Analysis for Office, Fiori and SAC - a unified Model design considerations

If Enterprise aiming for consistency across your reporting landscape, which is a great goal! Here's how to achieve that with Analysis for Office (AfO), Fiori, and SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC), all while using the same data models as a foundation:

1. The Foundation: Robust Data Models

• CDS Views (Core Data Services): In the S/4HANA world, CDS views are your best bet. They provide a semantically rich layer on top of your database tables, offering a consistent and well-defined structure for your data. Make sure your CDS views are optimized for performance and tailored to the specific needs of your reports.
• BW Queries (for BW systems): If you're working with a BW system, well-structured BW queries serve the same purpose. Ensure they are designed with clarity and reusability in mind.

2. Connecting the Tools

• AfO: AfO can directly consume data from CDS views or BW queries. Use the "Analysis" tab in Excel to connect to your S/4HANA or BW system and select the relevant data model.
• Fiori: For Fiori embedded analytics, you can build analytical apps that leverage the same CDS views. SAP provides templates and tools to simplify this process.
• SAC: SAC can connect to both S/4HANA and BW systems. Import the CDS views or BW queries into SAC as data sources. You can also use SAC's data modeling capabilities to further refine or combine these sources.

3. Design Considerations for Consistency

• Unified Measures and Dimensions: Ensure that you use the same naming conventions and definitions for your key measures and dimensions across all three tools. This creates a common understanding of the data.
• Consistent Visualizations: Use a similar style and color palette for your charts and graphs in AfO, Fiori, and SAC. This creates a cohesive look and feel for your reports.
• Standardized Calculations: If you have specific calculations or KPIs, define them centrally (e.g., within the CDS view) and reuse them across all tools. This prevents discrepancies and ensures consistency.
• Report Templates: Consider creating templates for common report types in each tool. This helps maintain a consistent structure and layout.
• Data Governance: Implement data governance policies to ensure data quality and consistency across your systems. This includes data validation, access control, and documentation.

Example:

Let's say you have a CDS view called "SalesOrderAnalysis" that provides data on sales orders, including customer, product, quantity, and revenue.

• AfO: Use AfO to connect to this CDS view and create a pivot table in Excel to analyze sales trends by region.
• Fiori: Build a Fiori app that uses the same "SalesOrderAnalysis" view to display a bar chart of top-selling products.
• SAC: Import the "SalesOrderAnalysis" view into SAC and create an interactive dashboard that shows sales performance over time, with drill-down capabilities to see details by customer and product.

By following these guidelines, you can ensure that your reports in AfO, Fiori, and SAC are based on the same underlying data and provide a consistent view of your business information. This consistency improves data comprehension, reduces confusion, and ultimately leads to better decision-making.