Preface

13

Objective of This Book

13

Target Audience

14

Structure of This Book

14

Additional Resources

15

Acknowledgments

16

1 Introduction

19

1.1 What Is Analytics?

19

1.2 SAP’s Analytics Strategy

21

1.2.1 Core Pillars of SAP’s Analytics Strategy

21

1.2.2 Comparing Cloud-Based and On-Premise Solutions

22

1.3 Overview of SAP Analytics Cloud

24

1.3.1 Functional Areas

25

1.3.2 User Interface and Core Functionality

27

1.4 Architecture

49

1.5 Summary

50

2 Data Integration

51

2.1 Data Sources Supported by SAP Analytics Cloud

51

2.1.1 Data Sources for Live Connections

52

2.1.2 Data Sources for Import Connections

58

2.2 Connection Types

62

2.2.1 Live Connection

63

2.2.2 Import Connection

68

2.2.3 Choosing a Connection Type

72

2.3 Integration Scenarios for Live Connections

72

2.3.1 Direct Connection via CORS

73

2.3.2 Connection via Reverse Proxy

78

2.4 Integration Scenarios for Import Connections

80

2.4.1 Connections to On-Premise Data Sources

81

2.4.2 Import Connections to Cloud Data Sources

83

2.5 Summary

85

3 Navigation and Administration

87

3.1 Navigating the Home Screen and Main Menu

88

3.2 First Steps for Administrators

92

3.2.1 Users and Single Sign-On

92

3.2.2 Data Sources and Structures

94

3.2.3 Operational Concept

95

3.2.4 System Landscape

96

3.3 Administration Tools

100

3.3.1 Security

101

3.3.2 Deployment

110

3.3.3 System

114

3.3.4 Administration

116

3.3.5 Files and Folder Structure

120

3.3.6 Content Network

123

3.4 Create Connections

124

3.5 Summary

128

4 Data Modeling

129

4.1 Why Use Data Models?

130

4.2 Types of Data Models

133

4.2.1 Datasets

134

4.2.2 Analytical Models

137

4.2.3 Planning Models

140

4.2.4 Embedded Models

141

4.3 Creating Models by Importing Data

141

4.3.1 Create a Model

143

4.3.2 Edit Columns

148

4.3.3 Executing Transformations

157

4.3.4 Generating and Saving the Model

160

4.4 Creating Models from Live Data Sources

161

4.5 Editing Models in the Modeler

170

4.5.1 Areas of the Modeler

172

4.5.2 Editing Models

175

4.6 Summary

181

5 Business Intelligence: Visualizations and Dashboards

183

5.1 What Are Stories?

184

5.2 Creating Stories

186

5.2.1 Pages

188

5.2.2 Data Exploration and First Charts

191

5.2.3 Story Interface

197

5.3 Creating, Editing, and Formatting Charts

201

5.3.1 Creating a New Chart

201

5.3.2 Adding More Charts

207

5.3.3 Conditional Formatting

208

5.3.4 Showing Variances

210

5.3.5 Other Chart Functionality

214

5.3.6 Defining Colors

219

5.3.7 Formatting Charts

220

5.3.8 Hierarchies

222

5.4 Creating, Editing, and Formatting Tables

222

5.5 Geo Maps

229

5.6 Texts, RSS Readers, and Other Elements

232

5.7 How Viewers Interact with Stories

235

5.7.1 Filters

236

5.7.2 Dimension and Measure Input Controls

246

5.7.3 Chart Interactions

248

5.8 Calculations

253

5.8.1 Calculated Measures

254

5.8.2 Calculated Dimensions

259

5.9 Story Design

260

5.10 Sharing and Publishing Stories

263

5.10.1 Sharing, Exporting, and Publishing Stories

263

5.10.2 Publishing to Mobile Devices

267

5.11 Additional Story Functionalities

273

5.11.1 Creating an Embedded Model within a Story

273

5.11.2 Story Templates

274

5.11.3 Blending

275

5.11.4 Comments

278

5.11.5 Bookmarks

279

5.12 Summary

280

6 Planning

281

6.1 Planning in SAP Analytics Cloud

282

6.1.1 Data Entry and Version Management

282

6.1.2 Planning within Stories

285

6.1.3 Planning Tools

287

6.2 Creating and Setting Up a Planning Model

290

6.2.1 Creating a Currency Conversion Table

292

6.2.2 Creating a Master Data Model

294

6.2.3 Uploading Transactional Data to the Model

300

6.2.4 Setting Up a Planning Model

306

6.3 Planning-Specific Functionality

308

6.3.1 Versions and Data Entry

309

6.3.2 Allocating Values

313

6.3.3 Allocations

316

6.3.4 Grid Pages

322

6.3.5 Value Driver Tree

324

6.3.6 Data Actions

328

6.3.7 Calendar

330

6.4 Summary

334

7 Predictive Analytics

335

7.1 What Is Predictive Analytics?

336

7.2 Smart Assist

340

7.2.1 Smart Discovery

340

7.2.2 Smart Insights

346

7.2.3 Search to Insight

347

7.2.4 R Visualizations

350

7.2.5 Automatic Forecasts for Time Series

354

7.2.6 Smart Grouping

355

7.3 Smart Predict: Predictive Scenarios

357

7.3.1 Time Series

357

7.3.2 Regressions and Classifications

364

7.4 Summary

364

8 Analytics Designer

365

8.1 Differences between Stories and Applications

366

8.2 Creating Applications

368

8.2.1 Development Environment

369

8.2.2 Creating New Application Elements

373

8.3 Summary

388

9 SAP Digital Boardroom

391

9.1 What Is SAP Digital Boardroom?

392

9.2 Creating Boardrooms

397

9.2.1 Boardroom Types

397

9.2.2 Using Charts in a Boardroom

400

9.2.3 Creating an Agenda

401

9.2.4 Creating a Dashboard

407

9.3 Hardware Recommendations

413

9.4 Summary

414

10 SAP Analytics Hub and SAP Analytics Catalog

415

10.1 What Is SAP Analytics Hub?

416

10.2 Setup and Content Creation

419

10.2.1 SAP Analytics Hub Cockpit

419

10.2.2 Edit Mode and Content Management

427

10.3 SAP Analytics Catalog

429

10.3.1 Adding Content to SAP Analytics Catalog

429

10.3.2 Browsing SAP Analytics Catalog

432

10.4 Summary

432