SAP Analytics Cloud - Scope/Complexity assessment - Helpful for new Projects or Change Requests

[Ashish_Farkya]

Hi All,

While working for SAC projects in Consulting, there had been multiple occasions when I came across questions like -

• How do we get started on asking questions pertaining to SAC deliverables?


• What are the valid business/functional/technical questions to be asked to client to know the "Scope" of work or "Complexity" of the work expected by the client?


• How to ensure that we are checking with clients on what all modules they are planning to leverage within SAC product features?

Generally, We try to get answers to these questions based on our past experience while working on any Analytics/Visualization/ SAC projects, however sometime it becomes very difficult to frame a comprehensive list of questions that can help us get started quickly.

Keeping this objective in mind, sharing below list of questions that can be used to get started on scope/complexity assessment for any SAC Project/ Change Request and build upon it, considering this as just a starting point.

 

High Level Category	Functional/ Technical Questions to ask
High Level Scope	What all modules of SAC we are planning to leverage - Reporting or Planning or Both?
High Level Scope	If Reporting - What are the sub-modules in scope : Stories / Analytical models, Digital Boardroom, Predictive Forecasting, Custom Application design ( similar to Analytical Designer)?
High Level Scope	If Planning is also involved - What are the sub-modules in scope: Data-actions, multi-actions, Allocations, Value-driver trees?
Source Systems	Is S/4 HANA/Enterprise HANA ( or any relevant Database)  going to be the only source system for SAC Reporting Layer or we are looking at on the fly data blending from heterogeneous sources at SAC Layer?
Data Connectivity	Which "Connection Type" are we anticipating to setup between SAC and S/4 HANA/ Enterprise HANA system ( or any source system that you are considering for the project)- Import v/s Live?
Systems/ Environments	How many SAC systems ( like DEV/QA/PROD) should be considered? Is there any special requirements for additional systems/environments for SIT/ITC cycles?
Regulatory Requirements	If the project requires Regulatory Reporting requirements then Are we thinking of using the SAC Report (Finance Reports) to be submitted to Regulatory Authorities only in USA or its required for other Countries too?
Canned Reports	Total # of SAC Canned Reports/Dashboards in-scope?
Adhoc Reports	Tentatively how many users would be equipped with Self-Service Reporting knowledge and would be performing Self-Service Reporting and similarly how many users would be working on "Planning"?
Report Printing Requirements	Is there any specific requirements with regards to Printing SAC reports when exported to PDF?
Custom Visuals/Widgets	Are we anticipating any sort of Custom Visuals or visuals generated through R-Scripts?
Scheduling/Publishing	Is there any requirements around Publishing/ Scheduling of SAC Stories? How many users are likely to get Publishing/Scheduling permissions in PROD?
SAP Analytics Cloud, add-in for Microsoft Office	Other than SAC, are there any requirements to enable "SAP Analytics Cloud, add-in for Microsoft Office"?
Mobile Ready Reports	Are there requirements to make the SAC reports readable on Mobile Devices ( iOS/Android)?
Performance Benchmarks	Is there any set standards for Performance benchmarks for SAC Reports' refresh time?
Multi-Language Support/ Data Encryption	Is there any complex requirements regarding multi-language support for SAC Stories OR requirements for Data encryption at SAC Reporting Layer?
Security Setup	Is Security/Administration work is scope of work for the Vendor or it will be handled by Client's internal IT Team?
User Base	Total # of SAC Users in PROD? If we know the breakdown how many of them would be READ_ONLY users vs POWER_USERS vs Planning Professional vs Digital Boardroom users?
Downstream Systems	Are there any downstream systems that SAC would feed the data into?
Usage Metrics	Is there any requirement to collect system usage metrics ( like most frequently used SAC reports, most active users,  systems performance trend over time etc.) post development?

I would be happy to look at your comments/feedback in comment section.

Thank you!

 

~ Cheers

Ashish

[Inga_Turcan]

thank you for the blog, are these outlined in the SAC Activate roadmap in any shape or form?

[Ashish_Farkya]

Thanks inga.turcan for your comment.

All of the points mentioned above are based on the experience working with SAP Analytics Cloud projects for multiple clients.

Since these types of questions do come up quite often when we kick start new projects or take up a massive change request pertaining to SAP Analytics Cloud work; hence I thought of documenting the points here for everyone's benefit.  Thank you!

~ Cheers

Ashish

[Inga_Turcan]

Yes, Ashish, they are great, so I thought might be worth including into SAC Activate as an accelerator, possibly

[Ashish_Farkya]

Sounds Great. Thank you!