Introducing Measures, Dimensions, Metrics, and DPIs

Measures are the quantitative values that you want to measure, such as the number of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions along several dimensions. In essence, a measure is the raw quantitative data that you intend to record and track. An example of a measure is the total quantity of GHG emissions.

Two types of measures exist:

• SAP-provided: Ready-to-use measures from SAP
• Custom: User-defined measures to extend the SAP-provided ones

Dimension is a property of a measure. For example, the dimension 'Scope 1' is part of the 'greenhouse gas emissions' measure. A dimension essentially provides context and specificity to a measure. With the previously mentioned GHG emissions, 'Scope 1' is a dimension that refines the data by categorizing these emissions as direct and stemming from sources owned or controlled by the organization.

Two types of dimensions exist:

• SAP-provided: Ready-to-use dimensions from SAP
• Custom: User-defined dimensions to extend the SAP-provided ones. For all DPIs, you can assign up to 20 custom dimensions.

A sustainability metric enriches a measure by integrating its dimensions, yielding more nuanced and often relational insights. As a fundamental component of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), a metric transforms raw data into a tangible indicator of performance, which can be monitored as per the availability and time frame of the data.

SAP Sustainability Control Tower provides a wide range of sustainability metrics under the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) framework.

For instance, the metric "Gross GHG Emissions - Scope 1" is available within the environmental category. This metric calculates an organization's direct emissions in a manner that is customizable to the organization's data reporting cycle. You can define targets that a given metric fulfills at a given period.

Two types of metrics exist:

• SAP-provided: Ready-to-use metrics from SAP
• Custom: User-defined metrics to extend the SAP-provided ones

There are two types of custom metrics:

• Basic: A metric that is not calculated from a measure. The calculation methods' sum and weighted average are available.
• Advanced: A metric that is calculated from a measure. The calculation methods' division, sum, and weighted average are available.

The sustainability metrics in SAP Sustainability Control Tower support many of the core metrics defined in the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and the EU Taxonomy.

The EU Taxonomy is a classification system that defines environmentally sustainable economic activities. It aims to provide investors, businesses, and policymakers with a common language and criteria for identifying and funding activities that contribute to the EU's environmental goals.

SAP Sustainability Control Tower supports the EU Taxonomy by providing automated mapping, comprehensive analysis, simplified reporting, and continuous monitoring, helping organizations assess, track, and improve their alignment with EU sustainability goals.

Metrics regarding the EU Taxonomy are calculated through the technical screening criteria, which serve to identify taxonomy-aligned activities.

The Manage Metrics application provides extensibility capabilities and enables you to add custom metrics to measure your organization's performance in the ESG and economic areas. The sustainability metrics allow you to identify trends over time, by showing how a specific metric's value increases or decreases. Whether an increase or decrease is desirable depends on the type of metric. For example, a decrease in CO2 emissions has a positive sustainability impact, whereas a decrease in community investments does not.

A data provider interface (DPI) serves as the way for importing data into SAP Sustainability Control Tower. Every DPI consists of a set of measures that share mutual dimensions. For example, consider the "People" DPI. It comprises various measures such as "Trainings Costs" and "Hours Worked".

The measure "Hours Worked" includes a number of common dimensions, which are shared by all DPIs, such as "Business Location", "Data Source", or dimensions related to time. Additionally, it includes several DPI-specific dimensions, such as "Working Time" and "Age Group", that are not shared by other DPIs.

A DPI structures the data for the upload into a format that can be read by the system and used across SAP Sustainability Control Tower. CSV or flat files are used to structure the data.

SAP Sustainability Control Tower provides a wide range of DPIs covering various sustainability aspects, including:

• Environmental: Carbon emissions, energy consumption, waste generation, water consumption
• Social: Employee engagement, diversity and inclusion, supply chain ethics
• Economic: Financial performance, resource efficiency, product lifecycle management
• Other: Sustainability risk index, sustainability opportunity index, stakeholder engagement index

Each DPI is designed to provide a specific insight into an organization's sustainability performance. For example, consider the following DPI:

• Name:Emissions
• Metric: Gross GHG Emissions - Scope 1
• Measure: CO2e Emissions
• Dimension: Gas Type

This DPI calculates the average carbon emissions generated by each employee. It provides insights into the carbon footprint of the workforce and helps organizations identify opportunities for reducing their carbon footprint.

Organizations can use these DPIs to:

• Monitor their sustainability performance over time
• Identify areas for improvement
• Benchmark their performance against industry peers
• Communicate their sustainability achievements to stakeholders

SAP Sustainability Control Tower also enables organizations to create custom DPIs to meet their specific needs.

DPIs are a means to import measure and dimension data in a structured way. DPIs consist of both common dimensions, which are consistent across all DPIs, and domain-specific dimensions, which are unique to each DPI. Dimensions are associated to measures which share the same structure as the domain-specific dimensions.