Performance Issues in SAP Analytics Cloud with SAP BW/4HANA live connection

[kastolia]

Hello everyone,

Currently, I am creating stories (dashboards + tables) in SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC), I handle all the data preparation in SAP BW/4HANA. There, I have implemented calculation views, composite providers, and BEx queries that fetch data through replication connection via SLT from S/4HANA. Subsequently, using a live connection between BW and SAC, I create models in SAC and then build the stories. The stories simply display the data, and I haven’t implemented any additional calculations.

However, I am facing severe performance issues that I cannot justify, as my dataset is minimal. For instance, one model has only 3,271 rows and 47 columns.

The stories are slow to load, even those that only contain a simple table. This happens across different models that I’ve implemented.

Since I haven’t worked with this specific architecture before, I would greatly appreciate any guidance on where I should start investigating the root cause of these significant performance issues. Any advice would be highly appreciated!

 SAP Analytics Cloud 

[SteinarEllingse]

Hi,
I find it useful to define slow. What loading time are you experiencing from the click on url/app to fully loaded?

We have rolled out SAP Analytics Cloud broadly in our organization and for sure the performance is the main issue, it seems slow to most people.

I have commed to terms with the following intervarls:
0-20 seconds acceptable performance
20-40 seconds grey zone, we are loosing users and audience
40 seconds+ unacceptable performance (though there are instances where an extremely complex but valuable application is worth the loading time...)

Also, I am curious to know, what is your reference technology? SAP Lumira Designer (on BW) , Power BI (imported data)?

Br, Steinar

[Athanasios_Antonopoulos]

Hello Steinar,

the loading time can take up to 4 minutes. I would say that our reference point are analytics stories in Excel where we also test the performance of the BEX queries. 

We have noticed that when we create as SAC Story, a pop up appears saying that we are using an outdated BW version. Do you have any view on this?

Thank you for your time. 

BR, Thanasis

[ChinkyGarg]

Hi Thanasis,

When you say analytics stories in excel, you mean BEx queries running in AFO or SAC excel add-in and its taking upto 4 minutes to open?

Regards,

Chinky

[Athanasios_Antonopoulos]

Hello @ChinkyGarg 

we are using SAP Analysis for Office, through which we can test our BEx queries on Excel. You can see a sample here :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a138CFNuTD0

Best regards,

Thanasis 

[ChinkyGarg]

Are you creating classic story or Optimized design experience story? Have you looked the detailed logs of SAC story execution to see where it is taking the most of time? If you are using optimized design mode, have you looked at the performance insights available when running with performance Analysis ?

[Athanasios_Antonopoulos]

Hello @ChinkyGarg 

we are using Optimized design and yes we have seen that most of time is consumed on loading data on the widgets created.

[Yogeshwar_M]

Hi User,

Please review the suggestions below:

1. BW Query Optimization

   • Filter out only the required columns in the BW query to eliminate unnecessary data. This helps reduce the query load and improves performance.
   • Simplify composite providers and calculation views by removing unnecessary joins or calculations wherever possible.
   • Use aggregates or compressed data to enhance query runtime efficiency.

2. SAC Story Optimization

   • Filter Dimensions and Measures: Ensure the story includes only the required dimensions and measures, reducing the data being processed and displayed.
   • Optimize Widgets: Loading multiple widgets (charts, tables, etc.) on a single page can strain performance. Simplify the story by limiting widgets or distributing them across multiple pages.
   • Performance Analyzer: Utilize the Performance Analyzer tool in SAC (accessible via Developer Tools) to identify and resolve bottlenecks in your stories.
   • Enable Caching: Activate story or model caching wherever possible. Precomputed data reduces query execution times and enhances overall performance.

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[Athanasios_Antonopoulos]

Hello @Yogeshwar_M

what we have tried until now with success is to optimize the BEx query performance through SAP GUI (check transaction RSRT for more info) and also through the SAC live model by using the Data and performance tab capabilities. This has improved our performance from by 2,3 minutes.