Definitions
SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) is a new tool in the SAP portfolio to meet the needs of data visualization in the Cloud. It is delivered as an all-in-one, *SaaS-based product. SAC meets the needs of data visualization, budget planning, and predictive analytics.
SAP BusinessObjects (SAP BOBJ) is a centralized suite of reporting and analytics tools for business intelligence (BI) platforms. SAP BOBJ is aimed at business users. It consists of a number of reporting applications that allow users to discover data, perform analysis to derive insights, and create reports that visualize the insights.
Why should you consider integrating BOBJ and SAC?
It’s a fact: most IT technologies are moving to the Cloud.
SAP Analytics Cloud (Hybrid) provides the capabilities, infrastructure, and security to blend on-premise and Cloud data. Consider the following:
- If you have Explorer or legacy BusinessObjects dashboards (like Xcelsius), be aware that those products will be obsolete in the short term, and you should start to moving them to SAC.
- All of the capabilities offered by solutions such as BOBJ Analysis for Office, Lumira Designer, Scheduling and Bursting are available in SAC.
- With BOBJ, you will retain the traditional Universe model, Web Intelligence, Crystal Reports (only if these are critical to your organization).
When integrating the two tools, the first thing to keep in mind is that it is necessary to gradually transfer the current capabilities of BOBJ to SAC.
The BOBJ => Migration Process
NOTE: SAP will extend BusinessObjects maintenance until 2027 to protect customer investments, and plans transition scenarios for moving on-premises workloads to the Cloud.
Leverage SAC and BOBJ
Maximize the features and technologies of both solutions to meet your specific business needs. We can help you leverage these tools in two ways:
SAP Analytics Cloud helps BusinessObjects customers evolve by delivering Automated Insights through the use of Augmented Analytics.
With Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies, you can discover deep insights, simplify access to critical information, and drive informed decision-making.
BOBJ, BPC, and SAC Integration
Businesses today are dealing with evolving planning requirements. SAP BPC (standard and embedded versions) offers solutions for meeting complex planning requirements, focusing on the following characteristics:
- Data availability (any time on any device)
- Data simulation and prediction
- Data exploration/Insight
- Collaboration
- Reduce local application support
SAC can serve different purposes in complementing SAP BPC, depending on the requirements. It is therefore necessary to understand the technical differences between both scenarios (BPC standard and embedded):
BPC Standard vs BPC Embedded
In this scenario:
- The planning engine resides in SAC.
- It is necessary to import actuals (master and transactional data) from BPC.
- You can take advantage of the planning capabilities of SAC (Predictive planning)
In this scenario:
- The planning engine resides in BPC.
- It is not necessary to import data from BPC.
- You can execute planning sequences from SAC and input data into BPC input forms (as a BW Input ready Query).
Key differences between BPC Standard and BPC Embedded
| BPC | |||
| Standard | Embedded | ||
| Comments | Data point comments | X | |
| Synchronize comments to BPC | X | ||
| Data Actions | Run Embedded Planning Sequence | X | |
| Data actions | X | ||
| Data Input | Mass data entry | X | X |
| Planning on booked/unbooked values | X | X | |
| Cell Locking | X | X | |
| Data copy/paste | X | X | |
| Forecast Features | Predictive | X | |
| Value Driver Tree | X | ||
| Security | Required in SAC | X | |
| Leverage BPC security setup | X | ||
| Transactional Data | Data synchronized between BPC and SAC DB | X | |
| Save/Revert changes | X | X | |
| Undo single action | X | ||
| Workflow | BPF integration | ||
| Set Workstatus | |||
Performance:
The Embedded version takes advantage of the capabilities of the HANA database, while the standard version is constantly evolving in this area. This can affect performance, especially for large volumes of data.
Get the Right Solution Working for You
Are you ready to take your organization to the next level of data analytics using the power of SAP BusinessObjects and SAP Analytics Cloud, but not sure how to make that happen? Jump’s experienced team of consultants will work with your team to determine the best solution to meet your needs and draw on our vast expertise to implement that solution. Contact us to get started.
