Keeping your data analytics clean

Ever since organizations started preferring best-of-breed solutions over all-in-one business suites, major vendors have gone all-in with open connectivity. As a result, tools like SAP Datasphere are able to handle data from every possible source: from Azure and Oracle data lakes to flat files. 

This openness creates a wealth of new opportunities to connect data sources and gather new insights. Moreover, thanks to SAP S/4HANA’s in-memory database, embedded, real-time reporting has now become reality as well. Many C-level executives are tempted to gather as much insights as possible, as fast as possible.

Clarity and actionability

Generating all these reports can have a major impact on performance (in the case of real-time analytics) and on maintaining structure and clarity in your analytics landscape. In other words, before adding anything, you have to be critical about your motivations. Do you really need daily reports on sales, or would a weekly overview suffice? The key is to carefully consider which insights are actionable, and which are just ‘knowing for the sake of knowing.’

However, understanding which insights are most valuable can be challenging – especially for IT. Which is why business users need to get involved as well. Luckily, next-generation tools like SAP Datasphere make it easier than ever before for them to get started with analytics – no coding skills required. And while many are still oblivious to the amazing insights and opportunities that lie within reach, the right coaching and training can do wonders.

Making self-service BI a reality

Once business users know how it works and what’s possible, they often come up with the most interesting use cases. Within SAP Datasphere, they can ‘personalize’ objects and queries created by IT or consultants without any SQL or Python skills. This makes it possible to create as many different perspectives on a single object as required. 

For example: a business user can opt to change the view of a sales report in a specific division from monthly to annually, without having to ask the IT department. Meanwhile, the modeling job itself, which is still an IT responsibility, has become a lot easier as well, as SAP Datasphere now offers the possibility to code certain queries with SQL or via drag & drop.

Establishing a data culture

To become truly data-driven, you first and foremost need to establish a culture where everyone in your organization takes ownership over data and business decisions driven by analytics. In this way, data will become deeply embedded in every decision-making process. SAP Datasphere is a vital part of making that cultural shift a reality. 

Having an external partner on board to help with this is certainly an advantage. Apart from (cross-)industry knowledge, they also bring technical and functional best practices that will help put your data analytics project on track – and keep it there. 

Would you like to discuss the possibilities for your company? Get in touch with our experts Simon Vandelanotte and Arthur Vande Weghe for more information.