Posted: 17 Nov. 2022 4 min.

Key enablers in SAP S/4HANA® to take Analytics to a whole new level

Topic: SAP

Big data. Real-time data. Actionable insights for fact-based decision-making. Almost every leader has heard these promises and envisaged a future in line with the visions. But how do you process data in a timely, cost-effective manner? How can you harness the tremendous variety of data across companies and ecosystems? How do you integrate new data sources or even just improve how you manage existing data? And how do you increase the speed in which you can deliver relevant and actionable insights?

Considering these questions, it’s interesting that SAP S/4HANA® arrived at a moment when companies everywhere were working hard to monetise their digital and data operations and unlocking business opportunities with innovative digital solutions.

Of all the advances made recently in business analytics, perhaps none are more important than increased speed and accessibility. It has become much easier for a wider range of users to tap into deeper insights from an organisation’s data – faster. Moreover, the in-memory capabilities introduced by the SAP HANA® data platform can help turn these turn analytics-enabled capabilities into strategic advantages by speeding up the insight to action cycle. However, to understand the full analytical possibilities of SAP S/4HANA® it is important to take into considerations two interconnected forces: 1) Easy enterprise-wide access to data and 2) building a modern data landscape.

1. Easy enterprise-wide access to data
The first force is the efficient, simplified and enterprise-wide access to data offered by SAP S/4HANA® – an access which is far more powerful than previous versions of SAP.

In the last ERP wave in the 90s and 00s, even something as simple as tapping into a broad range of a company’s SAP data could prove to be a challenging task – not to mention combining it with data which was not residing in SAP. For instance, running a company-wide inventory report to track the financial or transfer price value of stock movements within a company required not only the transfer of significant amounts of data to separate data sources, but the sheer performance when querying the data was a big challenge due to technology limitations.

Consequently, many companies have had to invest heavily in building up complex reporting, data warehousing and analytical solutions over the years to be able to harvest value for their data. The latest technology evolutions, however, hard made it significantly easier to work with the large data pool coming out of core enterprise solutions or other operational systems.

With SAP S/4HANA® and the underlying in-memory processing power of SAP HANA®, access to data is far more efficient. Multi-dimensional querying of operational data, such as stock inventory, sales order history, correlated financial insights and customer interactions can be done without the limitations of having to move data around between data platforms. By enabling real-time querying, combined with configurable what-if scenario modelling, these approaches to instant insight and action give users the ability to quickly test hypotheses using predictive models and check their gut instincts using real data, in real-time – while still executing transactions.

Many would recognise these possibilities from the world of Formula 1 racing – which by the way is also powered by SAP HANA® – where diagnosing, predicting and acting in real time give competitive advantages on the track where every millisecond matters. Most are not really aware that these same possibilities are also available for their core business operations in their core business system, and only a few enlightened organisations have yet exploited the advantages that they offer.

2. Building a modern data landscape
Accessing data is one thing – laying the grounds for more complex data operations and advanced insights are also part of the journey with SAP S/4HANA®. Bear in mind that real analytical power typically comes from combining strong real-time operational reporting such as SAP S/4HANA® embedded analytics with a modern data landscape design in e.g. BW/4 HANA, Data Warehouse Cloud, Data Intelligence and Sap Analytics Cloud, which support both real-time data insights within the operation of SAP S/4HANA® as well as more complex data operations, governance and service data products to wider enterprise consumers.

The possibilities encompass much more than financial data: Everyday, thousands of data points are produced: demographic data, channel and product preferences, attitudes on social media, interactional and transactional data as well as the huge amount of data coming from sensors built into production lines, equipment and products. With this kind of modern data landscape you will be able to:

  • Combine internal data with open external data pools such as customer or goods movement within a retail shop floor harvested from cameras or Wi-Fi spots.
  • Utilise machine learning or process automation to apply intelligence to data.
  • Tap into high-frequency data coming from sensors or behavioural data sources.
  • Apply demographic data centred around consumers or market behaviour.

Successful companies go with ‘analytics first’
With these possibilities in mind, it is not surprising that many companies choose to embark on an ‘analytics first’ path for modernising systems and deploying new digital capabilities, helping them accelerate business transformation strategies and gain an insight-driven advantage without first having to transform their systems landscape.

In this sense, analytics and reporting can no longer be an afterthought – even for organisations that still depend heavily on heterogeneous legacy systems. Especially for organisations considering an SAP S/4HANA® journey, the approach can help understand data better and align the purpose and availability of different data – either as a precursor to an SAP S/4HANA® project or as an integral part of its first phase. When it comes to applying analytics in an SAP S/4HANA® context, Deloitte typically recommends the transition into an SAP-centric modern data ecosystem through four guiding principles for success:

  1. Ensure the ability to tap into operational and detailed data without having to do a lot of preparations.
  2. Maximise the ability to retrieve, store and combine large data volumes coming from both SAP and non-SAP sources.
  3. Focus on leveraging existing analytics investments by modernizing the over data landscape and ecosystem.
  4. Acknowledge the importance of applying an ‘analytics first’ perspective to obtain the detailed insights and knowledge of the company data pools in order to accelerate the transition to SAP S/4HANA®.

In sum, on the back of fierce competition and rising customer demands, many organisations are shifting toward becoming digital service companies for which analytics and data-monetisation capabilities are a must-have strategic enabler. Leaders understand that they must act promptly or miss a window of opportunity and, as a result, risk losing a competitive advantage.

With an ‘analytics first’ approach, you will be able to build a foundation for predictive analytics and machine intelligence capabilities that can drive additional benefits for your business. You will also be able to lay the groundwork for a broader SAP S/4HANA® transformation while identifying potential challenges and pain points ahead of a full deployment.

Most importantly, although SAP S/4HANA® is in many ways rewriting the modernisation handbook for core enterprise data management, embarking on this journey is not about starting over on analytics, but rather continuing to build on the investments that have already been made. It takes a strategic roadmap and delivery plan that the business can readily understand, adopt and act on – reaping the benefits of analytics and insights all along your journey, sooner rather than later.

Forfatter spotlight

David Colgan

David Colgan

Partner

Ask me about: SAP, S/4 HANA, Digital transformation, IT strategy, Program management, Digital Finance function, Cloud David is a partner in Deloitte and the Nordic Lead of our SAP Practice. David has a background as a Chartered Accountant but has more than 25 years of experience with SAP transformation programs, where the underlying theme is SAP and financial & digital optimization. David works with Danish as well as Nordic companies advising on SAP-enabled digital transformations and delivering SAP S/4HANA.

$(document.head).append(''); $(document.head).append('