There are a number of new reporting options which need to be considered when you migrate to S/4 HANA.
With embedded analytics you should no longer need to wait overnight for data to be transferred to BW or a data-warehouse, no need to create permanent info-cubes. New concept in S/4 HANA is that the reporting is real-time and virtual cubes or virtual data models that can easily be created as required. Some examples - Business Objects Design Studio, Lumira, Analysis for Office and HANA Live.
BI Launch Pad, a Web application, allows access to SAP Crystal Reports, SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence documents, SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards documents, etc.
Design Studio
Produces professional, dynamic interactive dashboards, connects to rather than extracts from S/4 HANA.
Dashboards, multidimensional, interactive data visualizations to track data against budget, previous years, drilldown to detail
Dashboards rendered in HTML5 for web browsers, and mobile devices
Direct connectivity to SAP BW and HANA
Reuse queries, info cubes and HANA analytic views
Monitor KPIs
Prebuilt templates
Programming capabilities (IT usually build dashboards),
May take time to set up
Can export reports to Excel, and dashboards to Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe PDF or Adobe Flash
Chart/graph components
Simulate scenarios
Lumira
Processes data, also connects rather than extracts.
Less IT involvement and training, more self-service – drag and drop
Simple interface for development
Easy to get answers from large amounts of data
Different options (cloud, HANA, standalone)
Integrates with current BI platform and leverages its architecture
Good for simple ad hoc reports
Can acquire data from other sources as well as SAP
Visualization and storyboards
Crystal Reports
Windows based design tool to create powerful reports that can be published in the SAP BusinessObjects BI platform.
Includes Legal reports and forms such as customer invoice and tax reports.
Can create sophisticated colorful charts, drilldown and interactive filtering
Covert data into formatted easy to read reports
Schedule, secure, share in any format
Web-Intelligence
Ad-hoc analysis and reporting tool for users with or without access to the SAP BusinessObjects BI platform
Can combine data from relational, OLAP spreadsheet or text file, using drag and drop
Self-service, easy access
Access, analyze and securely share interactive reports
Online and offline access
Dynamically create data queries, filter, sort, slice, dice, drill down
For casual users looking for intuitive BI tool for ad hoc reporting and analysis
Formatting, charts
SAP Business Objects Explorer
Filter and drill for information using advanced visualizations and charts
Interactive views
Use with mobile devices
Retrieve answers from corporate data by directly by filtering
Scheduling
Available on mobile devices
HANA Live
Real-time reporting using HANA SQL views directly on S/4 HANA
Attribute views, analytical views and calculation views
Business Objects Advanced Analysis
Available for Microsoft Office (Excel/PowerPoint) and web. OLAP analysis.
Can simultaneously view data from different cubes and providers
Multidimensional analysis, trend analysis
Analysis is captured in query, similar to BEX query view, can keep BEX as well, and leverage queries and BW investments
Live analysis embedded in to PowerPoint
Can write back to BW-IP (Integrated planning)
Self-service access to all BI content
Simpler, intuitive
Minimal training and support costs
Data enrichment
Predictive Analytics
Predictive functionality, statistical analysis and data mining. Forecasts outcomes of alternative strategies prior to implementation and determine how to best allocate resources.
Predictive models
Includes Lumira functionality (data acquisition, formulas, visualization tools, metadata enrichment) with the addition of the Predict pane (2nd data analysis tab) which holds all the predictive algorithms results visualization analytics and model management tools
Prepare, predict and share
Data manipulation components allow analysts to modify and create data elements quickly
Facilitates calculations and manipulations and cab add further data lookups to avoid data enrichment manipulation outside the tool
Chart options (geographic pie charts, bar charts, time series
Considerations/Questions:
Check prerequisites, for example does predictive analysis require Lumira?
Check licensing, may be different if you are only reporting on SAP data or if you e.g. want to link to other non-SAP systems
Check whether report from Sap or 3rd party (different licensing/discounts)
Check if different licenses fi just viewing reports or developing them
May be bundled together, shared in a concurrent pool. “BI Suite for Apps” (SAP data only) did include web intelligence, crystal reports, explorer, dashboards, advanced analysis for office as well as HANA Live, Design Studios coming under one license but may or may not still apply, then there was a separate license quote for BI Suite inclusive of non-SAP data
What in-house skills required to build reports
What reports/templates are supplied as standard
Do you need something you can use for planning as well?
Do you need/does the report have an Excel look/feel?
Is there a reporting only option as part of the license for S/4 HANA?
If extensive existing reporting system e.g. BW/BI/BEX – is there any benefit to upgrading to a similar system on S/4 HANA and how is it an easy task to convert existing reports in the short term, would you even use existing info-cubes as new virtual data models and different tables etc. will be more efficient built from scratch in the long term
Many reports may be available directly in S/4 HANA (more data in finance so line item reports now cover a lot more)
Do you want something for mobile devices?
How do the different reports fit together (e.g. does one fit/produce data for dashboard of another)?
Forms
Considerations
Will forms migrate to S/4 HANA ok or do you need to redo them
Do you need Adobe? Special license required?
Miscellaneous
Other product that may be interesting is Integrated Business Planning for Finance (they also do Sales one)
Scheduling – do you have special scheduling software or use SAP standard- check what is available in S/4 HANA
Change request (transports) software – check how any software you are using integrates with S/4 HANA
Finance Closing cockpit – was sold as separate product, check if included now with anything else
SLT (System Landscape Transformation Tool) useful to manage real-time data replication/mapping – was free for Sap systems but extra if non-SAP system involved
Unlikely that any bespoke journal upload tools will work, check any 3rd party tools
Workflow – how will that migrate or build from scratch
In-house Cash, particularly if global, many currencies and intercompany transactions, effectively “virtual” bank accounts used, avoids bank charges and exchange differences by sharing money globally
Bank Communications Management – automate and merge outgoing payments and automate incoming payments and bank statements