1. Home
  2. Relational Databases
  3. SAP HANA Cloud Reviews
  4. User Review of SAP HANA Cloud
SAP HANA for real-time Decision Support in the Retail Industry
April 03, 2018

SAP HANA for real-time Decision Support in the Retail Industry

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with SAP HANA

We used to SAP HANA to build a decision support system for retailers offering perishable goods. The core of the system is a machine learning algorithm that provides demand forecast based on transactional data (POS data) in real-time that are required for daily ordering decision as well as intra-day shelf replenishment. Thus, the provided demand forecasts are mainly used by store managers and clerks. However, we also implemented reports for the different management levels (e.g. store, region).
  • Real-time OLAP queries on transactional data.
  • Integrated application layer (XS/XSA).
  • RServe support
  • PAL offers only basic algorithms.
  • Exception handling in SQLScript is limited.
  • Multi-threading in SQLScript is not possible.
  • Decision support leads to better inventory management of perishable items.
  • Provided demand forecasts lead to time savings for operational staff.
  • Better product availability caused increased revenues.
  • SQLServer
MS SQLServer is an alternative if the data foundation is not very big and a separate application layer or Excel can be used for reports.

SAP HANA is an appropriate choice if an analytical applications is based on a (very) large data foundation that needs to be accessed and aggregated (OLAP queries) in real-time. It also provides an application layer that allows to build web-based front-Ends using SAP UI5.

If the data foundation is not very large or real-time queries are not required SAP HANA is likely not be an appropriate choice given its pricing model.