By Mariyah Saifuddin
This podcast adds to the original series, which was recorded and posted from 2020-2021 and features Mustansir Saifuddin and Hau Ngo.
More and more enterprises are creating dashboards and reporting solutions, however the question remains: Where should we focus our time – data modeling or data visualization?
As technology tools like SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) become simpler and more powerful, the answer to this ongoing question changes depends on the client setup. Here are some quick pointers:
1. Complete as much of the data modeling in your source system be it S/4 or SAP Data Warehouse Cloud (DWC).
2. Minimize the number of calculations in the reporting layer (SAC).
3. Leverage the ability to create stories in SAC.
4. Each widget in a SAC dashboard is a separate report or query call to the source system. Balance this number to maximize performance.
How to Provide Both Overview, Details
What does this mean when designing for management teams and C-level executives who want an overview as well as the ability to drill down to details important to them? Experts like our own Mustansir Saifuddin and Hau Ngo, a frequent guest on our Tech-Driven Podcast, share these tips:
1. Break up an SAC story into multiple pages.
2. Create an overview page which highlights a chart type from the drill-down pages.
3. Create detailed information on separate pages. This allows for peak performance.
4. Choose your chart types wisely.
Enterprises of all sizes can leverage SAC. The ability to quickly create mock-ups with production data for key executives allows them to easily see the power of SAC. This understanding makes it easier for organizations to commit to an implementation project.
As implementation begins, SAC experts can then determine the best way of interacting with the client’s data, be it a transactional system or a data warehouse. If you don’t have a data warehouse, don’t worry, you can use SAC with S/4 data.
What’s a key takeaway? As tools become simpler and more powerful, ensure you have a strong team of developers working on data modeling as front-end tools like SAC make dashboard designing easier.
Interested in more Tech-Driven Business podcasts? You can listen here
Other parts in this SAC series, all available on the Tech-Driven Business podcast page:
