SAP used to provide two tools, SAP BI and SAP BPC. The SAP BI tool provided analytics, while the SAP BPC tool provided budgeting and planning functionality. However, We later consolidated these two tools into one tool, SAP Analytics for Cloud. This tool provides both budgeting and analytics functionality.
SAP Analytics Cloud OverviewUNIXBusinessApplicationPrice:
SAP Analytics Cloud Buyer's Guide
Download the SAP Analytics Cloud Buyer's Guide including reviews and more. Updated: February 2023
What is SAP Analytics Cloud?
SAP Analytics Cloud is an all-in-one Software-as-a-Service business intelligence tool that provides the key functionalities of an analytics tool to SAP business users. This tool is built on HANA Business Intelligence (BI) platform, providing analytics from data collected from multiple sources, such as ERP, Microsoft SQL, and Salesforce, among other solutions.
You can use SAP Analytics Cloud to compile data and perform ad-hoc reporting and analysis for predictive planning. SAP Analytics Cloud collects and analyzes the raw data from transactional systems into intelligent insights that allow you to make better decisions.
SAP Analytics Cloud uses machine learning to clean up data, identify errors, and issues, and suggest optimization or filtering options. You can use the modeling feature in Analytics Cloud to create hierarchies and get deeper data insights.
The three core functions of SAP Analytics Cloud consist of Planning, Predictive Analysis, and Business Intelligence as a holistic SaaS solution that offers real-time analysis to business leaders.
SAP Analytics Cloud Capabilities
- Data discovery
- Machine learning
- Integrated financial and business planning
- Predictive analysis
- Automated data cleansing
- Custom widgets
- Mobile extension
- Role-based customization
- Data exploration and visualization
SAP Analytics Cloud Key Features
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Augmented analytics: SAP Analytics Cloud allows organizations to make the most of AI (Artificial Intelligence)-powered analytics through augmented analytics. It includes a Search to Insight feature that enables users not skilled or experienced in data science to access and use the platform.
These smart insight tools allow organizations to visualize business data without manual intervention. By combining multiple machine learning algorithms, SAP Analytics Cloud automates predictive analysis so that organizations can have significant insight into secured data.
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Enterprise planning: As SAP Analytics Cloud is an all-in-one financial planning and analysis solution, organizations can use it to align strategies across all departments. It allows end-to-end, data-driven planning decisions via financial modeling, allocations, smart insights, and automated reporting.
The Zero-based budgeting feature allows for an effective resources allocation with built-in collaboration tools. The finance team can collaborate easily, create budget templates and make accurate decisions.
SAP Analytics Cloud Benefits
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Real-time cloud insights: SAP Analytics Cloud makes it easy for users at every level to generate instant insights and improve data-driven decision-making. With SAP Analytics Cloud, you can have immediate and central access to all figures, diagrams, insights, and evaluations for every employee on every device and updated in real time.
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Customizable dashboard: You can customize your dashboard according to your requirements. This customization means you can easily access all the relevant data on a single pane of vision tailored to your business.
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Collaborative planning: As an all-in-one platform, SAP Analytics Cloud integrates the multiple aspects of a business into a single solution, including finance, HR, sales, and supply chain management.
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Data on any device: You can integrate SAP Analytics Cloud with SAP S/4 HANA and deploy insights to Android and iOS devices. The SAP S/4 HANA integration also enables the rolling out of changes to multiple files and devices from a central location, so you can carry your business operations on the go over a secured cloud network.
- In-memory technology: Since it is based on SAP HANA in-memory technology, SAP Analytics Cloud can process massive amounts of data in a short time.
Reviews from Real Users
Segun O., SAP HANA Developer at SOA PEOPLE, says that "The most valuable features are on the application side, where you can design applications into your analytics on the platform."
The Head of Finance Enterprise Application at a computer software company adds that "The visualization feature is the most valuable. SAP Analytics Cloud is also very easy to use."
"Its many features make it the best in the market," sums up a Consultor SAP Business Object, Sap Analytics Cloud at a tech services company.
SAP Analytics Cloud was previously known as SAP BusinessObjects Cloud.
SAP Analytics Cloud Customers
Live Oak Bank
SAP Analytics Cloud Video
SAP Analytics Cloud Pricing Advice
What users are saying about SAP Analytics Cloud pricing:
SAP Analytics Cloud Reviews
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Audit advisor at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Great scalability, and stability, but does not integrate easily with non-SAP tools
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of the tool is machine learning."
- "SAP has always had one problem with its products, they make them very closed systems that are difficult to integrate."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
I have seen a lot of benefits from using SAP Analytics, but I think people have not yet fully realized its potential. I believe the system is still in its revolutionary stage because it has a lot of capabilities that have yet to be fully explored. In order to take advantage of these capabilities, we need to have a business story and our own analytics or business analytics requirements. I myself have only used SAP Analytics for a very small use case, but I can see how it could be used for enterprise-level planning, reporting, and dashboarding.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of the tool is machine learning. The machine learning algorithms are inbuilt and strong. I really like that feature because we don't need to do any coding. Normally, we used to do coding in Jupyter notes or Anaconda. It's another tool for analytics or for data science. We used to write Python code, and then try to fetch the data from the backend system, and perform the analysis, based on the batch. SAP Analytics is more real-time analytics and the use case which I use the tool for, with S/4HANA itself. SAP Analytics makes it much easier for me to have the data directly in real-time, to perform this machine learning. I have also seen some good automation features for budgeting and budgeting processes. This combined feature gives a very good flavor to perform the analytics.
What needs improvement?
SAP has always had one problem with its products, they make them very closed systems that are difficult to integrate. This is not only a problem with SAP Analytics but also with other products, like middleware systems. These systems, such as GRC, reside in the second level of defense, rather than the first. All these analytical systems normally require a huge integration, because they are not working independently. They are dependent on the backend systems. In any analytical system, we don't have data. Basically, we fetch the data or we try to take the data from any recording system such as an ERP recording system, CRM recording system, or any recording system. We perform the analysis in the analytical layer, which is our analytical tool, such as frauds, business integrated screening, SAP GRC, or even the SAC, SAP Analytics for Cloud. All of these require a huge integration. The problem I faced with SAP Analytics was the ease of integration and the cost. SAP Analytics for Cloud is not cost-friendly. we encounter the same issue with all SAP tools. Although SAP has a very beautiful and seamless integration within their system, it is not as easy to integrate them with non-SAP tools, as our Enterprise system does not have all SAP systems. They instead have multiple systems, including Oracle and Microsoft systems. Even though SAP has very beautiful plugins, which we can utilize and get benefit from that, it is not as friendly compared to other tools.
In 2012 or 2013, SAP's interfaces were a big challenge because they were very engineering-oriented and dry, making them difficult for business users to understand. Fiori was introduced as a solution to this problem, and it has been successful in doing so. However, I believe that SAP still needs to work on the integration aspect.
SAC is not the number one tool for analytics. However, if an organization has SAP backend products, then SAC falls within the system of analytics. The system of analytics requires a system of recording, which is the ERP system, CRM, or any other backend system that automates business processes. I believe that a little work is required in that aspect by SAP to improve.
Buyer's Guide
SAP Analytics Cloud
February 2023

Learn what your peers think about SAP Analytics Cloud. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2023.
685,707 professionals have used our research since 2012.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the tool for several years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The tool is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I give the scalability a nine out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
Most of the organizations I work for have a maximum attention licensing agreement with SAP, so the support service is amazing. We've never faced any delays with that.
How was the initial setup?
If we have more backend systems using SAP, it's really easy to set up SAP Analytics, but if that is not the case it becomes very difficult to integrate.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
SAP Analytics can be very costly to license, which can make it difficult for organizations to implement.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I evaluated SPSS and Alteryx.
What other advice do I have?
I give the tool a seven out of ten.
I was looking for a tool that could help me add value-added services to my department, such as predictive analytics from the audit perspective. I wanted a tool that could analyze text, mostly based on natural language processing. There are other heavy tools that could be applied to the audit lifecycle to improve the process. I was looking for a data analysis tool that would help me roll out the fifth generation of our internal audit department. I considered several options, including SPSS, Alteryx, and SAP Analytics. There is a generation of auditors and assurance professionals called 4.0 or 5.0 who are turning from performing basic analytics to using advanced analytics tools with AI to enhance their audit processes. They are becoming more proactive and using bottom-up analytics. This is a little bit technical for some people. In the same way that we have fourth-generation audit insurance, we have the fourth industrial revolution in the generic industry, we have a revolution in the audit department, a fourth-generation revolution, where we apply AI tools, RPA, robotic process, and advanced analytics to improve our processors. This allows us to perform more audits, 15-20 instead of 10, and to do so using a complete database rather than samples. As an auditor, we will no longer be providing reasonable assurance that we cannot provide everything, we will be able to provide assurance on the entire database. The analytics will automate this process for us, so I'm launching that strategy. In my strategy, I have, for example, some contracts I want to automate instead of reviewing them manually. Each and every contract, for example, comes to the audit department. Instead of reviewing the contract manually, and spending hours, converting this from the OCR text, and then applying the NLP on it, trying to identify the risks and the threats within this contract, and trying to audit based on that risk template, I can automate this process. I'm a certified professional in GRC and ECC. I've been working in this field for a long time. I've seen predictive analytics in action, and I've tried to compare the effectiveness of different tools, like SPSS and Alteryx, with SAP Analytics. I'm doing this because I want to see how much these tools can help me with my overall strategy. But I know that no single tool can guarantee success. We need a bunch of tools. For example, we have this SAP Celonis, which can help us understand business processes and do business process re-engineering and analysis. This SAP Celonis will help automate the process of understanding business processes, instead of having manual meetings with the business and trying to understand everyone's understanding of the process. We can rely on the data to tell us the truth. The central truth is the data. SAP Celonis will take the event log and try to analyze the process on our behalf, and try to give us the anomalies in our business process. The strategy has a different flavor, different tools, and different aspects. SAP Analytics would be more helpful in the audit execution process, and reporting stage. There is another tool that helps with fraud management. It's called business integrity screening. This tool basically fetches data and tests it for us. The tool also gathers information from SAP Analytics for Cloud and performs predictive analytics with strong machine learning algorithms. SAP Analytics is not the only thing I use to achieve my goals. It is a part of my strategy, and it helps me automate certain aspects of my plan.
An organization that has its backend systems as SAP would be making a smart move to go with SAP Analytics, but if they have a mix of SAP or non-SAP systems, I never advise organizations to go with SAP Analytics. An organization that does not have SAP in the backend and still wished to use SAP Analytics should perform a proper requirement analysis first.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Jan 25, 2023
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Human Resources Consultant - Workforce Reporting at a government with 10,001+ employees
Easy to set up with good forecasting capabilities but requires knowledge of programming languages
Pros and Cons
- "There is a really nice insight feature that I enjoy using."
- "The customizations need to be better."
What is our primary use case?
I primarily use the solution for reporting. We talk to people in all different roles and in all different types of companies and organizations. It's just to get a more well-rounded scope.
We use it to build a human capital dashboard and I use it to report on workforce data, hires and exits, movements, and items of that nature.
What is most valuable?
I like the forecasting capabilities.
There is a really nice insight feature that I enjoy using. It automatically adds input, which is quite helpful.
The initial setup was super simple.
What needs improvement?
The customizations need to be better. In order to do some basic functions, in order to create certain basic functions in input control, you need to know a couple of basic programming languages. It would be better if these input controls were easier to create or to get working. For example, in Tableau, it's so easy. You just add these controls. However, in this product, for certain basic functions like dropdown boxes, it's more difficult for the basic business user. If you're not in IT, it's not as easy as Tableau.
The product needs to offer more options for navigation. There need to be dropdown filtering op boxes. Right now, when you filter, what you have filtered is not presented - the selection isn't on the screen. If you're looking at it, you don't know if you've got the right number unless you hover over it.
Some of the functionalities that do not use any IT or business language, such as BIAL, which is a subset of JavaScript, and something called CSS, need to be incorporated.
The analytics app is designed for programmers. You need to know programming languages in order to use the solution effectively, and some users aren't programmers. Unfortunately, if you want something that should be simple to do, that's not available as you need to have that programming language.
For how long have I used the solution?
I'm a new-ish user; I just started this year. I would say I've used it for less than a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product seems very secure. It seems very stable. I've had no issues. There are no bugs or glitches. It does not crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is very good. I am not using it to its current potential, however, this is one of the benefits of the program, as is it can be scaled out for the whole organization, due to the ability for it to connect directly to the cloud data and right to the SAP.
Different business units are using the solution, including HR, long-term care, and transportation. I'm not sure how many users are leveraging it, however. We are a city-wide organization and different government areas use it.
It is not widely used right now, as we are still in the demo stage. That said, I can say that the organization is planning on committing to it.
How are customer service and support?
I've never had to use technical support except to go to my own IT staff for help, and therefore I can't comment very well on SAP's level of assistance.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I'm also familiar with Tableau.
We were using Excel and Tableau, and we stopped using Excel due to the fact that there's no scalability there. It's just very slow and cumbersome. That was Microsoft, actually. With Tableau, we are also using it for other things. Due to the nature of this software, it's good for some projects, and Tableau is better for others. This one's more suited towards data that is coming directly from a live system. Tableau works really well with flat files.
How was the initial setup?
For me, the implementation was very simple.
Our IT department provided me with the access rights and provided me with the appropriate links, as well as all of the training materials that SAP has on their website.
My deployment was small and quick. For the whole organization, it takes much longer. I am using it with a flat-file, inserting data into the cloud to connect with it, and therefore, my scope is very small compared to the whole organization. It did not take me long at all.
I handle the maintenance myself. It doesn't require much maintenance. I do work with IT when I need to.
What about the implementation team?
I used our IT staff, however, they have been working with representatives from the company in order to deploy the product organization-wide.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I can't speak to the licensing or costs. I'm not involved in that aspect just yet.
There seem to be three different levels of licenses, including one for a viewer, and one for a designer and one is for analytics.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
This is currently the solution we are evaluating.
What other advice do I have?
My advice would be to all-out purchase the analytics application, as some of the features are in just the designer mode, and they are not going to be sufficient. You're going to need some of the features that are contained in the third option, the analytics application.
Users need to be very familiar with what they have called the data modeler and should spend some time modeling and rendering data in their data modeler or just importing data into something called the dataset. With the dataset, users have more flexibility, however, the data modeling, that's something I didn't know starting out. Had I done it differently, I might have used the data modeler.
I'd rate the solution at a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
SAP Analytics Cloud
February 2023

Learn what your peers think about SAP Analytics Cloud. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2023.
685,707 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Project manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Stable and has a good dashboard and data extraction feature, but it could be more user-friendly, and support needs improvement
Pros and Cons
- "What my customers like best about SAP Analytics Cloud is the dashboard because it's pretty good."
- "One area for improvement in SAP Analytics Cloud is incorporating Python into the coding. That functionality is available, but it's not as efficient, and it's a bit difficult sometimes to do it, so that could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We use SAP Analytics Cloud mainly to get insights into the customer data, such as what type of orders, the type of customers, and correlations among the orders. For example, we also get insights on cash flow, the frequency of orders, and causes for unfulfilled orders.
The data we get from SAP Analytics Cloud is more analytical, where we try to analyze what happened. Based on our analysis, our customers can explain the pitfalls in their current systems.
What is most valuable?
What my customers like best about SAP Analytics Cloud is the dashboard because it's pretty good.
I also find the data extraction feature, where you extract data to an Excel sheet, useful.
What needs improvement?
One area for improvement in SAP Analytics Cloud is incorporating Python into the coding. That functionality is available, but it's not as efficient, and it's a bit difficult sometimes to do it, so that could be improved.
Compared to the IBM solution, per many of my customers, SAP Analytics Cloud is less user-friendly than IBM, so this is another area for improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've worked with SAP Analytics Cloud for more than a year and still use it, though it's not every day that I use it. My usage of SAP Analytics Cloud is on and off based on the client's requirements. My company is an SAP solutions provider, but it doesn't often get requests for SAP Analytics Cloud here in India.
Looking at my period of usage for SAP Analytics Cloud, it seems long, but the actual work is not so much. Sometimes, there's none. The last time I worked with the solution was one month ago.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
SAP Analytics Cloud is stable, so my company hasn't received many complaints from a stability point of view.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of SAP Analytics Cloud is eight out of ten.
My company hasn't had the opportunity to work with enormous data because clients only had a few hundred GBs of data, so not a very big database to work with, but then, with SAP HANA coming in, it's becoming easier to deal with the data. It's much more efficient to handle larger data sets versus connecting with SAP ECC. Connecting to SAP HANA makes the process more efficient and the data transfer much more effortless.
How are customer service and support?
The support for SAP Analytics Cloud could use some improvement because if the client is pretty important, my company receives faster replies from the support team. However, it takes longer for technical support to reply and resolve the issues if the client isn't that big.
I'd rate SAP technical support as six on a scale of one to ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I was also involved in one or two projects trying to connect SAP Analytics Cloud with IBM Analytics, and it was a good experience, but I haven't worked with an IBM solution. Still, I feel IBM is more flexible because it uses different languages versus SAP Analytics Cloud, where you have to use SAP proprietary language by default. You can use other languages, but you need to do some configurations first, while IBM, out of the box, supports multiple languages, so that's the big difference between SAP Analytics Cloud and IBM Analytics.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup for SAP Analytics Cloud was pretty easy, primarily because my company only works with SAP solutions, so connecting SAP Analytics Cloud to an SAP environment was easy, with not much hassle.
What other advice do I have?
My company works with multiple solutions, including SAP Analytics Cloud and traditional BI tools.
Because of the SAP partnership, my company doesn't get data from other systems; instead, it only uses data from SAP to create all data services.
Overall, SAP Analytics Cloud is a good solution, and if you're dealing exclusively with SAP products, then it's a good marriage. It's a seven on a scale of one to ten.
I recommend the solution to others because it's excellent. It's a good fit in the overall landscape of SAP.
My company is an SAP partner.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Last updated: Jan 10, 2023
Flag as inappropriateSAP Intelligent Enterprise Manager at Arram solutions ltd
Brings our team together through enhanced collaboration
Pros and Cons
- "The ability to collaborate and plan together is great."
- "Figuring out how to navigate all of the products around Data Warehouse Cloud and SAP Analytics Cloud and BW for HANA is quite difficult."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution for financial planning and analysis. We definitely plan to expand our usage of this solution.
How has it helped my organization?
This solution brings our team together easily through its collaboration abilities.
What is most valuable?
The ability to collaborate and plan together is great. In fact, the collaboration capabilities across the board are very good. Also, integration-wise, it's very good.
What needs improvement?
I would like to know how Analytics Cloud plays with other products like SAP Data Warehouse Cloud and SAP HANA Cloud. SAP Data Warehouse Cloud is now integrated with SAP Analytics Cloud, but I would like to know how they strategically work together; what is the strategy? How do they work together and how is SAP planning to implement self-service? Currently, it's not very clear — particularly regarding Data Warehouse Cloud which is now part of SAP Analytics Cloud. It's quite difficult to navigate because SAP has many products.
Figuring out how to navigate all of the products around Data Warehouse Cloud and SAP Analytics Cloud and BW for HANA is quite difficult. The strategy of all the individual products and the roadmap itself, if you take it separately, it all looks good. There is a transformation navigator, but I don't think it's useful. It's not very easy to use; it's more technical than it is on the business side. In short, the roadmap and integration with other SAP Analytics products like Data Warehouse Cloud need to be improved. It's not clear and I can't find any information from SAP addressing the subject.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using SAP Analytics Cloud for one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This solution is quite stable.
How are customer service and technical support?
We don't require that much support; it's all in the cloud and it's been pretty good. It's well supported I would say.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used Power BI and Tableau, but they both do not offer the native integration and business content that SAP provides. SAP provides a lot of business content and templates which is quite handy when it comes to complex projects.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was very straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
A team of consultants helped us with deployment — they were very helpful. As far as deployment is concerned, we followed an agile implementation model.
Deployment time varies depending on the project size and complexity. SAP has features like analytics, planning, predictive capabilities, simulation, and analytical application. All of these features are very good. They're all combined into one platform where everything can interact together.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Compute and storage features should be sold separately.
Typically, compute and storage is sold separately because there are a lot of use cases. A lot of people ask for it because other competitive products offer it. If they could provide that, it would be very helpful.
What other advice do I have?
If you're interested in using this solution, you have to be aware of the frequent changes and product improvement that occurs. Every month there's a new update. You need to be aware of that but at the same time, don't get carried away with all the new features. Keep track of the roadmap and what new updates are coming. It won't cause any problems, but as it updates so often, it's good to keep track of what new features will be available and which features you should implement.
SAP Analytics can be used as an all-in-one source. It can bring everything together: BI, predictive, planning, simulation — it can combine all of this into a single user interface. Other products have also done this, but SAP has done it very nicely. It's quite good, it's quite stable — I like it.
Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I would give this solution a rating of eight. It combines all features into a single user interface, including planning, prediction, simulation, analytics application, and analytics or data dash boarding and reporting — I like it.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Member of SAP Production Support Team at Maxicare Healthcare Corporation
Expandable, reliable, and offers good storytelling capabilities
Pros and Cons
- "It is scalable."
- "The budget management could be better."
What is our primary use case?
We are in the experimental stage. We are still using other business intelligence tools. However, we are experimenting with the SAP Analytics Cloud as a possible replacement or alternative.
What is most valuable?
The storytelling is great.
It is scalable.
The solution is reliable and stable.
What needs improvement?
Before the implementation, I read a lot about SAP Analytics Cloud. However, I am sad to say other functions or functionalities were not included in our version right now.
We are not using it regularly yet. Maybe more testing on our part is needed before talking about a lack of features.
As I use the SAP Analytics Cloud, I'm using only data, so I am grabbing data and putting it onto the SAP Analytics Cloud. Our boss wants to connect the data directly to the SAP database. That is one of the things they would like to do before we totally use it as our business intelligence solution.
The budget management could be better. I forget the exact term. However, the finance department will use the functionality for budget management across all the departments within the company.
There is a feature where all reports will be centralized in one, and it will be shown on one big monitor. If you put it on a monitor with touch capability, it would be perfect. It would really look good for reporting.
The predictive analysis should be stronger.
For how long have I used the solution?
I started using the solution in 2020. However, I am not using it yet on a regular basis.
I tried it before implementation and based on my experience, that's why our company got licensed for the SAP Analytics Cloud.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn’t crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is scalable. So far, we’ve been happy with it. That said, said, we are in the stage of testing it right now. We are not yet entirely using it as our main DA.
How are customer service and support?
I have not yet experienced technical support.
How was the initial setup?
I’m not the one implementing it right now. Maybe our SAP basis team would have a better account of how the implementation went. I was more on the functional side. The technicality of setting it up is outside of my capabilities right now.
You only need a small team for deployment and maintenance.
What about the implementation team?
We have consultants assisting us with the implementation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The costs and licensing are outside my level of knowledge. I don’t deal with it directly.
That said, there may be additional costs involved. Some functionalities of the SAP Analytics Cloud are not yet included in our version.
What other advice do I have?
We are end-users.
We are not using it in the cloud. We are in the on-premise platform at this moment. It’s a hybrid, currently.
I’m not sure which version of the solution we’re using.
My current job is in SAP production support, so I am the one handling incident reports or incident tickets and problem management for all the SAP-related tickets. I’m somewhere between a user and a consultant. I’m not a reseller.
I’d advise potential users that it's better to connect it directly to the database so that it will have data harmony from your ERP if you are using SAP as well as this SAP Analytics Cloud. That way, you can create reports and extract data anytime you like. Right now, we are just pulling data in SAP and then into the SAP database and putting it on SAP Analytics Cloud to create a story or a report itself.
I’d rate the solution nine out of ten. This is mostly due to the business intelligence functionality only, as I have not yet really tried out the other functions.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Jul 30, 2022
Flag as inappropriateConsultant SAP BI at Censio Karamba !
Uncomplicated with a user-friendly interface and good reliability
Pros and Cons
- "Technical support is helpful."
- "In the live connection model, we can't create calculated dimensions, however, in the import model we can create them."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution to create financial dashboards.
What is most valuable?
It is a good tool with a friendly interface. It is not really complicated.
The solution can scale.
Technical support is helpful.
It's easy to set up.
We find the product to be reliable.
The pricing is pretty good.
What needs improvement?
Sometimes there are a few problems. For example, the direct model has two kinds of models to connect your data. There is the import data and the direct connection data.
If I want to create some calculated dimensions, it is not possible to do it when we work on the direct model. You have to import the data into the cloud in order to create some calculated dimensions. However, when we work with SAP Analytics Cloud, we can't create the calculated dimensions.
In the live connection model, we can't create calculated dimensions, however, in the import model we can create them. I would like to have this functionality in the SAP Analytics Cloud live model, also.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been working on the solution for three months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is excellent. I would rate the reliability nine or ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable. There are no problems. When we work on the import mode, all is good.
I'd rate the scalability eight out of ten.
There are around 40 people using the solution, between business intelligence and EPM.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is good. I've never had a problem with them.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used other tools, however, only in the capacity of academic research. I've used many solutions. For example, I was working with Microsoft Business Intelligence, SSCS, SSIS, and Power BI. And I was working on Alteryx, as well as SAP BW 4HANA and Tableau.
SAP Analytics Cloud is the tool that we use for dashboarding, so I can't compare it to the SSCS, SSIS, or Alteryx. It is comparable to Tableau and Power BI. All three tools are scalable and they are not difficult to use.
There is just a little problem with SAP Analytics Cloud when we are working on the live models. Otherwise, all is good.
How was the initial setup?
I'd rate the initial setup eight out of ten. It's a very good tool that is easy to set up. It has a user-friendly interface which makes it pretty easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I work on the SAP Analytics Cloud Business Intelligence license.
There is another license for the EPM, enterprise performance management. I'm working only on the Business Intelligence license, not on the EPM license.
I'm not sure of the exact pricing, however, my understanding is that it is pretty good.
What other advice do I have?
We are SAP partners.
I am certified in SAP Analytics Cloud. I got the certification last year.
I'd recommend the tool to others.
In the other reporting tools, we don't find, for example, the EPM or the smart data functionality or the machine learning functionality. In SAP Analytics Cloud, it's not only a tool for creating a dashboard and a report. We can also create some machine learning applications and some EPM dashboarding. I recommend others to use itas it is a very rich tool and it is updated often. Every two or three months there is a new update.
I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. The only issue we've had is working with the live connection. Other than that, it's great.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Last updated: Jan 1, 2023
Flag as inappropriateSenior Managing Director at dfocus
Changed the culture of meetings for our client with data-driven management
Pros and Cons
- "One of the most outstanding features is being able to use the dashboard with a touch screen."
- "SAC, which is the cloud version, lost some good features from the previous planning product, like BPC or BPS."
What is our primary use case?
The primary use case is for our client. We implemented the BI Analytics for the executive. SAP also works with the theater boardroom. There is another license policy, but there's more that's dedicated for the dashboard with the touch screen so they can use it for their executive meetings.
The solution is used on PC or mobile. It's deployed on a public SAP cloud.
How has it helped my organization?
SAP Analytics Cloud changed the culture of meetings with data-driven management for our client. It modernized everything.
What is most valuable?
One of the most outstanding features is being able to use the dashboard with a touch screen. The other feature is nothing special compared with BusinessObjects, but it's a cloud version and they upgrade very often with the CI/CD way. They do it automatically because it's the service, it's not like download and installation. It's different from the other BI products and it has a planning feature.
What needs improvement?
In the beginning, we had a problem with stability but it's currently fine.
SAC, which is the cloud version, lost some good features from the previous planning product, like BPC or BPS.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for more than three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The cloud version is automatically scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is good.
How was the initial setup?
Setup was straightforward.
Some of our clients are interested in moving to cloud-based IT. In that case, we can recommend SAP, but some clients still want to use the on-premise for security purposes and their policies. In that case, we cannot recommend SAC, but we do recommend BusinessObjects or another on-premise solution like Tableau.
The amount of time it takes to deploy depends on the requirements, but normally it takes three months for the reporting. Of course, they need to prepare their data before implementing the BI.
Normally, two or three people are needed for the BI implementation. If it contains planning as well, it's more than that because planning is more complex than actual implementation.
What was our ROI?
From our customers' experience, we know that they are satisfied with the ROI.
They need to collect the data and make reports, but it's just one solution. After logging in, they input their planning and then it can be aggregated automatically for the HQ users. That is very time saving and effort saving.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price is competitive. There is a power user license and normal user license, but the normal user license is reasonable. The power user license is a bit expensive, but our client doesn't need to buy many user licenses for that.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Previously, we used BusinessObjects. That's the previous version of SAP, but it's been changed to SAC.
These days we are comparing the modern BI products, like Click, Tableau, and Microsoft Power BI. Those are the main competitors.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution 7 out of 10.
My advice is the same as BW/4HANA. For someone who wants to start using this solution, they need to refine their requirement in the beginning and analyze the available data and how it should be consumed in the dashboard or analytics. They need to design from the beginning. It can be just a sketch, but they need to think about it before they start implementing it.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner/Integrator
Sr Advisory Technical Specialist at IBM
Good for planning and analysis, and is stable and scalable, but its technical support needs improvement and building reports and dashboards could be difficult without proper system knowledge
Pros and Cons
- "The features that are most valuable in SAP Analytics Cloud are the planning feature and the predictive analytics feature, though the planning feature needs to be more efficient."
- "An area for improvement in SAP Analytics Cloud is its planning feature because it's not that efficient when compared to BPC. Another area for improvement in the solution is the difficulty in building reports or dashboards, particularly if you don't have proper knowledge of the BI system. SAP Analytics Cloud technical support also needs improvement."
What is our primary use case?
We use SAP Analytics Cloud for creating dashboards for higher management. Our managers use this for business planning purposes, viewing monthly and quarterly reports, particularly sales, finance, and planned maintenance reports.
What is most valuable?
The features that are most valuable in SAP Analytics Cloud are the planning feature and the predictive analytics feature, though the planning feature needs to be more efficient.
What needs improvement?
An area for improvement in SAP Analytics Cloud is its planning feature because it's not that efficient when compared to BPC.
Another area for improvement in the solution is the difficulty in building reports or dashboards, particularly if you don't have proper knowledge of the BI system.
SAP Analytics Cloud technical support also needs improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using SAP Analytics Cloud for around three years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
SAP Analytics Cloud is a stable solution. In terms of stability, it's pretty good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
SAP Analytics Cloud has good scalability.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support for SAP Analytics Cloud is not good. If you have a ticket, you won't get a solution to it immediately. If you're facing any issue with the solution, you have to wait for a few days, or at least one week to get it resolved. Support for SAP Analytics Cloud could be faster and could be improved.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We didn't switch from Power BI to SAP Analytics Cloud. We use them in parallel where the systems are being developed in Power BI and reports are being developed in SAP Analytics Cloud.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup for SAP Analytics Cloud was not that straightforward because it depends on your source system. If you have an SAP source system, the setup is quite straightforward, but if you're using a non-SAP system or a third-party system, setting up SAP Analytics Cloud would be quite complex. My company used the Agile implementation strategy.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented SAP Analytics Cloud in-house, and not via a third-party vendor.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I have no information on the licensing costs of SAP Analytics Cloud because a separate team takes care of it.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
My company evaluated Power BI.
What other advice do I have?
My company has around fifteen users of SAP Analytics Cloud.
My advice to anyone looking into using SAP Analytics Cloud is to first have an understanding of the BI system, based on the BI data models, and to have good analytical skills to develop reports in the solution. If you know the system, you can create reports and dashboards in SAP Analytics Cloud, but if you don't, you'll find it difficult.
I would also tell others to go for SAP Analytics Cloud over other technologies because SAP has a vast infrastructure, so you can integrate different modules and products within SAP very easily. For example, SAP has launched Data Warehouse Cloud, so you don't need a separate BI solution such as the SAP BW/4HANA system. You can directly take the data from the source and store it in the cloud, and compared to other technologies, it's quite cheap as well.
My company doesn't have any plans of increasing usage of SAP Analytics Cloud, but there's a plan to integrate it with SAP DWC.
I would rate SAP Analytics Cloud seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Sep 7, 2022
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