SAC Success: The 4 C’s in the Role of the Architect

This is a revisitation of the wonders of SAC, following up on a six-episode podcast series that originally ran 2020-2021.

SAP Analytics Clouds has changed the landscape of cloud-based analytics and reporting solutions. Two years ago, it was considered a new tool for enterprises. Fast forward to today and SAC is one of the premier cloud-based solutions for customers using SAP. 

Of course, it takes more than a tool for an enterprise to be successful. It’s all about connecting the dots between people, operations, and technology. A perfect example is the innovative work done by Royal Greenland, one of the world’s leading seafood companies.

The company’s three user-friendly apps, built on SAP’s Business Technology Platform, manages 70,000 POs annually, and make the process easier for fishermen and procurement workers.

Regardless of what route is taken, businesses know that the ability to get quality insights from their data will help them drive their business growth. What can an architect do to make the development process successful?

Hau Ngo, who was a guest on the original six SAC podcasts, is back with Mustansir Saifuddin to talk through successful SAC implementations, 2022-style. 

An Architect’s Guide

Here are the “4 Cs” for architecting a successful development process:

Communication: Technical competency and familiarity of a tool is a given. However, communication is key due to the collaborative process with the client. When working with C-level executives, the ability to communicate quickly and effectively makes the process go smoother, quicker, and more enjoyable.

Customization: SAC is such a powerful tool that does so much that end-users and clients are not clear how SAC fits into their business model. An architect who understands the client’s specific environment and the connectivity can best guide the client with applicable best practices.

Competency: Competitive companies have moved from Excel-based tools to dashboards that present large amounts of data quickly with the end-user’s needs in mind. Understand how different levels in a business want to interact with the data for a smoother process flow and assist adoption.

Collaboration: Both the architect and client bring value to the implementation process. Be willing to ask questions and even more importantly for help. Understand that clients have a wealth of business knowledge as well as technical knowledge that you can learn from. Taking the time to learn will speed up the process and limit the back and forth of communication.

The Power of SAC

SAC is a powerful tool with an easy point of entry. With the wealth of learning tools available, it is no longer out of reach for clients or consultants.

The importance of analytics to every company cannot be overstated. SAP, in fact, underlined this in its recent acquisition of Askdata, a startup specializing in search-driven analytics that uses machine learning algorithms to provide a personalized experience to users. 

Here are some recent SAP client innovations that, in part, included SAC.

Porsche’s Journey with SAC: How the sports car manufacturer automated processes, broke down silos, and gained deeper data-driven insights by deploying the SAP Analytics Cloud and SAP Data Warehouse Cloud solutions.

San Jose Sharks: How the NHL team unified fan and customer data into easily viewed dashboards.