Exploring the Role of SAP Analytics Cloud in SAP Business Data Cloud

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to illustrate the role of SAP Analytics Cloud in SAP Business Data Cloud.

SAP Analytics Cloud

In this section, you will learn how SAP Analytics Cloud is used in general.

The Purpose of SAP Analytics Cloud

As a business user, you need an interactive, easy-to-use reporting and planning tool that displays your data. For this purpose, SAP provides SAP Analytics Cloud as a public cloud solution. It can now be used as part of SAP Business Data Cloud.

Use SAP Analytics Cloud for the following tasks:

  • Visualize data in tables, maps, or charts and arrange them in a responsive window.
  • Prepare data and add calculations before they are used in charts and tables.
  • Select data based on attributes or measures.
  • Provide values for variables such as target currency and date for conversion.
  • Add interaction and execute script code for an adaptive user experience.
  • Drill down from aggregated to detailed data.
  • Apply AI to find the most relevant information.
  • Use SAP machine learning algorithms to explore relationships in your dataset.
  • Enter plan data.
  • Apply planning functions.
SAP Analytics Cloud can access data from different sources, such as SAP BW/4HANA InfoProviders or SAP Datasphere models. Refer to the following text for details

To understand the terminology we have the following major elements:

  • A Connection is a predefined interface to access a specific modeling system.
  • A Model is a data structure based on a model of SAP Datasphere or SAP BW or SAP BW/4HANA or SAP HANA, based on a connection.
  • A Story presents tables, charts based on such models on one or multiple pages with interactive elements. A page typically displays an interactive dashboard.

You'll find more information on this topic in the SAP Analytics Cloud learning journey.

Moreover, there is a feature called Just Ask which is AI based assistant for finding the data you need. Simply ask a question about your data in natural language.

Refer to the following learning journey lesson to find more details about using AI functionality for SAP Analytics Cloud.

You'll now take a look at the major integration scenario.

The Purpose of SAP Analytics Cloud in SAP Business Data Cloud

SAP Analytics Cloud is the key front-end solution in SAP Business Data Cloud to visualize data. It is the user interface for most SAP-delivered Insight Apps.

Note

If you want to use a pre-delivered Insight App in SAP Business Data Cloud, you'll need SAP Analytics Cloud to do so.

Having SAP Analytics Cloud integrated with SAP Business Data Cloud also gives you the possibility to reuse the standard content that is shipped with Insight Apps: you can then create customized dashboards.

Moreover, this integration allows you to use a broader scale of models, such as models that are based on Data Products from SAP Databricks or your own models from SAP Datasphere.

Formation Setup

A formation is a collection of tenants that trust each other. Currently, the easiest way to set up a formation is to enable SAP Analytics Cloud, SAP Business Data Cloud cockpit, and SAP Datasphere on the same tenant and use slightly different URLs for the different components. Flexible ways to set up a formation are planned.

The SAP Business Data Cloud cockpit and the tenants for SAP Analytics Cloud and SAP Datasphere are directly linked and ready for single-sign-on. You can easily jump between the corresponding tenants.

Connections in SAP Analytics Cloud

New content from SAP-managed Insight Apps uses an SAP-managed additional live data connection that links the SAP Datasphere component and SAP Analytics Cloud. Live data connection means that the data for SAP Business Data Cloud based scenarios is not stored inside SAP Analytics Cloud.

You can create additional connections to access custom models in SAP Datasphere, and create new models, stories, and planning scenarios in SAP Analytics Cloud.

Different connections to the underlying SAP Datasphere tenant can exist, one for SAP managed live data access for SAP-managed Insight Apps, and other manually created connections.

Note

The SAP managed connection should be used for the integration of SAP Datasphere objects that are generated in the process of installing Insight Apps. If you define your own models in SAP Datasphere and SAP Analytics Cloud, use your own space in SAP Datasphere and your own connection in SAP Analytics Cloud.

A Customization Scenario: Integrating Data Products

Suppose you have installed an Insight App. Now, you want to combine and present data from other Data Products, not used in the SAP-delivered Insight App. Such Data Products may be new enhanced Data Products from SAP Databricks, Data Products derived from SAP BW InfoProviders, or Data Products delivered by SAP in separate Data Packages. You can integrate different Data Products in a new sequence of models.

Steps to integrate data from different data products in a user-defined story See the following text for details.

For this purpose, you'll need to:

  1. Activate the required Data Packages.
  2. Install the Data Products you need into your custom space in SAP Datasphere.
  3. Create new adjusted models based on both Data Products.
  4. Create a new SAP Analytics Cloud story to visualize the data.

Caution

Unless you copy SAP-managed artifacts, you have to install the SAP-delivered Data Product again, even though it has been installed with the SAP Insight App, because you need full access to it through your own custom space. For this purpose, you will have to activate the corresponding Data Package(s) in SAP Business Data Cloud cockpit.

In this section, you’ve learned how SAP Analytics Cloud is used and how Data Products are combined in a SAP Analytics Cloud story.

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