Since the 2211 release, it is recommended to use the new Manage Analytics Stories app. The app provides analysis and visualization capabilities of SAP Analytics Cloud allowing users to create charts and reports complementing the planning capabilities of SAP IBP. The functionality of the new Manage Analytics Stories app is available with any standard SAP IBP license.
Users are able to create and use stories directly from SAP IBP. Stories are synonymous with dashboards and analytics charts, which were presented in the previous sections. Analytics Stories enables a consistent analytics experience across SAP applications and offers more flexibility, like defining calculations on top of the SAP IBP data model.
Introduction Analytics Stories
Manage Analytics Stories combines Analytics Advaned and Dashboard Advanced. Stories can be compared to dashboards that contain charts, which are generated directly within the respective story. There is no need anymore to use two separate apps for dashboard creation, this is now compressed within one app. Analytics Stories are based on SAP Analytics Cloud and provide similar but not the same functionalities as Advanced Analytics.
Terminology
Analytics Stories use the terminology from SAP Analytics Cloud, which leads to differences between SAP IBP terms and SAP Analytics Cloud terms. In the following table, some terms that are used in Manage Analytics Stories are explained with their meaning and the equivalent in SAP Integrated Business Planning.
Analytics Stories Terminology
| Term in Analytics Stories | Term in SAP IBP | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Data source | Planning area | A representation of an organization’s data comprising the following elements that together define the structure of your planning process:
It's an essential piece for data exploration and provides a framework for the data visualization in analytics stories. |
| Measure | Key Figure | A data object that represents numerical and quantitative data that you want to compare, aggregate, or use for calculations. For example, sales forecast quantity, consensus demand, and actual quantity. |
| Dimension | Attribute Time period Version, Scenario | A data object that represents categorical data, for example product, location, and brand. Time periods, versions, and scenarios are also represented as dimensions in the Manage Analytics Stories. |
| Member | Attribute value | Members are the values of a dimension. A specific product ID (PRODID1234), a version (Base Version), a key figure name (Actuals Qty), or a scenario are all examples of members. |
Features of Analytics Stories
There are some features available within Manage Analytics Stories app that are different to Analytics Advanced. Some are highlighted in the following section.
Creation of calculations: Users can create their own calculations on top of the planning area data model. Meaning, if for visualization reasons a measure is missing, it can be added to a story and be graphically displayed. For those calculated measures mathematical formulas, conditions and operators can be applied to data contained in the planning area.
Conditional Formatting: Users can apply defined formatting rules on the entire story. In the Conditional Formatting menu, it is possible to expand the formatting to Story Defined to enable that the settings are being expanded to the story, for example, by creating story-defined thresholds.
Time Series Charts: When creating charts, users can choose to use the Time Series Chart type, in which a time horizon selection is already preconfigured, and the time axis can be used to zoom in and out on the data set.
