclaimer applies that things in the future are subject to change. These are not promises for the future

Source: SAP

The strategic platform for SAP applications - Concur, SuccessFactors, C4 - all part of the intelligent enterprise

SAP Analytics Cloud is the Enterprise analytics cloud platform

Plays in SME markets as well

Not just a BI platform

Augmented analytics is a big investment, smart assist, smart insight, etc.

"one simple cloud" - one platform for all analytics capabilities, focused on the business user; meant to be simple.

Quarterly release cycle was discussed - more details are here

Source: SAP

Canada is planned as a future data center, so is Singapore

As a customer you can choose your data center

Data connectivity, preparation, modeling

Source:SAP

Simplify ability to connect to data - on premise, cloud, import connection, persisting in SAC or live connection

There has been a delta of capabilities between live and import - want to reduce differences between 2

Increase connections

Increase data blending scenarios

Do blending on multiple types of joins

Increase size of data to bring into SAP Analytics Cloud

Source:SAP

Support same relational datasources as BI4.3 - 104 relational data sources that the universe can connect to, SAC can connect to as well

New set of datasources focused on cloud applications - coming around Q2, MS Dynamics, Salesforce, etc - 3rd party cloud sources, SharePoint, planned

Looking to add 170 more cloud data sources

Partnerships allow more data sources

Source:SAP

Adding connectivity to HANA 2.0 in SCP Cloud Foundry

Modeling - visual based hierarchy area, multiple time dimensions

Browser based data blending will be offered

A few waves ago, live HANA/BW to an import connection blending - requires have HANA and SDI behind the scenes

Q2 will have logic in browser, so not to involve IT

BI, Analytics Hub, Digital Boardroom, Mobile

Source: SAP

Strategy for 2019 for BI use cases, in priority order

Enterprise reporting - last area of BI suite to bring to SAC

Scenarios around reporting - alerts, schedule content, repeating layout of footers, headers, more control of format of report, burst report, decide where schedule story to - email, FTP, file share, export to CSV/Excel - looking at this year

Closing functional gaps between live and import - more self service capabilities - more self service to a viewer user rather than designer/author - same license

Add more analyst capabilities - for BW customers, add more capabilities to SAC. More blending, do data blending in a model - so any new story you create you can take advantage

Intelligent enterprise is growing

Enterprise readiness - lifecyle management, content versioning, etc.

Mobile - SAC mobile is available to day, controlled release for RoamBI

Source: SAP

RoamBI is in a controlled release today - focused on a mobile first paradigm

Will provide offline use cases to view SAC content while not connected

RoamBI comes with SAC subscription

Initially available as iOS - will offer Android later this year

Source: SAP

We had a webcast on this topic the other week.

Source: SAP

Analytics Hub: allow you to access and discover content in multiple platforms, SAP or anyone

Catalog to access content

Plans to add MS Edge support; it is a few months away

Future direction - natural language and machine learning capabilities

Source: SAP

SAP App Design in SAP Analytics for power users or IT who want to create a unique, directed, targeted experience for analytics for planning, predictive - a professional design environment

Uses widgets, controls, scripting, create sophisticated applications in SAP Analytics Cloud

Source: SAP

SAP App Design is planned for release in Q2, part of the quarterly release cycle

App Design spans BI, predictive, planning - likely available by SAPPHIRENOW

Continue to support SAP Lumira Designer

Source: SAP

Integration with planning, planning models, write back to planning scenarios to planning, Smart Discovery, insights, 360 "take action as a web service" - API's, oData function calls, create a transaction in source system from App Design.

Will see data source API's, visualization API's, etc.

Source: SAP

SAP Analysis Office is an example of hybrid. Provide a version of Analysis Office for SAC for free as part of the subscription. Can connect to import models (BI or planning) and write back to planning enabled model.

Will work more with Office365, desktop mobile and Excel plug in

Access to live connections in Q2

Integrate Analysis Office into SAC, store there

Smart Predict Smart Assist

Working with machine learning, natural language (search to insight)

Source: SAP

Power business user can use Smart Predict; not need to know how to create a predictive algorithm

Today focused on imported data

In a few weeks, will extend to SQL source connected to SAC (cloud or on premise)

Publish to S/4HANA

Future direction - do more with Live Connections - HANA Live, more questions with predictive scenarios

One part of "augmented analytics"

Source: SAP

Another part of augmented analytics

Embed intelligence into SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) - automatically create insights, grouping, search to text you can type in

Plan to add more live connections

Will add more R visualizations and services to SAC; will have live connection to HANA as well

Smart Discovery is the wizard driven approach

Planning

Source: SAP

SAC started with Planning

Integration with on-premise BPC; integration with S/4HANA, S/4HANA Cloud, integration with SuccessFactors Workforce Planning

Cloud first strategy with planning

Live write-back to BPC embedded (S/4HANA)

Source: SAP

BW Integration

Source: SAP

This is a critical area for SAC

Supports import and live connections to BW today

Looking to improve integration over several quarters

Next month - quarterly release cycle - take advantage of Smart Data Integration blending (BW on HANA/BW/4HANA)

Looking to support structures, waterfall chart (Q2)

Browser based data blending is planned for Q2

Geo support for live BW (HANA) - planned for Q2

More blending, grouping, pivot style analysis - SAC planned to be a first class tool for BW scenarios

Intelligent Enterprise

Source: SAP

Will see SAC embedded in several SAP applications

Ability to blend and get started

Source: SAP

Integration with C/4HANA

Source: SAP

For S/4HANA Cloud and on-prem

Source: SAP

Every SuccessFactors customer will be using SAC

Workforce Analytics - will be SAC - full use

Name not set - People Analytics, Extended Analytics

Plan to start beta program in Q1/Q2 timeframe

Source: SAP

Analytic App scenarios and embedded scenarios

Question & Answer

Questions answered by SAP after the webcast:

Q: I’ve invested significantly in the SAP BusinessObjects BI Suite. Why would I want to also purchase a subscription to SAP Analytics Cloud?

[WTM] SAP is committed to delivering innovative applications in the Cloud. Consistent with this, our strategic direction for data discovery and application building follows on and aligns with our broader Analytics strategy. We are working on providing attractive commercial mechanisms to allow our customers to continue to license the parts of the BI Suite that they most frequently use, like WebIntelligence, and re-purpose freed up resources for subscriptions of SAP Analytics Cloud for things like Stories, Explorer and Application Design, to drive a hybrid analytics strategy.

Q: Is there any Microsoft BPC functionality that will not be integrated into analytics cloud by July?

SAC is quite distinct from BPC, and while we have certainly introduced several capabilities similar to, and inspired by BPC, we do not expect to every have “feature” parity with BPC per say. Having said that, we do expect to ultimately cover all the primary functional use-cases of BPC from a planning perspective (i.e. financial consolidations capabilities will not be introduced into SAC).

Q: who implements this platform??? Can any partner implement?

[WTM] SAP Analytics Cloud is a SaaS solution developed, maintained and provided by SAP, purchased as a subscription and delivered on a public cloud platform. Partners can subscribe to and programmatically integrate, extend and customize the service.

Q: When can we have webi as a data source in SAC?

[WTM] WebI as a data source for SAP Analytics Cloud is available today through our partner APOS with their Semantic Data Driver

Q: Is there any plan to migrate some SAP BPC Consolidation capabilities into SAC?

SAC provides capabilities to support basic intercompany elimination capabilities, however for statutory consolidations and close reporting, these are now included with S/4HANA for Group Reporting. Group reporting is closely coupled with both S/4 (although it can be run standalone), and SAC for Planning.

Q: Can you name 5 main points that are possible on premise (e.g Lumira) and not (yet) in the Analytics Cloud?

[WTM] The only remaining capability in the BI Suite that that will not yet be available in Analytics Cloud as of Q2 2019 is traditional reporting. This year we plan to begin developing reporting capabilities in SAP Analytics Cloud to meet this use case so keep your eyes on this space!

Questions asked during the webcast:

Q: How are the "partner delivered" data sources delivered (e.g. Cloudera)? Do we contact Cloudera, or another partner (Zoomdata)?

You can go to SAP App Center at https://www.sapappcenter.com/productLines/11#!/list/page/1

Q: Will Application Design provide the web query capability of the Design Studio/Lumira Designer "Generic Analysis" template (to replace BW Web Templates)?

planned after GA - see https://blogs.sap.com/2019/01/15/whats-new-with-application-design-in-sap-analytics-cloud-asug-webca.../

Q:Are there any plans for integration with Qualtrics (Experience data)??

yes, created an integration, working on content

Q: will analytics cloud become the embedded reporting solution for Sales Cloud and Commerce Cloud (i.e. C/4 Hana applications)

yes, it will, no timeline

Is there any future plan integrating workday in SAC

yes; planned to add 170 data sources

Collaborative Enterprise Planning - thats the name of integration between SAC and IBP

Application Design feature which under which subscription BI or Planning or Both ?

both

Will WEBI still be relevant with SAC coming up or will it come to en end?

yes; BI4.3 is coming out in Beta in 2019

What do you think? If you missed a previous webcast, go to ASUG BI Webcast Recording/Slides Reference List for 2019