SAP Analytics Cloud Reviews

The solution is primarily used for dashboarding and planning. My clients come from various industries, including chemical energy, fertilizers, cement, real estate, and telecommunications.

The solution has improved decision-making through its predictive analytics capabilities and effective dashboarding features. It supports better business forecasting and planning.

The product's most valuable features are reporting and planning, driverless planning, business vertical-wise planning, dashboarding, forecasting tools, and business forecasting. 

Real-time reporting is one area that needs improvement for the product. Currently, it operates on a batch-based system, and it would be beneficial if it could update in real-time directly from SAP S4HANA without batch jobs or file uploads.

I have been using SAP Analytics Cloud for three years.

I rate the platform's stability an eight.

I rate the product scalability an eight. 

The technical support services are good. However, the response times need improvement.

The initial setup process has moderate complexity. 

The product is expensive. 

Overall, I rate SAP Analytics Cloud a nine out of ten. 

The tool's most valuable features are the BI and planning functionalities. I value being able to integrate smart planning with BI for analysis. The solution is user-friendly. 

It seems like there's a problem with the tool's licenses. If there are a lot of users, like 200, who only use the solution once a year, paying for a full-year license for each user is expensive. There's no option for users who only use the solution occasionally.

It's like having a watch user option. I want to license users for just two months instead of a year. For example, I have 200 users, but they only need the solution for two months during a process. Even though they only use it briefly, having to pay for a full year for each user can be a problem. 

I have been using the product for seven years. 

I use the tool daily in my work with various processes and customer implementations. The solution is very scalable because it's a cloud-based service. When we need to add more users, I contact IT and request more. There are no issues with scaling up.

The tool's technical support responds in a few hours. 

Neutral

A consultant company helped us with the deployment. We relied on three consultants to help us. 

I've worked with alternatives like Oracle in the past. When comparing solutions, I've learned that using the same platform as the actual data source is better. For example, if you're using SAP ERP, it's better to use SAP Analytics Cloud. Similarly, if you're using Oracle ERP, using Hyperion for analytics is better. The challenge often lies in integration rather than the usability of the solutions. I rate it a ten out of ten. 

I advise new users to design the business processes before starting the implementation. If you clearly understand the business processes beforehand, you will not face problems during implementation. Issues typically arise when there is a lack of clarity or understanding of these processes within the department.

Our primary use cases involve data insights. We gather data from various sources, including SAP and non-SAP systems, and use SAP Analytics Cloud to generate reports. 

We also leverage DataSphere* to connect to systems that don't have direct connectors within SAP Analytics Cloud, bringing that data into the platform.

It helps with planning and forecasting capabilities. 

So planning and forecasting are specifically useful for companies that need to see their potential load for next month's production and what procurement they should be planning for. We consider both factors in this process.

So, in the first case, you're planning for plant utilization. Maybe your plant is equipped to manufacture 1000 pieces per month, let's say bikes, but your sales are roughly 800. Then there's no need to run at full load.

However, on the other hand, if you're manufacturing a thousand 1000 pieces or bikes per month but have 1200 or 1100 orders, you can think of how best to utilize your capacity to increase production from 1000 to at least 1010. 

Forecasting is actually dependent on that. Without forecasting, effective planning isn't possible.

Some beneficial features include data adaptation or massaging capabilities – the platform makes that simple. 

The user interface (UI) is also quite intuitive and straightforward. 

Visualization is quite seamless and awesome. Once the data messaging is set up, it's straightforward and simple to select how it should be displayed. So, that's another advantage of SAP.

Predictive analytics capabilities are also good. It has positively impacted decision-making. Recently, we did predictive analysis for a Middle East client. We worked with their OT systems.

So, for OT systems, the client needed to plan for predictive maintenance. They have a heavy manufacturing focus and wanted to accumulate data and get strong insights. 

They had various data sources – your furnace has some data, your chiller has different data, and it's all local to those systems. The challenge is getting everything centralized for insights. We leveraged SAP for this, and it was very beneficial because they're primarily an SAP client, meaning they use SAP ERP. 

So it's easy to pull data from OT systems and SAP. Having the Cloud component is also helpful, as they can look at and change reports at runtime. They were able to get insights five levels deep.

Most often integration is there, but in cases where adapters or connectors are not available, we have to opt for DataSphere to bring data into the landscape, and then it allows connection. For the majority of cases, it works well, especially because the integration suite is helpful.

Challenge:

There are challenges, such as initial connection times when direct connectors aren't available.

For example, the initial connection can take a long time when direct connectors are not available. In these cases, you have to use a tool like DataSphere, and then you can connect. 

But that's beyond their control; it's not really their limitation. It's like if you haven't opened your door, and we want to enter your house, we have to find another way in.

Area of improvement:

One potential improvement is how we can transpose data. With SAP, if you have data from one system with a declared data type and a different system with another data type, the transfer is tricky. 

Currently, they allow us to fix the data type, and then we work with that. But sometimes, it would be easier if we could declare a data type dynamically. 

The way we do it now is to manipulate text into text, make some assumptions, and then get the data. This can sometimes lead to errors. So, data transportation could be handled better.

I've been working with SAP Analytics Cloud for three years.

SAP Analytics Cloud is mostly stable. However, customers have reported some issues. While the product itself is stable, if users can't easily leverage it, that's a problem. 

For example, the logs show the overall health of the cloud services, but it's difficult to get granular insights. If I want to see how much bandwidth a specific service is using, or how much data is routed through it, that information isn't readily available. 

So, technically stable, but some improvements are needed in terms of user experience.

It's quite scalable. SAP provides the ability to connect even when there isn't native connectivity, demonstrating their focus on scalability. 

If your data volume increases in the future, scaling up is easy and doesn't require excessive effort.

It seems like SAP's support team is still getting up to speed on this product. They probably have to reach out internally to find the right experts. While they respond with 'We'll look into it,' the follow-through can take a while. 

If you call SAP support with a question they don't immediately know the answer to, they'll take notes and connect you with the right person. That part is good. 

The first-level support person does the right thing. But, the expectation is a quicker follow-up within maybe 24 hours, and that's not always happening. They take some sweet time to give a response. 

Neutral

We often use alternatives. This can be due to customer preference or because they offer better flexibility and pricing. For example, Power BI on Azure is a common choice.

There are other differences, but primarily, it comes down to flexibility and pricing.

Complexity arises when you need to connect with systems that don't have standard connectors. Otherwise, it's straightforward and simple. 

It's those cases where DataSphere comes into play that introduce complexity.

For deployment, one person is needed to understand the landscape and translate it into the 'to be' system, and another person for actual migration. You also need someone from infrastructure. So, around three people on the technical side, or maybe five if you include project managers.

For maintenance, three people are required. One from infrastructure, another from technology, and one for coordination or from an architect's perspective. These people might be working at a maximum of 10% capacity on this project, as their responsibilities could be spread across multiple projects.

SAP Analytics Cloud is a bit higher [in price]. Because, if Microsoft can afford a better product and lower cost, SAP can afford at least the same, or even lower.

At least it should be competitive. If Azure or Google can provide an alternative, so can SAP.

If SAP is claiming a premium, it really needs to be seen as such. When comparing, say, burger A from one place to burger B from another, you have to show why you are charging a premium. For example, if burger A is $1.40, why should I pay $5 for burger B when it is available at a lower cost?"

Otherwise, people will compare the prices directly, wondering why they should pay more for something that's available at a lower cost elsewhere.

Either show the correct value proposition or else adjust to the same level.

Overall, I would rate the solution a seven out of ten. I recommend using this solution because we are SAP shop. 

But at the same time, on the ground, we are aware that clients nowadays are not dependent just on us. "Us" as in us being the consultants. So, they also do some prep work. They also reach out to some consultants, like us. They consult a minimum of three or up to eight to ten consultants each hour before they say yes to us. 

So, at that point, they are already aware of what the potential alternatives could be. Though we are recommending SAP Analytics Cloud, they already have insight about the possibilities in the market. So, it's not always easy for us to convince them to opt for SAP Analytics Cloud either.

The most valuable feature of SAP Analytics Cloud for data analysis tasks is its compatibility with the SAP ecosystem. It is easy to integrate with SAP ERP and BW systems, allowing smooth data transfer and live connections without much development. This compatibility makes it stand out, especially compared to other systems like Power BI or Tableau, which often require more adaptation and specific development. Additionally, it supports SAP's push towards cloud solutions, integrating well with SAP BTP and other cloud offerings.

To improve SAP Analytics Cloud, I would like to see more advanced machine learning capabilities, similar to those in SAP BTP. Additionally, better support for connecting to various data sources without needing many workarounds or IT-related activities would be beneficial.

Additionally, in the future, I would like to see improved support for third-party systems, lower cost of acquisition, and better graphics and interface design. These improvements would enhance the tool's usability and presentation capabilities, especially for customer-facing reports.

I have been working with SAP Analytics Cloud for about two years.

SAP's technical support is average. Opening a ticket usually resolves issues, and depending on the support level, response times can be as quick as four hours. Overall, it is pretty standard and I would rate the support as a seven out of ten.

Neutral

The initial setup of SAP Analytics Cloud can be complex, especially with specific requests like multiple users logging in with SSOs. We have faced challenges integrating these scenarios, which reflects some complexities within the SAP ecosystem. While compatibility within SAP is an advantage, these technical challenges suggest it could be even more difficult with third-party systems.

We use SAP Analytics Cloud for real-time decision-making by sitting it on top of our ERP system to track the sales pipeline. It helps the sales and executive teams follow the pipeline stages, from data qualification to cash. We use dashboards to display created sales orders, and PRs in SAP, and send invoices, delays, approvals, and billing requests. It helps the CEO and C-level executives easily see our sales progress, expected revenue for the quarter, and overall performance of our product offerings. So far, it is working well.

SAP Analytics Cloud improves our planning by giving quick visibility into what is happening. For example, we can see which customers are interacting with our demo pages. This feedback helps sales be proactive, asking specific questions and offering help based on customer interest. It helps us respond in real-time.

The integration capabilities of SAP Analytics Cloud have benefited our business systems by making adoption easier. Since it uses familiar SAP interfaces and icons, the transition is smoother, requiring less training. While it may not compete with the design aspects of tools like Qlik or Tableau, its compatibility within the SAP ecosystem reduces the workload, thanks to the standardized icons and interfaces.

For first-time users, I would rate the user-friendliness of SAP Analytics Cloud at around six out of ten. For users already familiar with the SAP environment, I would rate it at eight. While compatibility is a strong point, aesthetics, and UI presentation are weaker areas for SAP.

I wouldn't recommend SAP Analytics Cloud for small to medium-sized companies. The cost of acquisition and support can be steep, and integration with third-party systems might be slower compared to alternatives like Tableau or Qlik, which are cheaper and more suitable for smaller businesses.

Overall, I would rate SAP Analytics Cloud as a seven out of ten.

We integrate with the SAP and it encompasses the entire effective practice for various industries. If you're activating SAP Analytics Cloud, it includes dashboards, analytics, and safety statements. It features a comprehensive library ready for use in month-end planning, development, product management, analytics, and dashboards, which is very beneficial. There is a component related to planning. If you already have a planning or budgeting process in place, you can use SAP Analytics Cloud for planning features. The tenant is available for collaboration, allowing different parties to participate in planning and budgeting for new and adaptable cycles.

SAP Analytics Cloud has several valuable features. Firstly, it provides dashboards that display the number of candidates who have applied for specific positions, categorized by region, and the duration required to fill each position. Additionally, it shows the number of vacancies awaiting approval or already open based on relevant information. For example, it can illustrate accounts by email or location. It also offers insights into various metrics such as average gains within specified ranges. It can be customized for different domains and scenarios.

It can address specific needs. For instance, it was used by a client to validate national ID numbers for candidates who had previously applied for specific exams, preventing duplicate applications. This functionality allows users to upload relevant data and apply validation checks before proceeding with recruitment processes. It also aids in consolidation. While the product itself lacks native consolidation features, users can create consolidated statements by combining data from various legal entities. This enables users to drill down into specific values and analyze data at a granular level.

SAP Analytics Cloud allows you to quickly perform various tasks in terms of virtualization. CyberArk itself requires some enhancements to better connect with other technologies. While it's easy to connect with SAP, using analytics tools may sometimes necessitate sourcing information from different platforms. You might need data from SAP or other technologies/platforms to access specific information not available within SAP. SAP is effective for managing storage and enhancing virtualization capabilities. However, when accessing data from diverse platforms, complexities may arise.

We are building connectors with other platforms as a service. We develop functions to enhance comprehensive analytics, including predictive analysis, which is required to be integrated into its cloud. 

I have been using SAP Analytics Cloud for four to five years.

The product is not stable.

The solution’s scalability is terrible. 50 users are using this solution.
Utilizing the server in the cloud doesn't require much effort; you simply use it, by the way. It requires the administrators to use this tool.

The initial setup is moderately complex, but not highly technical. It requires someone who understands the features. This individual should know how to use the features, select appropriate storage options, choose suitable graphs for display, and determine when to use specific measurements or build custom ones. 

Since SAP Analytics Cloud is already cloud-based, there are no deployment steps involved. The process mainly entails connecting and configuring the necessary settings. This involves adding your organization as a tenant, providing the username and password, and possibly specifying a company ID or other relevant information.

Deployment and maintenance may require around 21 individuals.

You get the full benefit to assess the affordability of the product over time. The SAP platform offers various products, each serving different needs. They need to have various products available for selection. SAP Analytics Cloud is highly advantageous. 

The product is expensive and has a yearly subscription.

If we are using a scale or another device, but there is no other way to integrate. You can use all of our services. So if you compare SAP Analytics Cloud with Power BI. Power BI has different connectors that make integrations easier. When it starts with SAP Analytics Cloud, it's easy to connect to specific products when possible.

It give compliance with very good visibility. They support the key users inside the organization for identifying specific areas where SAP Analytics Cloud will decline.

Building the dashboard, analytics, and testing some use cases involves integrating with other platforms based on customer requests. 

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

We primarily use the solution to create financial dashboards. 

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.  

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.

I've been working on the solution for three months. 

The stability is excellent. I would rate the reliability nine or ten out of ten. 

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. 

Technical support is good. I've never had a problem with them. 

Positive

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

I am using it for the reporting features.

The financial reports are very easy to read at the end of the month. You can see your profits. The reporting tools and graphs versus sending a report in Excel are great. When it comes to visualization, reading a report visually instead of a number is excellent because it is going to stick with you.

The reporting, dashboards, KPIs, and visualization are the most valuable.

I think the editing can be improved. When you import and export the data you edit the report in Power Editor. However, it needs more flexibility and formulas. You have to use DAX and not everyone knows DAX.  I think it would be easier if there was another module created to retrieve only data. When you enter the data, you need a connector to take the data and transform it into your reporting tools. 

I have been using SAP Analytics Cloud for the past ten years.

The stability of SAP Analytics Cloud is very good.

The more you train people and give them good information, the more they want to put their trust in new solutions. People are used to getting an excel file for review.  It takes time and publicity to help train people about additional options that are available.

Technical support is only an online chat option.  They need a phone number to talk to someone and they need to increase the support available.  When I had some questions it was not as helpful as it could be. It will tell you where to go on the online chat, but that has its limitations.

Neutral

I was using Crystal. I switched because I had a lot of processes before I could get to the visualization option. When using SAP Analytics Cloud I just import in Excel and I have the visualization options right there. It is much easier.

The initial setup is straightforward and did not take long to deploy.

I did the installation myself with some customization from the Azure team.

I have seen a return on investment. The value is there instantly because you can make a decision fast when using this report. You can see right away where you want to be. Everybody will invest in this point.

The pricing is based on a monthly or yearly basis.  There are only two options. The free option does not have many capabilities. The premium option is very expensive at five thousand dollars. I use the nine hundred and ninety-nine dollar option. There are no other additional costs involved.

I looked at Tableau however it has limited options in comparison to SAP Analytics Cloud.

I would highly recommend SAP Analytics Cloud.  I would rate it a ten out of ten.

My VP asked me to work with my plan number to figure out how to increase and support our sales region. On the planning admin, I created a model and then imported actual and forecasted data. From that, I was able to determine the variance. We managed to plan this with small amounts of data. 

We created a planning model and enabled it to make a planning checkmark that works with the time category in the tab dimension, in order to bring it down to the lowest granularity, by month, start date, and end date. 

We created an organization dimension. A responsible person to monitor each region is required. Then you can drag and drop the region hierarchy from the parent.

Then, we worked on the calculated numbers, for example, the gross margin, which was the total revenue minus COGS. We then divided that number by total revenue times one hundred. From there, we could pull the data from the file and select source actuality to validate it. 

We performed all of this using SAP Analytics Cloud.

In the most recent release, the schedule publication was officially updated and it's been added on MS Office 365. I like how we had an EPM for B to C perspective; it's a great enhancement. Also, I believe the B to B connectivity has been improved. Android support for mobile is really good also. Power BI has always had android support in place, so manual support for SAP Analytics Cloud is also a very good feature.

Smart Insights have also been enhanced, especially in regards to the Stories.

Apart from that, I would like to see more data-handling enhancement. Smart planning can give us immediate results.  When we come to analytics, If we could get more enhancement, we could probably completely skip the data warehousing concepts. This would be a big improvement.

With all of the new updates, now we can combine different types of data together and give our customers a full picture. 

I am happy with the new release that is coming out. It's comparatively a little slower than the version we had from 2019-2020; however, the enhancements they have added are much better than previous versions.

The most valuable feature is that we can allocate, spread, and distribute the actual figures.

The cost is an area that could be improved. I also think that Ofice 365 should be incorporated. People would find it to be more user-friendly with Office 365 integrated. Flat file integration can be a distinguishing factor.

Custom visuals is another area of improvement. There are also some mobile features that are missing. There are features that aren't available on the mobile. 

There should also be better connectivity tools for HANA and Success Factors. They have minimal visualization relations and they have the third-party add-ins.

I have been using this solution for the past six months.

We have 300-plus Stories that we already had in the system, that we had to do performance tuning. I brought it down to 267, to be exact. We had over 302 dashboards and then we brought it down to 111 stories on 267 visualizations. When we have too many pages, the performance gets impacted a little on the initialization part. When we open the story, it takes a little bit of time because it's not on-premise. Because our clients are based in the Netherlands and we are based in Bangalore, we had to manage the different time zones, and the business hours are different. We had to find out during the peak business hour how the SSE behaves.

We found that in the peak business hours it does slow down a little bit, considering the internet speed and everything. We did take everything into account. Then we checked the performance and the data also. In order to be competitive with the other software in the market, a little enhancement in this part also would give the upper hand compared to other BI tools.

We used to go in a cognitive window wherein we don't have any caches in place, so that we could get an accurate picture of the performance. But we also want to reduce the number of filters, and then we want to do more slicing and dicing across the data and try to see how it improves. In the near future, we would try to test the data more.

It performs quite well. Custom visuals would definitely help us to improve a little more. 

There are more viewer licenses. We have got close to 130 users for Analytics Cloud. And for developer access, for read and write, at our location we have around six plus two for planning, altogether 11 to 12 licenses. 

We have BW HANA. So we have only four developers as of now. We used it more extensively before the pandemic but not as much now. We do have plans to increase usage in the near future. 

The technical support is quite good. Any time there is a new release and we have any issues, we connect with the technical support team and then go ahead and write about it in a blog so that the other users can also get help for similar issues. 

We previously used Cognos Analytics and Tableau. I've done a couple of POCs on Tableau and worked on micro-strategy. We switched to SAP Analytics Cloud primarily for the planning, development, and the user-friendliness. When SAP comes up with a solution, they definitely try to be up to market. The features were not in a premature stage. We had faith that SAP had enhanced features compared to other BI tools.

The initial setup was pretty easy. It was also easy for my team. They thought it was easy to install. There's no download, there was no complexity.

We do the maintenance for it because we know the ins and outs of the development. We also do the admin.

If you are new to SSE and are trying to implement SSE in your project, don't think that SSE is an SAP product. Look into the features because I am sure you'll be satisfied with the features. They come out with the releases. I go into the release notes to understand what are the enhancements are. This will make it easier to understand. 

If you have somebody who isn't as experienced with BI, even that person can still learn SSE and can cope up with the BI requirements. In India, if you want to be a BI compatible, you have to have at least three years' experience so that you can understand all of the data warehousing concepts, and EDL. With SSE, learning is very smooth and easy.

I would rate it a nine out of ten. 

The missing point would be because of the performance.