What is SAP Analytics Cloud: The Complete Guide (2024)

Data is everywhere nowadays, wouldn’t you agree?

For most businesses, the challenge is no longer access but how to capture, analyze and derive unique insights from it.

As a result, most organizations hire data analysts and expert data scientists for the task.

Unfortunately, hiring an in-house data analyst or scientist isn’t just expensive; it also slows down data-driven decision-making.

But hear me out…

What if I told you there’s a tool that lets even an Average Joe analyze, plan and predict meaningful insights from raw data?

Read on for a comprehensive take on what it is and what it offers.

What is SAP Analytics Cloud

SAP Analytics Cloud, popularly known as SAC, is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based cloud data visualization software from SAP. It consolidates business intelligence, predictive analysis, and planning into a single cloud environment for easy data access and smooth decision-making.

SAP first rolled out the program in 2015 as SAP Cloud for business planning. The German company then added a BI layer and renamed SAP BusinessObjects Cloud.

After a short while, SAP introduced predictive analytics to the platform, making it the first of business intelligence platforms to integrate data visualization, planning, and augmented analytics into a single platform.

It was renamed SAP Analytics Cloud in 2017.

Who is SAC's Target Market?

Given the features it brings to the table, one would think that SAC is intended for high-tech companies, but that’s not the case.

The three-in-one data visualization solution is designed to be as easy to use as possible, making it applicable to every employee regardless of their skill level. It has a user-friendly interface that is also customizable, meaning it can be adapted to an organization’s standard software interfaces, so all staff members are able to use it.

The platform also uses Machine Learning (ML) algorithms to facilitate natural language processing enabling even an average user to run queries, and generate detailed and highly accurate data reports.

Simply put, SAC is a data visualization solution intended for every business looking to improve business processes and achieve success through data analysis, and technology.

Key Features of SAP Analytics Cloud

SAC offers the following main features:

Business Intelligence

SAC’s business intelligence platform allows your organization to gain actionable raw data insight using intuitive and advanced analytics. The business intelligence feature offers:

Seamless Data Access

SAP Analytics Cloud BI is built on the SAP HANA platform to allow users to either import data from external sources or have the analytics platform read directly from the data sources.

If you prefer to import your data, you’ll be glad to know the platform is compatible with various data sources, including Microsoft SQL and OData services.

But if you’d rather the platform read data directly from the source, you must ensure your source is connected to an SAP system like HANA or BPC. Note that when SAC reads directly from the source, it only captures real-time data, allowing you to explore only the most accurate information available.

Enhanced Data Preparation through Data Modeling

SAC’s data modeling functionality enhances your data’s quality by allowing you to insert formulas, add indicators, or even modify the value of resulting characteristics.

Data Visualization

With the BI data visualization function, you can highlight data using graphs, pies, tables, and many other visual elements to ensure you engage your audience and simultaneously get the message home.

Predictive Analytics

SAC BI combines artificial intelligence with machine learning technology to allow users to generate forecasts and predict business outcomes on essential business goals.

You can also use the platform to detect the driving- factors behind your organization’s KPIs. With such data at your fingertips, it becomes easier to improve business processes now and in the future. Even better, SAC’s BI augmented analytics boast natural-language processing. That means even an average user can ask conversational questions and receive real-time visual responses and comprehensive data reports.

Planning

SAC BI facilitates accurate predictive planning based on Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based projections. The BI planning feature comes with handy enterprise planning tools like scenario planning that enable users to combine financial and operational plans under one platform for a clear overview of their business.

What does this mean for you?

You can plan for literally any scenario and gauge its financial impact on your organization.

The result?

You make intelligent business decisions and ensure positive business outcomes from proposed business plans and objectives.

Why Implement SAP Analytics Cloud?

Besides being a three-in-one cloud-based solution, the SAP analytics cloud is a valuable investment for your enterprise because:

It Fuels Business Success

SAC was created to help businesses achieve objectives and success.

Proper implementation can serve as a central access point for internal and external business data, thanks to features like the analytics catalog. It automatically saves and makes published reports accessible to everyone in your organization, consequently allowing effortless remote collaboration.

SAC integrates with platforms like Microsoft Office and Salesforce to allow access to essential data on the fly. These integrations let you visualize and generate real-time data reports from internal and external sources.

And you can confidently expect highly accurate reports because SAC uses machine learning and AI technology to power its smart insights, smart prediction, and discovery functionalities.

SAC lets you visualize key KPI influencers and factors negatively influencing your bottom line.

The result?

It becomes easier to work towards success since you can now identify and improve on what works for your organization while eliminating negative KPI influencers.

It’s Easy to Use

Despite being among the market's most powerful cloud analytics tools, SAC is pretty user-friendly. It has a customizable interface, meaning you may tailor the dashboard and other UX features to a format everyone in your organization is familiar with or can effortlessly navigate.

The entire SAC system is built on SAP HANA, making it secure and incredibly fast at processing vast amounts of data.

Additionally, SAC uses natural-language processing. As a result, any user can run queries regardless of their skillset and expect to receive detailed insights in an easy-to-understand, conversational format.

This makes the software easy to implement and reduces operational costs since no extensive IT training is required.

It Facilitates Remote Collaboration

With SAC, you and your team can work and collaborate on projects from anywhere. It’s a cloud-based system, and that automatically means remote access.

But other than that, you may integrate the platform with SAP HANA and deploy insights to your team’s Android and iOS devices. This way, any changes you roll out are automatically implemented across all connected devices.

SAC also has a mobile app for users to access dashboards from their mobile devices, facilitating seamless collaboration between remote teams.

Integration Options

Don’t want to upload your sensitive data to SAC?

Turns out you don’t even have to.

Additionally, it has a Live Data connection feature that lets users run queries without data replication. This enables you to capitalize on the system’s innovative analytics to explore your marketing data while ensuring no sensitive information is replicated.

What is the Long-term Value of SAP Analytics Cloud?

Sap Analytics cloud is offered as a SaaS product to reduce user administration costs.

The long-run benefits your company will enjoy make it worth every penny. As a cloud-based solution compatible with an array of data sources, SAP lets you access and work on your data to derive meaningful insights from anywhere.

It also uses AI-based projections to facilitate predictive planning, and lets you integrate financial and operational plans for a simplified view of organizational performance and forecasts. This results in timely accurate forecasts that lead to early strategy planning and risk alleviation, fueling business success

Ready to Implement SAP Analytics Cloud Solution?

SAP Analytics Cloud lets you achieve organizational success by allowing every relevant employee to generate instant, real-time data reports that drive accurate, data-driven decision-making and achieve enterprise intelligence through unified data.

Additionally, SAC’s powerful self-service capabilities and user-friendly interface powered by AI-powered natural language processing increase usability among users across the entire organization.

If SAC sounds like the tool you need to level data management in your organization, Analysis Prime can help. We are SAP’s leading partner for SAC implementation and offer an innovative portfolio of services and solutions to ensure our customers’ success including high-quality, dedicated support from Experts-as-a-Service and comprehensive training from Analysis Prime University for SAP’s customers.