Preface

13

Objective of This Book

13

Target Audience

14

Structure of This Book

14

Additional Resources

15

Acknowledgments

16

1 Introduction

17

1.1 What Is Analytics?

17

1.2 SAP’s Unified Data and Analytics Strategy

19

1.2.1 Core Pillars of SAP’s Unified Data and Analytics Strategy

19

1.2.2 Comparing Cloud-Based and On-Premise Solutions

20

1.3 Overview of SAP Analytics Cloud

22

1.3.1 Functional Areas

23

1.3.2 User Interface and Core Functionality

25

1.4 Architecture

43

1.5 Standalone and Embedded Versions of SAP Analytics Cloud

44

1.6 Summary

45

2 Data Integration

47

2.1 Data Sources Supported by SAP Analytics Cloud

47

2.1.1 Data Sources for Live Connections

47

2.1.2 Data Sources for Import Connections

53

2.2 Connection Types

59

2.2.1 Live Connections

59

2.2.2 Import Connections

64

2.2.3 Choosing a Connection Type

68

2.3 Integration Scenarios for Live Connections

68

2.3.1 Direct Connections via Cross-Origin Resource Sharing

69

2.3.2 Connections via Tunnels

74

2.3.3 Connections via Reverse Proxies

76

2.4 Integration Scenarios for Import Connections

78

2.4.1 Connections to On-Premise Data Sources

79

2.4.2 Import Connections to Cloud Data Sources

80

2.5 Summary

82

3 Navigation and Administration

83

3.1 Navigating the Home Screen and Main Menu

84

3.2 First Steps for Administrators

88

3.2.1 Users and Single Sign-On

88

3.2.2 Data Sources and Structures

90

3.2.3 Operational Concept

91

3.2.4 System Landscape

91

3.3 Administration Tools

95

3.3.1 Security

96

3.3.2 Transport

104

3.3.3 System

107

3.3.4 Administration

109

3.3.5 Files and Folder Structure

113

3.3.6 Content Network

116

3.3.7 Workspace Management

117

3.4 Creating Connections

119

3.5 Summary

122

4 Data Modeling

123

4.1 Why Use Data Models?

124

4.2 Types of Data Models

127

4.2.1 Datasets

127

4.2.2 Analytical Models

130

4.2.3 Planning Models

133

4.2.4 Embedded Models

133

4.3 Creating Models by Importing Data

134

4.3.1 Creating a Model

135

4.3.2 Editing Columns

139

4.3.3 Executing Transformations

147

4.3.4 Generating and Saving the Model

150

4.4 Creating Models from Live Data Sources

151

4.5 Editing Models in the Modeler

159

4.5.1 Areas of the Modeler

161

4.5.2 Editing Models

164

4.6 Summary

171

5 Business Intelligence: Visualizations and Dashboards

173

5.1 What Are Stories?

174

5.2 Creating Stories

176

5.2.1 Pages

177

5.2.2 Data Exploration and Your First Charts

180

5.2.3 Story Interface

185

5.3 Creating, Editing, and Formatting Charts

189

5.3.1 Creating a New Chart

190

5.3.2 Adding More Charts

195

5.3.3 Conditional Formatting

195

5.3.4 Showing Variances

197

5.3.5 Other Chart Functionalities

200

5.3.6 Defining Colors

205

5.3.7 Formatting Charts

206

5.3.8 Hierarchies

208

5.4 Creating, Editing, and Formatting Tables

209

5.5 Geo Maps

214

5.6 Texts, RSS Readers, and Other Elements

217

5.7 How Viewers Interact with Stories

220

5.7.1 Filters

221

5.7.2 Dimension and Measure Input Controls

230

5.7.3 Chart Interactions

232

5.8 Calculations

236

5.8.1 Calculated Measures

237

5.8.2 Calculated Dimensions

241

5.9 Story Design

243

5.10 Sharing and Publishing Stories

245

5.10.1 Sharing, Exporting, and Publishing Stories

245

5.10.2 Publishing to Mobile Devices

249

5.11 Additional Story Functionalities

255

5.11.1 Creating an Embedded Model within a Story

255

5.11.2 Story Templates

255

5.11.3 Blending

256

5.11.4 Comments

259

5.11.5 Bookmarks

260

5.12 Optimized Story View Mode

260

5.13 Summary

262

6 Planning

263

6.1 Planning in SAP Analytics Cloud

263

6.1.1 Data Entry and Version Management

264

6.1.2 Planning within Stories

266

6.1.3 Planning Tools

268

6.2 Creating and Setting Up a Planning Model

271

6.2.1 Creating a Currency Conversion Table

272

6.2.2 Creating a Master Data Model

274

6.2.3 Uploading Transactional Data to the Model

281

6.2.4 Setting Up a Planning Model

286

6.3 Planning-Specific Functionality

289

6.3.1 Versions and Data Entry

289

6.3.2 Distributing Values

292

6.3.3 Allocations

297

6.3.4 Grid Pages

302

6.3.5 Value Driver Tree

305

6.3.6 Data Actions

310

6.3.7 Calendar

312

6.4 Summary

315

7 Predictive Analytics

317

7.1 What Is Predictive Analytics?

318

7.2 Smart Assist

322

7.2.1 Smart Discovery

322

7.2.2 Smart Insights

327

7.2.3 Search to Insight

329

7.2.4 R Visualizations

330

7.2.5 Automatic Forecasts for Time Series

335

7.2.6 Smart Grouping

336

7.3 Smart Predict: Predictive Scenarios

337

7.3.1 Time Series

337

7.3.2 Regressions and Classifications

343

7.4 Summary

344

8 Analytics Designer

345

8.1 Differences between Stories and Applications

345

8.2 Creating Applications

347

8.2.1 Development Environment

349

8.2.2 Creating New Application Elements

351

8.3 Custom Widgets

366

8.4 Summary

371

9 SAP Digital Boardroom

373

9.1 What Is SAP Digital Boardroom?

373

9.2 Creating Boardrooms

379

9.2.1 Boardroom Types

379

9.2.2 Using Charts in a Boardroom

381

9.2.3 Creating an Agenda

382

9.2.4 Creating a Dashboard

387

9.3 Hardware Recommendations

393

9.4 Summary

393

10 SAP Analytics Hub and the Analytics Catalog for SAP Analytics Cloud

395

10.1 What Is SAP Analytics Hub?

396

10.2 Setup and Content Creation

398

10.2.1 SAP Analytics Hub Cockpit

399

10.2.2 Edit Mode and Content Management

405

10.3 The Analytics Catalog

407

10.3.1 Adding Content to the Analytics Catalog

408

10.3.2 Browsing the Analytics Catalog

410

10.4 Summary

410