In the first article of our blog series "How to Dashboard" we developed a Sales Dashboard visually. In the second article of the blog series I would like to show you today the technical implementation of this dashboard with SAC Story.
Our Blog Series "How to Dashboard" at a Glance
- How to Dashboard - visual implementation of a sales dashboard
- How to Dashboard with SAP Analytics Cloud Story
- How to Dashboard with Lumira Designer
- How to Dashboard with SAP Analytics Cloud Analytics Designer
- How to Dashboard with Apache Superset
You have probably already noticed that a lot is changing within SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC). With each new release, new functions are introduced. That's why it's not uncommon for smaller functions to be missing in many places within SAC. At these points we point this out and keep you informed about future developments.
Goal
The aim is to develop a sales dashboard for an international group in the pharmaceutical industry. The group consists of two companies in five different countries. To keep this example simple, two dashboard pages are created.
The first page will give an aggregated view of four KPIs:
The second page provides an overview of the costs:
Creation of the Story
First, a simple "story" is generated and a simple canvas page is created. In this case, this makes more sense than selecting a dashboard template (left area), since a separate layout is to be created. In addition, six different pages are created in this template, which are superfluous for this case.
A component must then be added to the empty canvas page. To do this, we select a simple diagram of the associated (data) model. The content remains empty for now, since the header of the dashboard is to be edited first.
Creation of the Header
Before the actual dashboard is started, a header is created. The header remains the same regardless of the different sides. In this case, the header does not contain any essential information (no controlling elements or display of filters) and contains only a logo, a title and a separator.
This page can be used as a template for the second detail page and can simply be copied. This works by moving the mouse over a page in the tab strip. Thereupon an arrow opens. A click opens a drop-down menu. There you can duplicate the page.
Page 1 - Start Page
The body of the start page can be divided into three sections: Filter, KPIs and Chart.
KPI Area
The four KPIs (profit, revenue, cost and items sold) are to be presented in a total of four tiles.
A KPI tile consists of a title, the value for the selected period, the selected months and a microchart with bars to create a context to the previous months.
To create a KPI tile, a new rectangle is first created. Currently there are no panels in stories to group related components. The workaround is the creation of a rectangle and the grouping of the respective components. In addition, the background color is changed to transparent and a frame is added. The title of the key figure is also added to the rectangle.
The previously created chart, which was created when the story was created, is changed to the type KPI-Numeric Point. "Profit" is selected as the key figure. In addition, all other labels are hidden. As soon as "Default" is entered for the font size in styling mode, it adapts to the widget in the best possible way. However, since a uniform size is to be defined for all KPIs, a fixed font size is defined here.
The next step is to create the bar chart as a microchart. A new bar chart has to be created with the same model. All labels are hidden so that only the bars are visible.
The other KPIs (Revenue, Costs and Sold Items) are also generated in such a KPI tile with the same model. For the items sold, the decimal places are suppressed because units and not values are displayed here.
Tip: Up to now, moving several elements at the same time has not worked. For this reason, it makes sense to group the desired elements beforehand and then move them.
Dashboarding with SAP Analytics Cloud -
Download the Whitepaper here!
Chart Area
A bar chart is then created below the KPIs in which the four KPI indicators can be selected. The regions of the pharmaceutical company serve as the dimension. To exchange the KPIs, a page filter for KPIs is required. This is added in the next section.
Filter Area
Page filters generally refer to the data model used and thus filter the widgets (KPI values, charts) on the entire page.
The page filters are integrated in the "Filters" area on the left to filter the key figures for the desired period or to select the key figures in the "Chart" area.
To filter the time period two steps are required: The first step is to add a page filter from the icon menu.
In this case, the filter is made by month and the last 12 months are selected. In addition, the multiple selection of entries is activated. As soon as the height of the filter widget is increased, a selection of the possible months appears in the form of check boxes.
In the second step, the diagrams are linked to the filter widget. Select the widget and click on the action button (icon with three dots outside the widget). Then select "Linked Analysis" from the context menu. A menu opens on the right. The microcharts bar charts from the KPI tiles should remain unaffected by the filters. To do this, the bar charts in the "Linked Analysis" of the page filter must be deselected.
The second filter for the key figures from the "Chart" area is added via the key figure selection in the bar chart (last position).
This makes it possible for the user to select the desired key figure dynamically. This selection box is then placed under the filters of the period. Finally, optical adjustments are made with regard to font, font size and color.
Add dynamic text for selected months
In order to display the filtered months in the KPI tiles, a simple text field must first be created. The action button is then selected and a dynamic text is added.
The input controls and the name of this filter are selected in the settings.
If the selection of the months changes, these are immediately displayed in the tile.
Page 2 - Detail Page
This page was added at the beginning of the header creation process. The goal should be to store the relevant countries in a Geo-Map (world map). In three bar charts the profit, the product stock and the costs of the sold items are to be displayed. With a click on a country, the costs are to be adjusted accordingly. In total, the page can be subdivided into the following four areas:
World Map Area
The world map (Geo-Map) requires longitude and latitude outside America. For this reason, a local file was created and the longitudes and latitudes for America, Canada, Germany, France and Poland were stored in a model. In addition, an ID and a description are required for geo data. This map should have no content of its own and only serve as a filter for country selection. As layer type and style we choose Choropleth (area cartogram / drill layer). As dimension we choose the location defined in the (local) model. Finally we change the color, decrease the opacity and zoom.
Profit Chart Area
Beside the Geo-Map a bar chart with the KPI Profit is assigned. We select the profit as the key figure, assign the dimension calendar year / month and limit the diagram to a total of 12 months. Finally, optical adjustments (font, font size, labels, color) are made.
Product Stock Chart Area
Below the Geo-Map the bar chart of the products is arranged. For this a combined bar chart with a line is selected. The products sold and in stock are selected as key figures. The target of sold products is defined as the line. As in the previous diagram, the dimension Calendar Year / Month is selected and the number of months is limited to 12.
Finally, as before, adjustments are made to the color and layout.
Costs Chart Area
The same chart type is selected for the costs and placed below the profit bar chart. Total, marketing, and purchasing costs are selected as key figures. In this case, the revenue is used as the line. In this case, the dimension is also the calendar year / month and limited to 12 months.
Data Blending and linked Analysis
As already mentioned at the beginning for this subpage, when clicking on a country in the world map, a filter is to be set on the three bar charts. The live data model must be blended with the geo data model.
Thus, a linked analysis is created in the world map and all widgets on this dashboard page are selected. In addition, "Filter on data point selection" must be set in the settings so that when you click on a country, the diagrams are adjusted accordingly.
SAP Analytics Cloud Story - Our Conclusion
With this dashboarding tool many functions can already be covered. In addition, no programming has been used, allowing business users to create such a dashboard. With Story the user should only have the possibility to choose from ready-made widgets and templates, which can only be adapted within a small framework.
However, if specific requirements are to be implemented (e.g. special logics), Lumira or SAC Analytics Designer must be used. These, in turn, cannot be created by the business user, but by IT.
Topics: SAP Analytics Cloud, Dashboarding
FAQs
The main difference between an analytics application and stories is that analytics applications can use widgets and can be customized using scripting however it is not available in case of stories. In Analytics application, you can change the default behavior of the entire analytic application.
What is the purpose of SAP Analytics Cloud stories? ›
An SAP Analytics Cloud story is a presentation-style document that uses charts, visualizations, text, images, and pictograms to describe data. Once you create or open a story, you can add and edit pages, sections, and elements as you like.
How do I export a story from SAP Analytics Cloud? ›
Procedure
- In view time, from the toolbar select File Export....
- In the dialog's File Type list, choose either PDF or PowerPoint (. ...
- In General Settings, choose which pages you'd like to export: All; or specify the Range, the specific pages.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud dashboards.
What is the difference between s4h on-premise and cloud? ›
S/4HANA Cloud works with subscription-based licensing. With on-premise, you have complete control as it is flexible and manageable. The Cloud version is customizable to some extent but comparatively lesser. Requires control for deployment and maintenance with a professional IT staff.
What are the two ways of using cloud analytics? ›
Cloud Analytics empowers organizations to:
- Test genomic data to better understand genetic disease and how to offer cures.
- Identify patterns in speech, images and videos in order to improve customer satisfaction and improve customer service.
- Study buying behavior to improve product availability and delivery.
Stories have two main views: A Data view where you can explore data in real-time, with dynamic visualizations changing on-the-fly. A Story view where you can design beautiful, interactive dashboards for yourself or others.
What are the three main components pillars of SAP Analytics Cloud? ›
The three main components of SAP Activate are SAP Best Practices, Guided Configurations, and the SAP Activate Methodology.
What are the different types of stories in SAC? ›
Types of Story templates
In SAC there are two main type of templates – Custom (user) Templates and Global Templates. They are exactly the same in terms of functionality, the difference is where they are stored and how they are visible for the user.
How can you display input control values in a story in SAP Analytics Cloud? ›
Note
- Select your chart.
- From the Builder choose Add Dimension Create a Dimension Input Control.
- In the dialog, select the dimensions to add to the input control. Choosing All Dimensions will add all the dimensions to the input control.
- When finished, select OK.
Click on the Share button in the action bar of the story and select Share…, as shown here. The sharing dialog box will open, as shown in the next figure, where you'll find the story URL, which you can use to directly access the story. The URL can also be customized in this dialog box.
How do I use analytics dashboard? ›
Create your Dashboard
- Sign in to Google Analytics.
- Navigate to your view.
- Open Reports.
- Click CUSTOMIZATION > Dashboards.
- Click Create.
- In the Create Dashboard dialog, select either Blank Canvas (no widgets) or Starter Dashboard (default set of widgets).
The Best Data Visualization Software of 2023
- Microsoft Power BI: Best for business intelligence (BI)
- Tableau: Best for interactive charts.
- Qlik Sense: Best for artificial intelligence (AI)
- Klipfolio: Best for custom dashboards.
- Looker: Best for visualization options.
- Zoho Analytics: Best for Zoho users.
The language used is java script. The JS is also used in creating custom widgets. The use case is Analytics as well as Planning solution.
Which cloud is better for SAP? ›
Azure provides best-in-class infrastructure and SAP provides end-to-end managed services for in-memory applications, database and platform. You'll see the broadest choice and industry-leading performance when running your SAP workloads on Azure.
What are the three levels of cloud architecture for SAP's 4HANA? ›
SAP HANA can be used as a relational database in a classic 3-tier architecture (client, application server, and database).
How do I know if SAP is on-premise or cloud? ›
SAP S/4HANA product versions and release schedule for On-Premise and Cloud. To look up the version of your system, go to: More > System > Status > SAP System Data > Installed Product Versions.
What are the 3 types of cloud database? ›
Take the next step with cloud databases
- Cloud SQL. Fully managed relational database service for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server.
- Cloud Spanner. ...
- BigQuery. ...
- Highly-performant, fully managed NoSQL database service for large analytical and operational workloads.
- Firestore. ...
- Memorystore. ...
- Solution. ...
- Solution.
There are also three main types of cloud computing services: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platforms-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Choosing a cloud type or cloud service is a unique decision.
What are the three main types of cloud systems? ›
Types of Cloud Computing
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) ...
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) ...
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
You can use endlessly different story structures and styles, but when you write a novel or story, it is going to boil down to three fundamental elements: character, setting, and plot.
What are two key elements of a storyline? ›
There are five key elements to every story: plot, setting, characters, point of view, and conflict. Whether your students realize it or not, they naturally include all these elements when they're telling a story to their families or their best fr.
What are the 4 elements of a story explain? ›
The four elements necessary for your story structure are character, plot, setting, and tension. Balancing these elements is the first step to making your creative writing amazing.
Does SAP Analytics Cloud need coding? ›
You do not need ANY coding expertise.
Is SAP Analytics Cloud easy to learn? ›
The learning journey is geared towards the business user, so you don't need to be a data scientist to successfully use augmented analytics in SAP Analytics Cloud. In fact, you don't need any prior AI or machine learning knowledge and it's easy to understand!
What are the advantages of SAP Analytics Cloud? ›
Improved Planning– SAP Analytics Cloud brings ML (Machine Learning) and Predictive analytics-based features to help you build accurate plans related to expenses and costs in a quick time. Predictive features of SAC can automate the baseline expense planning by analyzing the previous data.
What are the 3 types of stories? ›
A list made by Foster-Harris in 1959 claimed there are only three types of stories:
- Happy ending.
- Unhappy ending.
- Tragedy.
John Gardner, the author of one of the greatest craft books of all time, THE ART OF FICTION, once said there are only two kinds of stories in the world: “a person goes on an adventure” or “a stranger comes to town.”
What are the 5 types of short stories? ›
Short Fiction Forms: Novella, Novelette, Short Story, and Flash Fiction Defined
- Novella. A work of fiction between 20,000 and 49,999 words is considered a novella. ...
- Novelette. A novelette falls in the range of 7,500 to 19,999 words. ...
- Short story. ...
- Flash fiction. ...
- Short Fiction Challenge.
Every data column that you import from a source to build a model in SAP Analytics Cloud must be marked either as a measure or a dimension. Measures are the columns by which an organization gauges its business operations and performance, while dimension columns contain the data used to qualify the measures.
- 1 PREREQUISITES. You have integrated SAP Privacy Governance with SAP Analytics Cloud. ...
- 2 CREATE A CONNECTION TO SAP ANALYTICS CLOUD. Choose Create → Model Page 4 4 2.
- 3 CREATE A MODEL. Choose Create → Model. ...
- 4 CREATE A STORY. ...
- 5 SHARE A STORY. ...
- 6 IMPORTING AND EXPORTING CONTENT. ...
- 7 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
- 7.1 Refresh Data.
You can also use the command box to reset the default settings to excel ones. In such a case, you can type “&reset_excel” (minus the quotation marks) and then press enter. From then on, your SAP data will always be exported to Excel.
How do I automate data from SAP to Excel? ›
Then we will put those steps into VBA in Excel to automate them.
- Push the Rainbow Computer to start recording.
- Click Script Recording and Playback.
- Set where to save your recorded steps.
- Before you click the red button to record, change the Save To location to somewhere you want to save the recording.
- Start Recording.
The main difference between an analytics application and stories is that analytics applications can use widgets and can be customized using scripting however it is not available in case of stories. In Analytics application, you can change the default behavior of the entire analytic application.
What is the difference between model and story in SAP Analytics Cloud? ›
Model will define each column of data as either as dimension or a measure. The process of creating a model is called modeling. Below is model created using data from spreadsheet. Stories – Stories are where you explore and visualize our data for reporting, planning and analysis.
How do you tell a story with data and analytics? ›
How to tell a story with data
- Find the story within the data. ...
- Consider your audience. ...
- Determine what data matters. ...
- Analyze data and find insights. ...
- Identify the most effective data visualizations. ...
- Provide context. ...
- Structure your story. ...
- Edit until the story is clear and concise.
Analytics Answers the “Why Behind the What”
So if dashboards answer the “what,” then analytics answer the “why” behind the what. Analytics take it a step further, digging down deeper into the data. We might pose analytics questions like: “When users search my site, what are the solid business outcomes/conversions?”
How do I create a dashboard to visualize data? ›
Five tips to create effective data visualization dashboards
- Understand your audience. When you're creating a data visualization, remember – it's not about you. ...
- Communicate to a specific audience. ...
- Choose the best visual(s) ...
- Use proper design principles. ...
- Provide context for visualizations.
To recap, Data Visualization is the process of presenting information in a visual form. Its purpose is to promote quick and easy understanding of the information. A Dashboard is a snapshot, or summary, of a large set of information. Data Visualization and a Dashboard are often used together.
What is the difference between dashboard and visualization? ›
Dashboard is a presentation of key performance indicators (KPIs) important to an enterprise. Database and data analytics professionals often build, use, and support dashboards. Data visualization is the application of data science to extract intelligence from data sources, often in a graphical format.
Extending SAP Analytics Cloud's Visualization Capability with Matplotlib (Python) Matplotlib is a comprehensive library for creating static, animated, and interactive visualizations in Python. You can extend the visualization capabilities in SAP Analytics Cloud with Matplotlib.
Is SAP Analytics Cloud SaaS or Paas? ›
SAP Analytics Cloud (or SAP Cloud for Analytics) is a software as a service (SaaS) business intelligence (BI) platform designed by SAP. Analytics Cloud is made specifically with the intent of providing all analytics capabilities to all users in one product.
Does SAP Analytics Cloud run on AWS? ›
AWS partners accelerate customer innovation with SAP Beyond Infrastructure offerings. With more than 5,000 active customers running SAP on Amazon Web Services (AWS), AWS has become the de facto cloud platform for SAP workloads.
What is analytic application in SAP Analytics Cloud? ›
Analytic applications are like stories in the way they present information to users but provide designers with much more flexibility in terms of specialized widgets and scripting capabilities.
What are the two kinds of analytic processing in big data? ›
There are four main types of big data analytics: diagnostic, descriptive, prescriptive, and predictive analytics.
What are the different types of analytical views in SAP HANA? ›
There are three types of views in data modeling in SAP HANA: attribute views, analytic views, and calculation views. Understanding how each of these different views provides additional value to the raw data in the database will help you figure out how to model your data for maximum flexibility and performance.
What is the difference between cloud analytics and data analytics? ›
Both are inter-related streams and have many topics in common. However, data science involves the analysis and extraction of useful insights from data, whereas cloud computing includes the delivery of data and associated analytics, resources, and infrastructure across multiple locations.
What are the main components of SAP Analytics Cloud? ›
SAP Analytics Cloud Features
- Analytics and Business Intelligence. Intuitive self-service analytics can help you explore data across the organisation and deliver insights at the point of decision. ...
- Enterprise Planning. ...
- Composable Analytics. ...
- Prebuilt Business Content.
Four main types of data analytics
- Predictive data analytics. Predictive analytics may be the most commonly used category of data analytics. ...
- Prescriptive data analytics. ...
- Diagnostic data analytics. ...
- Descriptive data analytics.
Descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics.
The classification of big data is divided into three parts, such as Structured Data, Unstructured Data, and Semi-Structured Data.
How many types of models are available in SAP analytics Cloud? ›
Three license types are available for SAP Analytics Cloud. The following tables describe the features available for each license type when you use an analytic model. Analytic models do not contain planning information.
How many types of CDS views are there in SAP? ›
There are two types of views: ABAP CDS views and HANA CDS views.
What is the difference between SAP Analytics Cloud public and private cloud? ›
Public clouds deliver higher scalability features, while private clouds provide enhanced security and complete control over data governance and privacy. Deploying cloud and leveraging SAP and SAP HANA solutions provides a major opportunity to transform your business and unlock new value for the enterprise.
What is the difference between dataset and data model in SAP Analytics Cloud? ›
Advantages of Using a Dataset
If you're using a dataset, only the metadata definition of that column would need to be changed. Whereas if you are using a model, it' more time-consuming: You need to delete the dimension table and update the fact table to include an additional column.
What is an example of cloud analytics? ›
The best cloud analytics platforms can manage hybrid data delivery and application automation. Examples of data sources include transactional, website usage, social media, and CRM data. Data is stored in a cloud data warehouse from a vendor such as Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery, Microsoft Azure, or Snowflake.
