SAP Analytics Cloud(SAC) - Components (2024)

This article is about the three fundamental components that are the foundation of everything that you can create with SAP Analytics Cloud: Data, Models, and Stories.

Data

When you think of analytics, data visualizations probably come to the mind first. These visualizations represent your business data in various chart types which make it easy to understand your business at a glance.

Visual analytics help you to quickly answer your business questions. But, in order analyse your business data, you’ll have to collect some first. Typically, businesses collect massive amounts of data from a variety of sources such as HR, Finance, procurement etc

The data that is collected by your business then has to be stored somewhere. You may choose to store simple information in aspreadsheet or, when it comes to big data, in a more complex database.

Models

The first step in gaining insights from Analytics Cloud is to connect the data you’ve collected about your business to the software. You can accomplish this either by importing data, such as from a .csv or Excel file, or by making a data-connection to an on-premise or cloud-based data source.

Once your data is connected, you’ll use it to create a model. A model is a clean and defined version of your raw data, and it will be the basis of your analysis.

Data appears in SAP Analytics cloud in rows and columns, just like in a spreadsheet. At the very least, your model will define each column of data as either a dimension or a measure. However, a model can be much more complex depending on its purpose and how it was made.

The process of creating a model is called modelling. In Analytics Cloud, more complex models are created using the Modeler. This is because it’s a more advanced tool, and will take some time to learn for those unfamiliar with data modelling.

The snapshot below is of a model created using the Modeler, it’s enhanced with calculations, hierarchies, and currency conversions.

Stories

Stories are where you explore and visualize your data for reporting, planning, and analysis. There are two areas within stories that can be used for these purposes: data view and pages.

• Data View

If you’ve imported data directly to your story, you’ll start in data view. Here, you’ll check your data, clean any errors, and add any further definition to your model.

The model below was created by adding data to a story. The symbols in the header row label each column as either a dimension (compass) or a measure (measuring tape).

You can switch viewsto explore your data within data view.Select dimensions and measures from your model to automatically generate visualizations that youcan copy to pages in your story.

• Pages

Pages are where the magic really happens. Each story can have multiple pages that are set up as a canvas or grid. You can even choose to make your canvas pages responsive so that they look good on any device.

Tiles

Every object that you add to a page is contained within a tile. You’ll fill your pages with tiles that contain charts and graphs, tables, and other objects.

Design Panel

Select a tile on your page to access the design panel. Here, you can use tools to adjust the content and styling of your tiles.