Enterprise Resource Planning Blogs by SAP
Get insights and updates about cloud ERP and RISE with SAP, SAP S/4HANA and SAP S/4HANA Cloud, and more enterprise management capabilities with SAP blog posts.
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
JoeyLi
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
As is known to all, SAP introduces the seamless integration of S/4HANA Cloud with SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) with 1911, which adds great value to our current embedded analytics offering in SAP S/4HANA Cloud. The embedded SAP Analytics Cloud is fully managed by SAP S/4HANA Cloud which exposes the embedded SAC functionality through Fiori applications, and this is all customers need to work with it. It enriches the current analytical functionalities and brings in more flexibility and ease of use.

Here are lists of new capabilities in SAP S/4HANA Cloud:

  • Direct access to SAP S/4HANA Cloud data based on live connectivity

  • Integration into SAP Fiori Launchpad, integrated in SAP S/4HANA Cloud role and screen variant management

  • Intent-based navigation

  • Flexible definition of own Analytics Models and Stories

  • Fiori Variant Management


Within our customer engagement under community of practice, we helped a customer’s finance department to successfully design and complete a custom report. It shows the possibility for customers to design their own custom SAC dashboard to fulfill their individual business requirements. And in this blog, this story will be shared to readers.

What’s customer’s request?

The standard app, “Aging Report for Accounts Payable”, was designed for analyzing the payable amounts to suppliers by aging intervals. However, this customer needs a drill-down of the result. Customer needs to monitor detail payable status with their required format. And the financial department of customer needs to obtain detailed analytical perspective of account payable and receivable.

Since there is no additional license required and embedded Analytics contains lots of pre-delivered data source, embedded SAC has been introduced to the customer and solved the problem efficiently.

Restrictions

There is also some restrictions or issues in embedded SAC. For example, blending is not possible (note 2715030 ). The customer needs to combine all the data resources and create own analytical queries before designing the showing style of them.

How to solve the problem?

There are three main steps to implement Embedded SAC: creating Custom CDS View, creating Custom Analytical Query, and creating Story. The specific steps will be described in detail below. To protect customer sensitive data, some of the screenshots come from dummy test system.

l Creating Custom CDS View


The detailed analytical perspective of account payable and receivable cannot be displayed with one data source. It needs two related data sources to show the information the customer wants. Therefore, two data sources need to be associated by creating a custom CDS view. Next are the detailed steps.

  • Navigate to Custom Analytical Queries and create a new custom CDS view.




  • Fill the name of the new custom CDS view and select Analytical Cube for the scenario.




  • Add a Primary Data Source.




  • Add an Associated Data Source.




  • Then edit join conditions between 2 data sources.




  • Add necessary Elements and then publish it. So far, a new custom CDS view has been created.





l Creating Custom Analytical Query


A new Custom Analytical Query needs to be created for the new custom CDS view.

  • Navigate to Custom Analytical Queries.




  • Select the new created custom CDS view as Data Source.




  • Assign a label for the view and the select the field.






  • Modify display fields’ settings such as row and column and rename label for your display needs.




  • If all the configurations have been all set, the query can be published. And it can be found in the query list.



l Creating Story


Integration of SAP Analytics Cloud with S/4HANA Cloud allows users to create stories, add data, generate powerful data visualizations, and create tiles on the Fiori Launchpad. Stories in SAP Analytics Cloud are raw data that transform into powerful visualizations that help in driving business performances and help data-driven decisions about users’ business.

Using SAP Analytics Cloud, users can prepare the data for analysis by defining measures and dimensions. Different visualizations can be arranged such as charts, graphs, tables, and other visual elements to tell the story and use these visualizations for in-depth analysis, which means that customers can customize their stories.

Therefore, we have defined an SAP Analytic Cloud story for the new created data source to visualize the data that the customer wants to show on the page. Steps will be shown below

  • Navigate to KPI Design group in the Fiori Launchpad (FLP).




  • The design time app ‘Manage KPIs & Reports’ receives a new tab called “Stories”. Choose “Stories” tab from the Manage KPIs and Reports app page. To create a custom story, choose “+ ”(Add).




  • The Create Story page appears. In the Definition tab, enter the title in the Header section and description in Business Information section.




  • Go to Configuration tab to define the story. A pre-defined template will be loaded. Select the new created query from the list to build the story.




  • Based on the query selection, if there are mandatory parameters and filters, “Set Variables” dialog box appears wherein you must enter or choose the values to the input parameters of the selected Data Source. Then a model for selected query will be generated and attached to the Story.




  • From the Insert toolbar of SAC, choose either chart or table. Use the different functions from the toolbar to vary the visualization as your liking.




  • Design layout of the canvas by adding lanes and remove all the default created title input fields.




  • Add Image widgets to upload customer’s logo and picture. The images can be resized.




  • Add 3 Indicator charts for the detailed information with setting Primary Values and resize them.




  • Add a donut chart and a bar chart with dimension to display the data and style them.




  • Add a Bar & Line with following measures setting at the middle of the lane.




  • Add a table to display detailed payables with following row and column setting.




  • Add 4 Page Filters in different dimensions on the left side.




Add all the other visualizations as per the scenario. Click “Activate” bottom to save the story. On the successful save, the story will be exported to SAP Analytics Cloud Content Network (ACN) with the visibility restriction Customer ERP Number. And now, customers can view the information they want to see on the page.

Conclusion


In this blog, we show how to create a custom SAP Analytics Cloud Story or Dashboard via S/4HANA Cloud and embed it in S/4HANA Cloud Fiori Launchpad. And as you can see, instead of expert-configuration, Embedded Analytics works fast and efficiently, which has showed its powerful function. It’s believed that it will help to extend and enrich current possibilities of meeting customer’s needs and improve customers’ experience. In the future, we will share more successful stories of embedded analytics to readers.

More information

For more information on SAP S/4HANA Cloud embedded analytics with SAP Analytics Cloud, check out the following links:

l Sven Denecken’s blog :Intelligent ERP Update: SAP S/4HANA Cloud 1911 Release

l Release highlight of 2002: click here

l Customer use case of Embedded SAC on Material Stock Analysis click here
8 Comments