Combine Data in AO

When you're looking to leverage Analysis for Office (AFO) to combine data from two master data sources and one transaction data source. This is definitely possible and a common use case for AFO. Here's how you can achieve this and manipulate the data within AFO:

1. Connecting to Data Sources

• Establish Connections: First, you'll need to create connections to your two master data sources and your transaction data source within AFO. This typically involves specifying the system type (e.g., SAP BW, SAP HANA, or SAP S/4HANA), system details (e.g., server name, client), and authentication credentials.
• Data Source Types: The nature of your master data sources will influence how you connect.
  • BW: If your master data resides in SAP BW, you'll likely connect to InfoObjects or Master Data attributes within BW queries.
  • HANA: For master data in SAP HANA, you might connect to attribute views or calculation views.
  • S/4HANA: You could be connecting to CDS views exposed for analytical consumption.

2. Data Retrieval and Merging

• Separate Queries: Initially, you'll likely retrieve data from each source into separate data sources within your AFO workbook. This allows you to inspect and prepare each dataset individually.
• Merging Data: AFO provides several ways to combine your data:
  • Joining in Design Panel: If your data sources have a common field (e.g., a material number or customer ID), you can use the Design Panel in AFO to define a join between the data sources, similar to how you would join tables in a database query.
  • Formula-Based Merging: You can use Excel formulas like VLOOKUP or INDEX-MATCH to combine data based on common keys. This is useful if you need more complex merging logic.
  • Data Source Append: In some cases, you might be able to append data sources if they have a similar structure, effectively stacking them on top of each other.

3. Data Manipulation in AFO

Once you have your data combined, AFO offers a range of tools for data manipulation:

• Filtering: Apply filters to your data sources to focus on specific subsets of information.
• Sorting: Sort data based on different criteria to organize and analyze it effectively.
• Calculated Measures: Create new measures or key figures using AFO's formula editor. This allows you to perform calculations on your combined data (e.g., calculate profit margins, growth percentages, or ratios).
• Data Formatting: Format your data for better readability and presentation, including applying number formats, conditional formatting, and data validation.
• Hierarchies and Navigation: Utilize hierarchies from your master data to drill down into your data and explore it at different levels of granularity.

4. Reporting and Visualization

• Crosstabs and Charts: Create interactive crosstabs and charts to visualize your combined data and gain insights.
• Reporting Features: Leverage AFO's reporting features to design professional reports with headers, footers, and formatting options.

Example Scenario

Let's say you have:

• Master Data 1: Customer master data (customer ID, name, region) in SAP BW.
• Master Data 2: Product master data (product ID, name, category) in SAP HANA.
• Transaction Data: Sales transactions (customer ID, product ID, sales quantity, sales revenue) in SAP S/4HANA.

You can use AFO to:

1. Connect to each data source.
2. Retrieve the relevant data.
3. Join the transaction data with the customer and product master data using customer ID and product ID as the join keys.
4. Create a calculated measure for profit margin (profit / revenue).
5. Build a crosstab that shows sales revenue, profit, and profit margin by customer region and product category.

Important Considerations:

• Data Volume: For very large datasets, consider optimizing your data retrieval and merging strategies to ensure good performance in AFO.
• Data Refresh: Plan for how you will refresh your data to keep your analysis up-to-date.
• AFO Version: Ensure you are using a recent version of AFO, as newer versions often have improved features and performance.

By following these steps and considering the points above, you can effectively use Analysis for Office to combine and manipulate data from your multiple sources for comprehensive analysis and reporting.