I am using it for the reporting features.
Director - IT Finance/SAP Business One at NQ
Excellent visualization reports, with great stability, and immediate return on investment
Pros and Cons
- "The reporting, dashboards, KPIs, and visualization are the most valuable."
- "I think it would be easier if there was another module created to retrieve only data."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
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.
What is most valuable?
The reporting, dashboards, KPIs, and visualization are the most valuable.
What needs improvement?
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.
Buyer's Guide
SAP Analytics Cloud
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about SAP Analytics Cloud. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using SAP Analytics Cloud for the past ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of SAP Analytics Cloud is very good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
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.
How are customer service and support?
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.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
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.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward and did not take long to deploy.
What about the implementation team?
I did the installation myself with some customization from the Azure team.
What was our ROI?
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.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
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.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I looked at Tableau however it has limited options in comparison to SAP Analytics Cloud.
What other advice do I have?
I would highly recommend SAP Analytics Cloud. I would rate it a ten out of ten.
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?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Manager IT (SAP) at CLASSIC MARBLE COMPANY PRIVATE LIMITED
An intuitive tool for end users that is otherwise unstable and not recommended if there are alternatives
Pros and Cons
- "I have found that the feature to drag and drop widgets based on the data source, and import them into stories to be valuable. This way it helps the end user to create stories themselves."
- "Live Data Models are very slow and the setup can be improved, with tools such as Cloud Connector being inbuilt into SAP Analytics Cloud. Likewise, we need to write application code from scratch, rather than tweaking existing code, as we might with Excel macros. Moreover, when using responsive pages, the widgets get adjusted according to the mobile screen. As a result, when I place two or three KPI tiles, they can only be viewed tile-by-tile. We want to see the full dashboard on the mobile screen and zoom in to click on a particular section of the dashboard and go further into that. But displaying tile-by-tile makes it very annoying and the upper management using this dashboard might not be aware there are any more tiles to view."
What is our primary use case?
We use the product for story building.
What is most valuable?
I have found that the feature to drag and drop widgets based on the data source, and import them into stories to be valuable. This way it helps the end user to create stories themselves.
What needs improvement?
Live Data Models are very slow and the setup can be improved, with tools such as Cloud Connector being inbuilt into SAP Analytics Cloud.
Likewise, we need to write application code from scratch, rather than tweaking existing code, as we might with Excel macros.
Moreover, when using responsive pages, the widgets get adjusted according to the mobile screen. As a result, when I place two or three KPI tiles, they can only be viewed tile-by-tile. We want to see the full dashboard on the mobile screen and zoom in to click on a particular section of the dashboard and go further into that. But displaying tile-by-tile makes it very annoying and the upper management using this dashboard might not be aware there are any more tiles to view.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for two years at the minimum, and I continue to use it.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Since the performance of the Live Data Model is slow, I would give the solution a three out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The only issue with scalability is the speed of the Live Data Model. We thought we would not need the Business Warehouse tool and we could directly extract data as per HANA, but that has not been the case.
Otherwise, we haven’t tried scalability much, we only have two or three dashboards.
How are customer service and support?
We have raised a couple of queries and received responses to all of them.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We haven’t used any similar solutions for interactive dashboard building, we are currently looking for alternatives such as Power BI and Tableau.
How was the initial setup?
The setup was okay, but Cloud Connector was required. The deployment would have taken a couple of hours or less, and it was handled by a user acquainted with Basis. I would rate the setup a six out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate the solution four out of ten, but we are still analyzing other our alternatives, which could affect the rating.
All the same, I would not recommend SAP Analytics Cloud.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
SAP Analytics Cloud
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about SAP Analytics Cloud. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.
SAP BW Senior Consultant at Capgemini
User-friendly, easy to build, and has a useful reporting feature
Pros and Cons
- "SAP Analytics Cloud is a very good tool. The feature that's most useful for me is the reporting as it can be done via Google Chrome. The solution is also very nice, user-friendly, and easy to build. It's very easy to use the features of SAP Analytics Cloud."
- "What could be improved in SAP Analytics Cloud is integration, particularly in terms of extracting data from the source system. Currently, its data extraction mechanism doesn't have good integration and needs improvement."
What is our primary use case?
My company uses SAP Analytics Cloud to create reports for clients. I use the solution to develop reports for clients. The clients would be based out of different locations and do analytics, so I create those reports for clients through SAP Analytics Cloud.
What is most valuable?
SAP Analytics Cloud is a very good tool. The feature that's most useful for me is the reporting as it can be done via Google Chrome. The solution is also very nice, user-friendly, and easy to build. It's very easy to use the features of SAP Analytics Cloud.
What needs improvement?
What could be improved in SAP Analytics Cloud is integration, particularly in terms of extracting data from the source system. Currently, its data extraction mechanism doesn't have good integration and needs improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been working with SAP Analytics Cloud for two years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
SAP Analytics Cloud is a stable tool.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
SAP Analytics Cloud is a scalable tool.
How are customer service and support?
I find the technical support for SAP Analytics Cloud helpful.
How was the initial setup?
SAP Analytics Cloud is easy to set up and the deployment took five to six months.
What about the implementation team?
We do the deployment in-house, but clients would still need a resource who can do support and monitoring activities. The client would not be able to handle it himself and would need an IT resource to help, but one or two resources would be enough. One or two resources are enough to maintain SAP Analytics Cloud.
What other advice do I have?
I'm a software engineer and I'm working with SAP Analytics Cloud. I'm using the latest version of the solution which was released this quarter: 2022.07.
SAP Analytics Cloud is deployed on a public cloud, but I don't know the cloud provider, so SAP must have tied up with a data center.
In my company, people who are using the tool have the role of developing it and developing reports, and currently, one hundred people are using SAP Analytics Cloud.
I would recommend SAP Analytics Cloud to others who are currently not using it because it is a very good, easy-to-use tool. It's quite user-friendly and that's the most important factor.
My rating for SAP Analytics Cloud is eight out of ten.
I'm not a customer, but a partner of SAP Analytics Cloud.
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
Easy to set up with good SAP integration capabilities but lacks maturity
Pros and Cons
- "Technical support is helpful."
- "It's lacking a bit in maturity and we find we can't run our business off it until it's improved."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution for the dashboards.
What is most valuable?
The close integration with other SAP products is great.
The initial setup is easy.
It is quite stable.
Technical support is helpful.
The product can scale.
What needs improvement?
It's lacking a bit in maturity and we find we can't replace our existing mode 1 analytics tool until it's improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for 12 months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is quite good. It doesn't crash or freeze. there are no bugs or glitches. It's reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have about 50 people using the solution right now. They are all business specialists. We find it to be scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support has been quite good. We haven't had any issues with them. They are helpful and responsive and we are satisfied.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
We found the initial setup to be pretty simple and straightforward. I'd rate it four out of five in terms of ease of setup.
The deployment took one to two months and I handled it myself.
What about the implementation team?
I didn't need any assistance with the setup. I was able to do it on my own.
What other advice do I have?
I'm not sure which version of the solution we're using. It's likely the latest one.
I'd advise other users that the solution isn't really mature just yet.
Overall, I would rate the solution a 7 out of ten.
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: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
CEO at Attiva Spa
Stable business intelligence platform with reasonable pricing; initial setup was easy
Pros and Cons
- "SAP Analytics Cloud is easy to create charts with, and is a stable business intelligence platform. Easy to set up solution."
- "What should be improved in SAP Analytics Cloud is the speed of importing information and data, e.g. from SAP S/4HANA. Gathering the data from the main database takes a bit of time."
What is our primary use case?
We're using SAP Analytics Cloud for analyzing financial and commercial information.
What is most valuable?
What I really like most about SAP Analytics Cloud is that it's very easy to create charts with it.
What needs improvement?
What should be improved in SAP Analytics Cloud is the speed of importing information and data from SAP S/4HANA, because it's what we're using. We noticed that gathering the data from the main database takes a bit of time.
Another way to improve the product is for them to let others access some information without being part of our SAP company system. If I want a customer to check information directly using SAP Analytics Cloud that would be good, because currently, it doesn't seem to me that this is possible directly in the product. Of course, there's another path to take to reach that goal, but a direct connection for external people who may want to check some information could be useful.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using SAP Analytics Cloud since last July.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
SAP Analytics Cloud is a stable product.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup for SAP Analytics Cloud was quite easy. On a scale of one to five, with five being the best, I'm rating the setup a five. I did the setup with the help of a team, e.g. not just by myself.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I find the pricing of SAP Analytics Cloud reasonable. On a scale of one to five, with five being the best, I'm giving it a score of four out of five for the price.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We adopted Qlik Sense a few years ago, then we started with SAP, and after having tried SAP, we decided to stay with SAP Analytics Cloud. We discharged Qlik Sense.
What other advice do I have?
We're using SAP Analytics Cloud in our company.
I still don't have an idea on how scalable the product is.
I'm unable to give feedback on the technical support for SAP Analytics Cloud, because I don't deal directly with SAP, but with another company that assists us, and they work with SAP.
My advice to others looking into implementing SAP Analytics Cloud is for them to
check the cost of implementation, because the cost of the product is not high, but sometimes the implementation could cost a lot more, e.g. the connection to your access system could cost a lot.
I'm rating SAP Analytics Cloud nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
Practice Head at ERP Logic
The fact that it's integrated means we don't need to rely on an independent planning environment
Pros and Cons
- "Planning is the most valuable feature of the product because it's integrated and that means we don't need to rely on an independent planning environment."
- "When it comes to planning there is a concern about the ability to match the exact requirements of the customer with what the product offers."
What is our primary use case?
Although we currently use version 4.2, there are upgrades very regularly. I work for multiple clients and each client has a different version. It depends on the analytics cloud SAP are distributing to their respective clients. For now, we have 10 clients but the plan is to expand this.
What is most valuable?
Planning is the most valuable feature of the product because it's integrated and that means we don't need to rely on an independent planning environment. We have all the data available in ACP and fixed cloud and we use the same data for planning.
What needs improvement?
In terms of improvement, planning can sometimes not work the way we expect it would or should. Most of our customers are from VPC. They want to typically assimilate the scene and reflect what they are using. We sometimes have a hard time assimilating the same information on VPC.
I do understand that each and every product has its limitations. We are able to retrieve the information the customer is looking for, but whatever they are doing in VPC is what they want to be able to do in SAP, so SAP really needs to focus on that area to ensure that whatever they are doing in VPC is also in SAP.
For additional features, I have to say that so far they satisfy the requirements. I haven't worked on the planning models or the predictive models, but when it comes to planning there is a concern about the ability to match the exact requirements of the customer with what the product offers.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this product for almost two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It seems to be a stable product and we haven't had any issues. It works as expected and in the long term, stability will really depend on how they update their system.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is scalable.
How are customer service and technical support?
We have, on occasion, contacted SAP for some of the issues we've had and they then forward it to the technical department who email us and solve the problem. We haven't opened any waiver messages.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was complex. If the information is straightforward then it's fine, we're able to retrieve and carry out the basic operations, data actions, data logging, etc. and deal with it ourselves. But when you're trying to aggregate more information, for example, if you have a previous year's data and they want to see it as one column and for the current year they want to see a monthly view, it's possible in VPC but not possible in SAP.
What about the implementation team?
We carry out the implementation ourselves and there is a great variation in the time it takes. It depends on the customers' requirements. With some of our customers, we were able to deploy in three weeks, but there were others that took up to four months. It depends upon the directives we receive from our customers. Not every customer has the same requirements and each customer is unique and we need to plan accordingly.
What other advice do I have?
For now, we are only using the solution on public cloud but we have several customers in the pipeline and we are planning to use private cloud for future clients.
I've worked for many business warehouses over a period of 18 years and I strongly recommend this particular product because whatever I do in multiple tools, in reporting or dashboarding, for example, I carry out a planning process where everything is integrated, so I strongly recommend SAP.
I would rate this product a 10 out of 10 because I'm impressed with its function.
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:
Director of new business at PERCEPTIO S.A.S.
A business intelligence solution with a useful forecasting feature
Pros and Cons
- "I like the product's capabilities. The clarity and scenarios are the main features that allow us to forecast using machine learning algorithms and make decisions."
- "The price, integration, and modeling capabilities could be better. I have to use an integration engine to integrate our products and databases. SAP Analytics Cloud is made specifically for KPIs and business intelligence. The modeling capabilities are kind of poor. You always have to model the data and then present it visually in SAP Analytics Cloud. In the next release, I would like to have a lite version for planning to create scenarios quickly. For me personally, planning is the most complicated feature of SAP Analytics Cloud."
What is our primary use case?
I used SAP Analytics Cloud to create a functionality called Digital Boardroom, which is mainly an executive KPI form of presentation for board meetings. In Columbia in 2019, there weren't more than five implementations of this solution. All of them were made by SAP directly.
The key solution is the implementation I made for a company with over 16,000 employees and about ten lines of business. We consolidated all the information for ten lines of businesses in the SAP Digital Boardroom.
What is most valuable?
I like the product's capabilities. The clarity and scenarios are the main features that allow us to forecast using machine learning algorithms and make decisions.
What needs improvement?
The price, integration, and modeling capabilities could be better. I have to use an integration engine to integrate our products and databases. SAP Analytics Cloud is made specifically for KPIs and business intelligence. The modeling capabilities are kind of poor. You always have to model the data and then present it visually in SAP Analytics Cloud.
In the next release, I would like to have a lite version for planning to create scenarios quickly. For me personally, planning is the most complicated feature of SAP Analytics Cloud.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with SAP Analytics Cloud for about six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
SAP Analytics Cloud is very stable. For all these years, I didn't have any issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
SAP Analytics Cloud is scalable. If you can collect data from third-party devices, then you can model the data, and it's fully scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is good.
On a scale from one to five, I would give technical support a four.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup isn't too difficult, but it requires specific knowledge. You need at least three people to set up and maintain this solution for medium-sized projects. You need two people for data construction and one person for data management and integration.
On a scale from one to five, I would give the initial setup a four.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
SAP Analytics Cloud is expensive. The price is a big issue if you compare it with other solutions from different vendors.
What other advice do I have?
I would tell potential users to focus on the data, the source of the data, and the modeling capabilities. If you model well, you can present anything you want.
On a scale from one to ten, I would give SAP Analytics Cloud an eight.
I won't give it a ten just because of the solution's modeling capabilities and the price compared to other solutions in the market.
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
Senior 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
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Updated: November 2024
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