Getting an Overview of the Analytical Features of SAP S/4HANA Sales

Traditionally, transactional activities and analytics have always been strictly separated. This was (in part) due to the fact that from a technical point of view, live business data and analytical data were stored separately in their own database. Each database was tuned for processing the specific data stored in it. Live business data was the subject of constant change. Analytical data needed to be copied from this live data, cleansed, aggregated, optimized, and finally stored in a data warehouse system so that it could be consumed at a reasonable speed.

Examples of OLTP and OLAP:

• OLTP: Create sales orders, invoices, and accounting documents. And also: display customer master data.
• OLAP: Operational reporting (list open sales orders). And also: reporting based on aggregated data (e.g. sales quantity per product group per month).

This separation between OLTP and OLAP was traditionally also reflected in the tools and applications used.

As stated, SAP S/4HANA combines transactions with analytics, allowing operational reporting on live transactional data. With SAP S/4HANA this concept is supported using a technology known as SAP Core Data Services (CDS) for real-time operational reporting.

Operational reporting makes use of a virtual data model (VDM), which is built on top of the transactional and master data table structure of the SAP S/4HANA system. This VDM consists of so-called CDS views (Core Data Services views). These CDS views are developed, maintained and extended as part of the ABAP layer within the SAP S/4HANA system. Based on the CDS views, the system generates SQL runtime views when executing the data reads and updates in the SAP HANA database. The virtual data model using CDS views supports operational reporting in SAP S/4HANA. This approach to operational reporting essentially replaces all other traditional ABAP-related reporting transactions in the system.

CDS views have further advantages. They allow for instance the re-use of existing reporting authorizations. CDS views also make use of the analytical engine from the embedded BW functionality of the system to support hierarchy display during reporting. CDS views not only support generic OLAP reporting but also scenarios for hybrid transactional and analytical applications such as SAP Smart Business Cockpits. Read access for searching/generating fact sheets is also supported.

SAP S/4HANA Embedded Analytics based on SAP Fiori creates a user experience that fully integrates analytics with transactional processing in a way that is simple enough to be understood, and is also sufficiently detailed and powerful to be accepted and trusted by regular business users.

For internal sales representatives, the SAP Fiori app My Sales Overview can act as an entry point to start their work. They can search, create, modify and view sales information using the app. For example:

• See open sales quotations at a glance and identify where action needs to be taken in order to increase sales volume
• Check incoming sales orders by month for a selected number of months
• Obtain insight into customer returns data
• See at a glance all open sales orders sorted by, for example, creation date

The SAP Fiori app My Sales Overview can be used to analyze issues and perform a deep dive into the data concerning these issues. It also allows for navigation to fact sheets and details, and in many cases from within the app it is possible to proceed to actionable items.

In addition, multi-dimensional reporting is supported. Ad hoc filtering, pivoting, sorting and rearranging of data in tabular or graphical form is possible.

Within the SAP Fiori app My Sales Overview, relevant sales data is displayed in various actionable cards.

The following authorizations are required to display all of the cards that the app supports:

• Business catalog: Sales - Sales Overview (SAP_SD_BC_SALES_OVP_DISPL_PC)

• Business role: Internal Sales Representative (SAP_BR_INTERNAL_SALES_REP)

  Note

  With this role, a user can access the Customer Returns card but the user cannot navigate to the Manage Customer Returns app.

• Business role for customer returns: Returns and Refund Clerk (SAP_BR_RETURNS_REFUND_CLERK)

  Note

  With this role, a user can navigate to the Manage Customer Returns app.

When a user accesses the SAP Fiori app My Sales Overview for the first time, the user can define default settings for the app using the menu path: Settings → Default Values → Sales and Billing. The default values entered will be displayed as the default filter values when accessing the app.

The display currency is derived from the company code to which the user belongs. Using the menu path Settings → Default Values → Display Currency, the display currency for aggregated amounts can be set.

Using the menu path Settings → Manage Cards, it is possible to select and choose the cards that need to be shown or hidden in the SAP Fiori app My Sales Overview. Dragging and dropping of cards within the dashboard is supported as per the user's preferences.

As an example, a few of the cards available for the SAP Fiori app My Sales Overview will now be discussed in greater detail. See http://help.sap.com for more details concerning all other available cards.

The Blocked Credit Memo Requests card displays a list of credit memo requests that are blocked and need to be checked. Entries on the card are displayed starting with the most recently changed or created entry.

To navigate to the SAP Fiori app Manage Credit Memo Requests app, the user can click on the header of the card. To see the details of one of the credit memo requests displayed on the card, the user can click on the relevant row.

With the SAP Fiori app Manage Credit Memo Requests, it is possible to search for credit memo requests according to certain filter criteria and to display the results in a list. From the list, it is possible to navigate to related applications, such as the display of credit memo request details.

Some other features that the SAP Fiori app Manage Credit Memo Requests supports:

• Searching for credit memo requests using a free text search, or by entering a value in one or more of the filter fields
• Creating a variant for the current filter selection and saving it for later reference
• Sorting of credit memo requests
• Exporting the list of credit memo requests to a spreadsheet
• Creating a credit memo request
• Reject all items for a selected credit memo request. A reason for the rejection needs to be entered
• Setting or removing a billing block for a selected credit memo request on header level
• Displaying a preview of the billing document for a selected credit memo request
• Entering an order reason for a selected credit memo request

The card called Open Sales Quotations displays a list of open sales quotations. Entries on the card are displayed starting with the most recently changed or created item.

From within the card, it is possible to navigate to the SAP Fiori app Manage Sales Quotations.

With the Manage Sales Quotations app it is possible to search for sales quotations according to certain filter criteria and to display these quotations in a list. From the list, different actions can be executed like extending the validity of a quotation. Another example is to reject all items for a selected sales quotation. A rejection reason needs to be entered.

From the Manage Sales Quotations app, it is possible to navigate to the following apps and pages:

• The sales quotation details page

• Customer - 360° View

• The sales quotation object page

• The customer object page

The Open Sales Orders card displays a list of sales orders that are still open and require processing. Entries on the card are displayed starting with the most recently changed or created item.

From within this card, it is possible to navigate to the SAP Fiori app Manage Sales Orders.

With the Manage Sales Orders app, it is possible to search for sales orders according to certain filter criteria and display them in a list. From the list, different actions can be executed like rejecting all items of one or more sales orders. It is also possible to navigate to related apps or to display the process flow.

Another possible action is to set or remove a delivery or billing block for one or more sales orders.

The Quick Actions card provides shortcuts for creating sales documents such as sales orders, sales quotations, credit memo requests, and customer returns.

There is a variety of SAP Fiori apps available to sales managers for reporting purposes. One example is an SAP Fiori app called Sales Volume - Check Open Sales, where the sales volume in a certain currency can be analyzed across multiple months. The tile shows the sales volume of the upcoming months compared to the current month.

Navigating to the details of this app shows a breakdown of sales volume across multiple categories such as Open Orders and Open Deliveries.

This is just one example of an SAP Fiori app created to support sales managers with their reporting needs. There are many more available in SAP S/4HANA.