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Many of our clients want to know how best to navigate SAP’s business intelligence roadmap but the SAP reporting and analytics ecosystem has a complex history that continues to evolve. Enowa's Senior Director, Jonathan Haun, an accomplished author and thought leader in this space, offers some insights.
Since SAP’s acquisition of BusinessObjects in 2007, the SAP roadmap for Business Intelligence (BI) has evolved dramatically and quickly from its legacy solution, SAP Business Warehouse. When SAP introduced SAP HANA, a revolutionary data platform, in 2010, it represented the next fork in the company’s BI roadmap. Many organizations chose to leverage SAP HANA by moving their instances of SAP BW to SAP BW on HANA. Others used SAP HANA directly using batch ETL or real-time replication. Because SAP. BusinessObjects is capable of interfacing with both SAP BW on HANA and Native SAP HANA, organizations could choose between either BI platform solution. SAP HANA continues to be the data storage backbone of most SAP BI solutions, both on-premise and in the cloud. SAP BW on HANA has further evolved into SAP BW/4HANA and its most recent version has significantly simplified data management, transformations, and lineage.
As SAP continued down the road to self-service and visualization, many more forks appeared in the roadmap. SAP BusinessObjects included a powerful ad-hoc reporting tool named Web Intelligence (WebI). While WebI is an excellent tool, end-users often require training to use it. In 2012, SAP introduced the self-service BI tool SAP Visual Intelligence (later renaming it SAP BusinessObjects Lumira 1.0). In 2013, SAP also introduced a developer focused dashboard tool, SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio. Design Studio could produce niche data visualizations and web-based BI applications but required a skilled programmer. To address the demand for easier self-service tools, SAP introduced SAP Lumira 2.0 in 2017, which combined SAP Lumira 1.0 for self-service and SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio for professional developers. SAP Lumira 2.0 made it possible for end users to create visualizations and then pass their work on to a professional developer for niche customizations.
In 2018, SAP introduced SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC), another significant fork in the BI roadmap. This platform and its capabilities represent the current roadmap for SAP Business Intelligence visualizations, dashboards, planning, predictive analytics, and advanced analytics capabilities. However, the solution does not always address important BI needs—particularly around data security, enterprise reporting, and report distribution. To that end, SAP will introduce SAP BusinessObjects 4.3 this year, bringing together. SAC’s capabilities combined with SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise. A stated goal of SAP BusinessObjects 4.3 is to increase the integration capabilities between SAC and SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise.
Another significant fork in the road for SAP BI was the introduction of SAP Data Warehouse Cloud in late 2019. SAP Data Warehouse Cloud (DWC) is another SAP HANA-based SaaS offering that provides data storage, data transformation, ETL, data semantics, data cataloging, and data modeling all within a scalable cloud platform. It doesn’t necessarily replace SAP BW nor HANA, but there is a significant overlap of functionality between SAP DWC and on-prem solutions like SAP BW and Native SAP HANA.
S/4HANA has also disrupted the BI strategy, creating yet another fork in the road for many organizations, with the introduction of Core Data Services (CDS). CDS allows organization to create metadata-rich data models for operational reporting, using a SQL-like language that makes it easier to model data. CDS also works with the Embedded SAP BW, a solution native to SAP NetWeaver starting with version 7.0 and beyond, to provide enhanced metadata and reporting capabilities. Most organizations will find this combination a viable option to support operational BI reporting within the S/4HANA landscape. This same architecture also supports embedded analytics common to many SAP-provided Fiori GUI interfaces. SAP also provide a large library of prebuilt SAC content that can be connected to your S/4HANA CDS models.
SAP has rapidly evolved their BI platforms, capabilities, and BI tools over the last 20 years and at a pace that most customers cannot match. As a result, many customers find themselves leveraging one of SAP’s many BI solutions, which automatically sends them down one of the many forks in the SAP BI roadmap. To further complicate matters, not every solution stack provides the same functionality and organizations may risk failed adoptions if they try to move business users to a solution that does not quickly solve their problems.
While every organization is different, some best practices still apply. Organizations should catalog their current landscape, tools, and data lineages with the goal of assessing. their current state and identifying their data pipelines. IT should also conduct workshops with business users and data owners to better understand their data pipelines, KPIs, metrics, needs, and identify any gaps or issues. That will give IT a better understanding of how best to align business needs with SAP’s current roadmap. It’s also important to remember that your data management strategy is likely the most important component for successful self-service BI enablement. In my experience, most organizations place too much emphasis on the end user reporting tools and fail to properly govern the data pipelines that feed their KPIs and metrics.
SAP, like many other providers, is moving its tools and solutions to the cloud. But bear in mind that this doesn’t mean that legacy tools like SAP BW, native SAP HANA or SAP BusinessObjects should be abandoned, especially if your organization has invested in content that will not easily be migrated to SAP’s SaaS offerings without significant redevelopment. Therefore, I suspect that most organizations will embrace a strategy where their on-premise architectures are modernized, consolidated, and streamlined before content is moved into SAP’s SaaS platforms.
Jonathan has been an IT leader for over 20 years, helping clients implement successful business intelligence and data management solutions. He has authored, or co-authored, several books about SAP HANA and routinely speaks at SAP conferences on BI, HANA and other security topics. Jonathan is a Senior Director at Enowa, responsible for managing and delivering Enowa's SAP and non-SAP BI initiatives. He also helps clients with their SAP HANA implementations, SAP IaaS cloud deployments, and SAP HANA Security models.
Join the first this interactive group discussion with Reply’s finance lead, Friedrich Glugsberger and Van Vu, and senior consultant, Jeff Messer, in this session to explore what Corporate Performance Management (CPM) embodies and how Group Reporting fits into the overall CPM Vision. Attendees will be able to engage in conversations with peers, ask questions, and exchange information on SAP Group Reporting.
We will discuss:
- Viable transition and integration scenarios
- The value proposition for reporting and decision making
Submit your interest to register for the session by clicking the button and include the session date on the Subject. Someone from the team will get back to you in 1-business day.
Join this interactive group discussion with Reply’s finance lead, Friedrich Glugsberger and Van Vu, as they break down the most frequently asked questions of incorporating Group Reporting across different ERP landscapes. Attendees will be able to engage in conversations with peers, ask questions, and exchange information on SAP Group Reporting. Discussion topics include:
- Group Reporting with S/4HANA
- Group Reporting with CFIN, ECC, External Systems
- Master data and transactional data integration
Submit your interest to register for the session by clicking the button and include the session date on the Subject. Someone from the team will get back to you in 1-business day.
Join this interactive group discussion with Reply’s finance lead, Friedrich Glugsberger, and guest speaker, Jeff Messer, in this session to uncover the "must knows" for a successful move to Group Reporting. Explore different methodologies and identify critical paths that could impact your implementation. Attendees will be able to engage in conversations with peers, ask questions, and exchange information on SAP Group Reporting.
Submit your interest to register for the session by clicking the button and include the session date on the Subject. Someone from the team will get back to you in 1-business day.
Join this interactive group discussion with Reply’s finance lead, Friedrich Glugsberger, and guest speaker, Krizelle Ong, in this session to discover what SAP Best Practices has to offer for Group Reporting. Attendees will be able to engage in conversations with peers, ask questions, and exchange information on SAP Group Reporting. We’ll cover
- Explanation of what Best Practices are
- Benefits and practical considerations when adopting Best Practices
- Our customers' experiences and lessons learned
Submit your interest to register for the session by clicking the button and include the session date on the Subject. Someone from the team will get back to you in 1-business day.
A reader's digest to Group Reporting that every user should know. Join Reply’s finance lead, Friedrich Glugsberger and Van Vu to
- Learn about the fundamental building blocks in the Group Reporting core architecture
- Explore how to properly use building blocks for effective reporting and analysis
- Brief overview of new developments from Release 2309
Submit your interest to register for the session by clicking the button and include the session date on the Subject. Someone from the team will get back to you in 1-business day.
In this webcast, we will discuss how to properly plan for migrating historical data and reports in Group Reporting. Explore how these two workstreams are common risks in any Group Reporting implementations and the strategies Reply has deployed to ensure success.
* Please note that registering for one session will not register you for all sessions. You are encouraged to register for all the sessions that you are interested in attending.
Learn how to properly install and integrate Group Reporting Data Collection the first time and avoid many of the pitfalls along the way.
* Please note that registering for one session will not register you for all sessions. You are encouraged to register for all the sessions that you are interested in attending.
What does Organization Change Management entail for Group Reporting? Learn about the different aspects and strategies to deploy for a seamless integration.
* Please note that registering for one session will not register you for all sessions. You are encouraged to register for all the sessions that you are interested in attending.
Join our webcast to compare and contrast the different reporting solutions available for Group Reporting. Learn about the different features along with the advantages and disadvantages of each solution.
* Please note that registering for one session will not register you for all sessions. You are encouraged to register for all the sessions that you are interested in attending.
Join us for a review of the architectural design, requirements, and considerations for on-prem and cloud source systems. Explore considerations for an effective security design.
* Please note that registering for one session will not register you for all sessions. You are encouraged to register for all the sessions that you are interested in attending.
In this presentation, Reply’s finance experts, Friedrich Glugsberger and Van Vu, will examine the practical aspects of implementing S/4HANA for Group Reporting in three industry-leading companies: Glatfelter and Hexion. Our exploration delves into the reasons for change, strategies employed, and the lessons derived from these projects, offering insights valuable to organizations considering S/4HANA for Group Reporting.
Key Points:
This presentation provides an opportunity to gain knowledge from these projects and better understand the landscape of financial consolidation. Whether you are a financial professional, compliance expert, or an executive seeking to enhance your organization's group reporting, this comparative study offers valuable insights.
Join the first this interactive group discussion with Reply’s finance lead, Friedrich Glugsberger and Van Vu, and senior consultant, Jeff Messer, in this session to explore what Corporate Performance Management (CPM) embodies and how Group Reporting fits into the overall CPM Vision. Attendees will be able to engage in conversations with peers, ask questions, and exchange information on SAP Group Reporting.
We will discuss:
- Viable transition and integration scenarios
- The value proposition for reporting and decision making
Submit your interest to register for the session by clicking the button and include the session date on the Subject. Someone from the team will get back to you in 1-business day.
KEI operates a global decentralized organizationwith disparate processes and data. Strategic growth objectives requireharmonized global operations balanced with business unit autonomy forcompetitive advantages. KEI and Reply conducted a business-focused assessmentto provide board-level details for executive alignment in transforming KEI withS/4HANA RISE.
Contact us at contact.syskoplan.us@reply.com to learn more about Sapphire or to schedule a meeting with Reply experts at our booth or meeting room.
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