SAP Analytics Cloud is a good product with a good projection, but it is still a bit immature
July 09, 2019

SAP Analytics Cloud is a good product with a good projection, but it is still a bit immature

Alex Gutierrez | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with SAP Analytics Cloud

As a consulting firm, we use SAP Analytics Cloud in the SAP department in the projects where our client needs a reporting tool. We recommend SAP Analytics Cloud to those clients which have analytical needs that can be satisfied with Dashboards or analytical reports. In our opinion, SAP Analytics Cloud is not already prepared to fulfill the needs of those users/companies which are oriented to a very operational reporting, or they need to dig in data in a lot of detail.
  • Visual reporting: it is, by far, the most good-looking and user-friendly SAP reporting tool.
  • Story-telling: it is very easy to create a story using our reports and answer the business questions.
  • Connectivity to SAP sources: if a company has its data on SAP sources, it is very convenient to use SAP Analytics Cloud as the reporting tool.
  • Roadmap looks good: if all the functionalities that are on Roadmap end up being implemented, I personally think SAP Analytics Cloud will be a strong competitor in the market.
  • Performance: in some scenarios, the tool has big troubles in its performance when the volume of data is quite big (mainly with tables and filters).
  • Maturity: as it is a quite new tool, it is not mature enough to satisfy some business necessities. Also, the tool has some bugs which should be basic for a reporting tool.
  • Mobility: I believe mobile apps for SAP Analytics Cloud should be improved (both for Android and iOs devices). They are not as good as the web version. Moreover, stories for mobile devices have to be created in a particular template, which can be annoying in some cases.
For me, they are quite at the same in general terms (in terms of visualization and design). Power BI is better than SAC when it comes to maturity and integration with Microsoft softwares (Excel, PowerPoint, Azure, ...) SAC is better than Power BI in terms of connectivity to SAP sources, and in Advanced Analytics and Data insights.
Scenarios where I would recommend SAC:
  • Data analysis at a glance
  • For business users, it is a very easy to use and user-friendly reporting tool
  • Corporative reporting tool: it has a lot of features and functionalities that make it a very appropriate tool when it comes to have a unique reporting portal (bookmarks, exporting to PDF, comments in stories, ...)

Scenarios where I would not recommend SAC:
  • Operational reporting
  • Users that need big flexibility in their data analysis
  • Companies which want to build their reporting on non-SAP sources

SAP Analytics Cloud Feature Ratings

Long-term financial planning
4
Financial budgeting
5
Forecasting
6
Scenario modeling
6
Management reporting
8
Financial data consolidation
Not Rated
Journal entries and reports
Not Rated
Multi-currency management
Not Rated
Intercompany Eliminations
Not Rated
Minority Ownership
Not Rated
Local and consolidated reporting
Not Rated
Detailed Audit Trails
Not Rated
Financial Statement Reporting
Not Rated
Management Reporting
Not Rated
Excel-based Reporting
6
Automated board and financial reporting
Not Rated
XBRL support for regulatory filing
Not Rated
Personalized dashboards
10
Color-coded scorecards
9
KPIs
7
Cost and profitability analysis
8
Key Performance Indicator setting
9
Benchmarking with external data
8
Flat file integration
9
Excel data integration
9
Direct links to 3rd-party data sources
7
Pixel Perfect reports
9
Customizable dashboards
10
Report Formatting Templates
8
Drill-down analysis
9
Formatting capabilities
8
Integration with R or other statistical packages
6
Report sharing and collaboration
9
Publish to Web
8
Publish to PDF
10
Report Versioning
9
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)
9
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization
8
Predictive Analytics
8
Multi-User Support (named login)
9
Role-Based Security Model
9
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)
10
Single Sign-On (SSO)
9
Responsive Design for Web Access
6
Mobile Application
4
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile
5