New features and enhancements in SAP Analytics Cloud release for Q4 2021

The developers of SAP Analytics Cloud continue to expand the usability area of the software, and, as in previous months, more enhancements have been implemented as we approach the end of 2021. After analyzing them, we have selected the most exciting improvements, including:

Dashboard and Story Design

Considering performance optimization, users can take advantage of the application-generated recommendations when creating a report. Recommendations marked with an exclamation mark icon or information symbol are available only in edit view, and their content becomes visible after hovering over the cursor. Recommendations include reducing the number of pages or GUI elements, activating the Optimized View Mode feature, and collapsing data filtering objects.

Activating Optimized View Mode allows users to, among other things:

• Undo or restore changes made to the data. Actions that do not affect the data – such as changing a report page – are not taken into account.
• Consolidating the information and tooltips that appear on the visualization after a data point is selected into a single unified panel located closer to the cursor for easier access to available features.

• Benefit from improvements in the display of elements used for filtering data – the drop-down list consisting of several levels of the hierarchy includes by default only active items, which affects the speed of its processing. The list is scrolled dynamically, so that the subordinate items in the hierarchy are always placed in the center, and the top of the list is the parent record in the structure of the classification.

As of Q4 2021, there is a new way to control changes made to a report. Team Signature is an additional component that can be inserted into text that changes dynamically. Each time, the report will show whether authorized team members made the last saved modifications. The text is visible when the report is exported to PDF, however, this feature won’t be available when the report is copied by users who don’t have the right credentials.

Enterprise Planning

The efficiency of planning processes has been increased by including the feature of defining a data area which is then used to create or edit the public and private versions of the model. The scope extracted with this new feature, especially useful for large data sets versions, is added as a separate variant on the menu tabs and side panel. Creating a planning area is possible with the Analytics Designer module, using the copy() method of the API script.

A recently added feature in the new planning model allows defining a dynamic variable valid for currency conversion. In the model settings dialog, there is an option to select the currency that is the parameter’s initial value. Adding a variable as a visualization element will allow users to override the default value and quickly change the currency, reducing the number of calculated measures and therefore reducing the time required to prepare the report.

Analytics Designer

The module enables integrating services offered by SAP Analytics Cloud and introduces significant flexibility in implementing business solutions, allowing to build interactive presentations as well as planning and analytical applications. Since the fourth quarter Analytics Designer offers the possibility to generate a diagram that graphically presents correlations and interconnections between individual application objects. Apart from its informational purpose, the diagram can also work as a tool for editing and modifying existing connections.

Data Exploration

Users looking to perform in-depth, more insightful analysis will certainly benefit from enhancements to the Data Analyzer module. In Q4, it will also be available from the side navigation bar. The changes will extend to the module’s homepage, enabling direct access to data sources (SAP Business Warehouse, SAP HANA) and immediate analysis. Improvements to Data Analyzer also include formatting measures and their default values, allowing to customize parameters by selecting the measure, how units and currencies are shown, and the number of decimal places displayed.

For more details about the full range of new features that were implemented in the last quarter of 2021, please continue reading on SAP Road Map Explorer.