SAP Devtoberfest is an exciting annual event that brings together developers to explore the latest innovations within the SAP ecosystem. This year, a significant emphasis has been placed on ABAP Cloud, particularly its embedded analytics capabilities. These updates are designed to enhance financial reporting, providing organizations with powerful tools to analyze and visualize their financial data effectively—critical for making informed business decisions in today’s fast-paced environment.
What is Devtoberfest?
DevToberfest is a month-long celebration organized by SAP that engages developers through various activities and learning opportunities. Participants can earn points by attending sessions, completing challenges, and contributing to the SAP community. This year's event has highlighted advancements in technologies such as ABAP Cloud, which includes crucial updates to embedded analytics.
Updates in ABAP Cloud: Embedded Analytics for Financial Reporting
Recent enhancements to embedded analytics in ABAP Cloud signify a shift from traditional ABAP on-premise environments.
Here are some key embedded analytics updates focused on improving SAP financial analytics:
Real-Time Insights with INA Protocol:
The new RAP-based INA service exposure enables developers in the SAP Business Technology Platform ABAP Environment to create analytical queries based on ABAP-CDS analytical data models and expose them via the INA service protocol, enhancing the delivery of insightful financial analytics.
When building our financial CDS views for live data access, SAP now offers the INA protocol which facilitates efficient querying and aggregation of multi-dimensional data. With the aid of this new protocol, organizations can generate reports that reflect the most current financial information, enabling timely decision-making based on up-to-date metrics.
Multi-Dimensional UI Creation for FI-Related CDS Models: Simplified Development and Real-Time Financial Insights
Developers can now create on-stack multi-dimensional UIs directly within ABAP Cloud, enabling the visualization of complex financial data without needing external tools.
Creating these multi-dimensional UIs empowers developers working with FI-related CDS models to easily aggregate and analyze data from multiple perspectives, such as by department or period, all within the same development flow. This seamless integration will simplify the process of building complex analytical applications.
Additionally, This update concerning the inclusion of this MDA(Multi-dimensional Analysis ) UI significantly streamlines the development process, allowing developers to generate multi-dimensional analytical applications with just a few clicks - from automatic creation of service definitions to service bindings, all the way to deployment of MDA UI components as seen in the image below.
This significantly reduces the time to insight for developers, enabling them to quickly generate proofs-of-concept (POCs) based on their models without getting bogged down in the technical complexities of building Fiori UI apps. As a result, users can focus on refining analytical models, rather than spending time on technical implementation details.
Embedded Analytics Integration with External Tools SAC, AO and Review booklets on fiori (cloud): The latest updates to SAP Embedded Analytics enhance its ability to integrate seamlessly with external tools such as SAP Analytics Cloud, Analysis for Office, and Review Booklets on Fiori. While embedded analytics continues to operate independently within ABAP Cloud, this new integration options enables users to easily consume FI-related analytical services built on ABAP Cloud. This update provides a comprehensive, cross-platform view of financial data, empowering users to access insights from various sources and tools within the SAP ecosystem.
Future Outlook
As SAP continues to enhance embedded analytics within ABAP Cloud, we can anticipate several exciting developments:
Generation of Analytical Artifacts:
Developers will be able to generate analytical data models based on transactional business objects using AI support.
New features will allow for the creation of review booklets and hierarchies that facilitate better organization and analysis of financial data.
Deployment of Review Systems on On-premise ABAP Systems
As part of future enhancements, SAP is also introducing review booklets in on-premise systems, which will provide comprehensive application-guided reports for financial analysis. These booklets will complement the capabilities of embedded analytics in ABAP Cloud, enabling users to analyze financial statements more effectively.
Fiori Elements Support for Analytical App Development:
Enhanced support will be provided for developing analytical applications using Fiori elements, including an Analytical Floorplan and reusable Analytical Building Blocks, making it easier to create sophisticated UIs.
Additional Fiori UIs & Controls:
There will be new Fiori UI components such as Smart Business capabilities that improve user interaction with financial analytics.
Combination of Transactional and Analytical Data in One App/UI:
Future updates will enable seamless integration of transactional and analytical data within a single application or user interface, enhancing the user experience and providing comprehensive insights into financial performance.
In conclusion, the updates to embedded analytics in ABAP Cloud represent a significant leap forward in enhancing financial reporting capabilities. By leveraging real-time insights, streamlined development processes, and advanced analytical tools, organizations can transform their approach to financial analysis, driving better business outcomes and strategic decision-making. As these technologies continue to evolve, they will undoubtedly play a critical role in shaping the future of financial analytics within enterprises. Stay engaged with SAP’s innovations and consider participating in future events like Devtoberfest to further enhance your skills and knowledge.