2021 Releases

Data Integration

• Live Connections to SAP Business Warehouse

  • Enable and Disable SAP BW Query Conditions in Table Visualizations

    When working on tables with SAP BW live data connections, users can now view all the applied BW query conditions in their tooltip and table content as well as mark which BW conditions to be active or inactive through the context menu.

  • Configure Text Display Options in Tables

    When working on tables with SAP BW live data connections, users can now format the ID and description of row members to short, medium, or long text through the context menu item “Display Options”. This feature enhances the text/description of dimensions visually within tables that are available through Story, Analytical Application, and Data Analyzer in both edit and view mode. Note that the type and number of format options to be displayed in the sub menu depends on the back-end configuration and that these options are not enabled for UDH dimension.

Data Discovery

• Utilize Data Analyzer as a Module for Data Exploration

  Users can now access Data Analyzer from the side navigation panel. Click into Start New and connect to either an SAP BW data source or an SAP HANA data source directly via transient access, or an existing remote or acquired model. On the Data Analyzer start page, users can also find a list of recent insights that they can open from there with the insight name in the header.

• Set Number Formatting for Specific Measures in Data Analyzer

  Users can now use the styling panel in Data Analyzer to change the number formatting for specific measures at runtime including measure selection, scale format, display unit or currency, and decimal place.

Dashboard and Story Design

• Best Practice Performance Tips for Story Designers

  Story designers can now be guided with best practice performance tips to ensure optimal story design. Note that these tips are only visible in Edit Mode. The performance optimization tips are provided as optional recommendations for story designers to apply throughout the content creation process at your own discretion. A notification icon will pop up to:

  • Notify story designers to enable Optimized View Mode

  • Notify story designers when too many pages are added to a story

  • Notify story designers when too many widgets are added to a page

  • Notify story designers to collapse page filter input controls

• Enable Search to Insight in Optimized View Mode

  Optimized View Mode now supports Search to Insight (Natural Language Query). This feature can be launched from a story once the story is resaved. Some restrictions include:

  • In-session search history is not maintained

  • Synonym entities are not renamed in the results

  • BW prompt values are read only

  • Currency conversion

  • Copy chart to optimized story

  • Timestamp dimension

  • BW static filters

  • Existing OVM restrictions (i.e., histogram chart, measure-based filters, and more)

• Add Images into Table Cells for SAP Business Warehouse Models

  Users can now display images in table visualizations based on special attributes of SAP Business Warehouse dimensions. The row height and horizontal alignment of these image attributes can be adjusted through the styling panel.

• Link on Matching Parent-Child Hierarchies in SAP Business Warehouse Models

  Users can now enable or disable the link on matching hierarchy functionality when blending or using filter across models for non-Optimized View Mode on SAP Business Warehouse data sources. When users change the hierarchy of the blended dimension, the secondary model’s hierarchy will also be updated if it has a matching hierarchy.

  When blending multiple data sources and changing hierarchies, linking on matching hierarchy provides more efficient blend data by matching hierarchies. This feature offers more data accuracy as a result of the matching hierarchies that are updated automatically.

• Leverage Story Viewer Context Menu for Filters in Optimized View Mode

  Once a story is resaved, viewers can now choose to display ID and/or Description for Filter Input Controls from the Context Menu based on their preference. Using a combination of ID and Description also increases the flexibility of the Paste Filter Values feature as viewers can paste in either ID or Description to update the filter values.

• Utilize Dynamic Text Team Signature

  Users can now add a team signature in a dynamic text element to identify whether a story was modified by a team member or by someone else with shared access. This feature offers the ability for users to mark a story as an artifact verified by an authorized group in order to distinguish it from content that is created by any self-serve user. Identification marks are visible in any viewing mode.

• Adjust Default Setting for Tab Navigation in Story View Time

  Users can now change their story details settings to override the default page navigation settings. A story designer has the ability to set story level Toolbar Navigation Default under Story Details to determine whether a story is opened with Tab Bar or Dropdown for page navigations.

  The default setting applies to view, present, and embed mode. A story viewer still has the ability to manually change this view as well. This feature provides users with the ability to set their preferred way to navigate tabs in stories for SAP Analytics Cloud.

• Explore New Features of Optimized View Mode

  Once a story is resaved, Optimized View Mode now supports the following features:

  • Story Fixed/Dynamic Time Range Filters

  • Independent Rank and Sort

  • Switch Custom Sort (Requires BW Version ≥ BW/4 2.00 FP04)

  • Custom Groups (BW Data Sources)

• Include Story and Page Filters in Measure-Based Calculated Dimensions

  Story designers can now select story or page filters to be used as filter context for measure-based calculated dimensions. These settings may improve accuracy and performance when evaluating measure-based calculated dimensions through a more reduced dataset. Note that this feature is not supported in Optimized View Mode.

• Leverage New Features of Optimized View Mode

  Users can now enable Optimized View Mode for their stories directly from the story’s menu bar. Optimized View Mode supports the following features once a story is resaved:

  • Story and Model Measure/Dimension Rename

  • Wild Card Search

  • Zero Suppression (Charts and Table)

  • Consumption of Bookmark with Dimension, Measure and Calculation Input Control

  • Geo with BW Data Model (excludes Choropleth and Layers with Dynamic Filters)

• Stabilize Front-End Client Calculations in Tables

  Users can now remove client calculations without also removing the relevant anchored calculations in a table. This feature offers a more convenient table design that is less prone to errors.

• Use Thresholds and Cross Calculations in Charts

  Thresholds are now supported with cross calculations added to charts. Note that this feature is currently not available on the mobile app.

• Explore New Features of Optimized View Mode

  Optimized View Mode now supports the following features once a story is resaved:

  • Unbooked Data on Charts

  • Consumption of Bookmarks (Prompts and Variables and BW Dynamic Variable Filters)

  • Public URL API

  • Story Content Translation

  • Minimum Drill (Measures with Required Dimensions)

  • Geo Layers with Dynamic Variable Filters (BW)

• Convert Currencies in Optimized View Mode

  Optimized View Mode now supports BW Currency Conversion once a story is resaved to enhance user experience and performance.

Reporting

• Apply New Reporting Layout Designs to Canvas Stories

  Users can now add a header, footer, or margins to their canvas stories. The header and footer are independent widget containers that can be individually customized with different background colors and other styling options.

  These reporting layout design features allow for a more professional visual with consistent logo images, margin sizes, and additional details that can be repeated throughout the canvas stories.

Enterprise Planning

• New Planning Area for Data Entry

  You can enable the Planning Area on a given model by selecting the toggle for Optimize Recommended Planning Area within Model Preferences under Data and Performance. Note that the scope of the Planning Area can be based on existing Data Access Control and/or Data Locking configurations.

  This new concept for planning models reduces the amount of data and time necessary to create a private version or to edit a public version. Likewise, the Planning Area improves general version editing time for large data sets. It also simplifies planning workflows with enhanced visual cues for editable data while blocking data entry to non-editable cells.

• Set Monthly Recurring Calendar Events

  Users can now set the recurrence pattern of calendar events to occur in a monthly interval. For example, users can set a task to occur on the 10th day every 3 months.

  This feature allows quarterly planning tasks and automatic events like publications of stories to be easily and consistently scheduled by month.

• Plan against Dimension Properties on Unbooked Combinations

  Users can now add dimension properties to a table even when there are dimensions in unbooked mode as well as enter or paste data into unbooked combinations, including properties of a time dimension.

  This feature update enables dimension properties to structure, group, and enrich dimension members for both booked and unbooked combinations in any planning scenarios.

• Decline Calendar Events as Assignee or Reviewer

  Assignees and reviewers of calendar events now have the option to decline for their role only or on behalf of everyone. Owners of the calendar events are then notified and can either resend the event or remove the person and assign someone else. In addition, owners can now assign several assignees and reviewers. These enhancements help standardize the communication between the owners, assignees, and reviewers for calendar processes.

• Schedule Multi Action Tasks as Calendar Events

  Aside from executing multi actions in the planning trigger, users can now schedule multi actions for automatic execution from their calendar with optional recurrence and configuration of parameters. For example, a multi action that automatically prepares the data for a quarterly planning process can be scheduled as a recurring calendar event.

• Enable a Currency Variable for the New Model

  For the New Model, users can now apply a currency variable to set a default target currency for conversion measures bound to that variable. By changing the variable, users can switch the target currency for conversions and all calculations consuming such currency conversions.

  Users can override the currency variable value both in stories and story widgets. The currency variable simplifies the definition and use of currency conversions which allows for shorter design time as there are less conversion measures to be defined in the new models.

• Populate Multi Action Parameters from Story Context

  In addition to default value and member selection, users can now populate multi action parameters from their story context by using input controls or story filters. This feature is convenient for users to execute multi actions in the story context while avoiding potential duplication and error prone member selection.

• Transfer Multi Actions between Systems

  Users can now store and share multi actions with other systems using Content Network on the cloud. They can also export the content as .tgz files and import the content into SAP Analytics Cloud through their local file system.

• Define Recommended Planning Area in Version Management

  Users can now define a recommended planning area on a planning model to optimize version size when editing public versions or creating private versions. The planning area is based on existing data access configurations such as Data Access Control and/or Data Locking. Furthermore, the version management panel and dialogs have been adjusted to indicate the scope of edit. This feature improves performance for planning processes especially with large versions.

• Add Automatic Calendar Tasks to Parent Processes

  Users can now add a parent process to automatic calendar tasks. To define the duration of the process more precisely, users can edit the estimated due date of the automatic tasks. The default duration is 10 minutes.

  After creation, the automatic tasks are now inactive and need to be activated to change their status to open. This innovation allows users to automatically lock data or execute data actions as part of their larger planning processes.

• Leverage New User Interface of Calendar Wizard

  Users can now add work files and multiple review rounds to their generated tasks and processes in the Calendar Wizard. This feature enables users to easily and quickly design larger planning processes along a driving dimension.

Augmented Analytics

• Smart Assist

  • Leverage Improved Smart Insights Coverage for Live HANA Models

    Smart Insights now works in scenarios where minimal model metadata is available to generate candidates for top contributors. The restriction where Smart Insights does not support live HANA models with mandatory variables or input parameters without default values has been removed as well.

• Smart Predict

  • Create Predictive Forecasts based on Hierarchy Node Selections

    Users can now apply Entity Filters to select the relevant values in the dimensions and hierarchies that have been defined as part of the entity. This feature enables users to further refine and focus their predictive forecasting scope.

Analytics Design

• Display Images in Table Cells for SAP Business Warehouse Models

  Users can now display images in table visualizations based on special attributes of SAP Business Warehouse dimensions within Analytics Designer. The row height and horizontal alignment of these image attributes can be adjusted through the styling panel.

• Access Data Source Information with the getInfo() API

  Application designers can now use the getInfo() API to obtain all relevant data source information of an underlying data source widget. Note that some of the API properties have values only for SAP BW data sources.

  The API returns an object with the following properties:

  • modelId

  • modelDescription

  • modelName

  As well as these additional properties for SAP BW data sources only:

  • sourceName

  • sourceDescription

  • sourceLastChangedOn

  • sourceLastChangedBy

• Refresh Active Widgets Only in Charts and Tables

  Application designers can now enable only the active charts or tables to refresh in runtime to avoid unnecessary fetching of the result set. This feature improves the performance of the application by enhancing the existing “Data Refresh” option to choose among “Always Refresh”, “Always Pause”, and “Refresh Active Widgets Only” in charts and tables.

  The pause refresh is automatically switched on for inactive widgets, including invisible widgets. Then when the widget becomes visible again, the pause refresh is automatically switched off. Users can also set data refresh mode using scripting APIs.

• Enable Calendar Task Utility APIs

  Application designers can now use the technical component “Calendar Integration” together with the following new APIs for the calendar task of type composite, general, or review:

  • canUserSubmit() and canUserDecline() APIs to verify if you can submit/decline a calendar task for the assignee user role

  • canUserApprove() and canUserReject() APIs to verify if you can approve/reject a calendar task for the reviewer user role or assignee role on a review task

  This feature helps with testing if a status change API can be used while providing an overview on what calendar tasks are to be submitted, declined, approved, or rejected as well.

• Integrate a Planning Area in Analytics Designer copy() API

  Application designers can now choose to copy data from a version to a Planning Area when using the copy() API. This feature enhances performance and mitigates errors for invalid operations regarding the Planning Area.

• Manage Links among Widgets in Linked Analysis Diagrams

  The new linked analysis diagram allows application designers to get a visual overview of all the links among widgets, after they create a linked analysis or a filter line in their analytic application. In addition, application designers can also modify the existing relationships for each widget directly here.

Mobile Analytics

• Access Analytics Catalog in Mobile App on iOS

  Content discovery is enhanced with the Catalog as iOS mobile app users are now able to:

  • View list of published catalogs on mobile devices (iPhone, iPad)

  • View list of files associated with a catalog

  • Open supported content types in a catalog

  • Search through list of published catalogs

  • Sort the list by recently added, most viewed, and alphabetical

  • Have the Catalog as a default tab

• Allow Editing in the Tenant URL Screen with Default URL Policy applied by MDM

  iOS mobile app administrators can now push a configuration through the supported MDM tools to allow editing for the enforced default server URL to a new connection URL by using a Key/Value pair “isServerEditable=True”.

  Note that there is no auto-connect supported, on log-off MDM default URL is pre-filled, and the setting default server is not available. This feature allows administrators to make the tenant URL editable and connect to multiple tenants when the app is managed by an MDM with a default URL configured as well.

Analytics Platform Services

• Leverage Analytics Workspaces GA

  SAP Analytics Cloud Workspaces is generally available for all tenants. Tenant administrators can utilize the workspace management tool to create, delete, and manage their workspaces.

  The optional feature enables content segregation within the file repository and restriction in content sharing outside of workspaces. There is also an addition of a workspace administrator role which allows for content administration rights exclusively within a single workspace.

  This new feature helps to organize tenants with large deployments, restrict access to content not intended for mass sharing, and introduce delegated content administration for a partition of the file repository.

• Enable Warning Notification when Network is Offline

  Administrators can now turn on a connection alert notification when the network is having problems. The new configuration will display a warning message to the user when no network connection is detected for both tenant wide and embedded mode scenarios. This feature enhances the ability for administrators to manage the visibility of offline mode messages across applications and provides additional feedback for users to troubleshoot errors.

• Apply Rich Text Formatting to Scheduled Messages

  Schedulers can now format their messages in rich text and add links for further reference content when scheduling and sharing stories over email.

• Access All Resource Types in My Files across Workspaces

  Content creators can now use all resource types that are available in the “My Files” area within content creation workflows from any workspace while subject to their access rights on the resources.

• Bring Your Own Key to SAP Analytics Cloud

  An integration with SAP Data Custodian Key Management Service (DCKMS) now allows administrators to manage their own keys for the data within SAP Analytics Cloud. Currently, administrators can only enable the Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) feature by submitting a product support ticket request.

  Note that there must be an existing SAP DCKMS tenant, an encryption key, a technical user, and credential information for the technical user. Administrators also need a private edition tenant of SAP Analytics Cloud on Cloud Foundry.

  This feature can help prevent unauthorized third party disclosure of information, secure data against breaches by insiders and external entities, control who has access to encryption keys, and segregate duties as the encryption keys are managed separately from the data.

Analytics Cataloging

• Customize the Layout of Catalog Cards with Rich Text Editor

  Catalog administrators can create custom tabs in addition to the “Overview” tab which are then available to content creators to surface additional metadata for content in the Catalog view. A rich text formatting editor has been introduced for content editing experience.

• Leverage Filter Enhancements in the Catalog

  By default, the catalog sort and filter state will be remembered by the system for subsequent visits to the Catalog. The filter panel open/close state is remembered across sessions and is included in the URL with sort parameters.

  In the filter panel, the count of the number of items is shown and the cascading filter behavior dynamically hides irrelevant filter members. These features enhance the user experience by remembering user selections and improve the ability to get to search results quicker by showing relevant filters.

Add-In for Microsoft Office

• Microsoft Office Add-In for SAP Data Warehouse Cloud

  You can connect to live SAP Data Warehouse Cloud data sets using Microsoft Excel on both desktop and online versions for more flexibility. The Builder panel is available along with the functions to sort, expand, and collapse hierarchies and filter based on rankings. You now have the full power of Microsoft Excel, including complex formulas, all for your live SAP Data Warehouse Cloud data sets.

• Apply Repetition of Member Values in Microsoft Excel Tables

  Users can now choose to display repetitive member values in every line of a table. This feature provides greater flexibility for users when using Microsoft Excel capabilities to analyze data, particularly with pivot tables.

• Report and Plan on New Models

  Users can now report and plan on new models with calculations and currencies. Note that currency variables should have a default value (prompting is not yet available) and that changed models need to be re-inserted again.

Data Integration

• Import Connections

  • Enable Universal Model Fact Data Import Setting Options

    When importing fact data to the new measure model, users can now choose to reverse the signs of measures based on account type. Users also have the option to skip the non-leaf node check for specified parent children hierarchies. These features offer more flexibility when importing transaction data to SAP Analytics Cloud models.

Data Modeling

• Filter and Display Calculation Results Hierarchical in Calculation Preview

  Users can now display calculation results hierarchical and apply hierarchical filters to display the dimensions, as well as change how the results are displayed by switching hierarchies. In the Calculation Preview panel of the Calculations workspace, users can select a hierarchy either by clicking a filter in the Filters section or by clicking Select Hierarchy next to a dimension in the Rows or Columns section.

• Import Data in Fiscal Period Format to the New Model

  For a new measure model that is fiscal period enabled, users can now import fact data in either calendar date format or fiscal period format.

Dashboard and Story Design

• Data Visualization

  • Optimized Presentation for New Tables

    With release 2021.09, newly created tables will have the Optimized Presentation enabled by default. Some of the advantages you can expect with this new table structure are smooth scrolling, automatic table resizing, and consistent row heights.

    While there are many new features available with Optimized Presentation tables, there are some restrictions which may impact how the table receives information. In the event of any issues, it is recommended to switch to the standard table through the Builder panel and clear the selection for Optimized Presentation.

  • Support Independent Rank on Single Dimension with Multiple Dimensions on Charts

    Users are now able to rank on a single dimension or condition when there are multiple dimensions in use on a chart.

  • Optimized View Mode Incremental Update

    As of version 2021.11, View Mode now supports the following features once a story is resaved:

    • Story Data Refresh (excluding Metadata Refresh)

    • Cross Calculations for Charts (excluding Cross Calculations Input Controls)

  • Switch Display Options for Dimensions using Universal Display Hierarchies

    For SAP Business Warehouse live models with Universal Display Hierarchies shown in a table story view, users can now switch the display of the ID and description for dimensions through the context menu. This feature offers more flexibility for users when working with SAP Business Warehouse live connections.

  • Define the Priority and Definition of Table Calculations

    Story designers can now choose which calculation has priority at the intersection point of the calculated rows and calculated columns in a table. This feature increases flexibility in table structure designs and calculations.

  • Apply Null and Zero Suppressions for Measure Models and Planning Models

    Users can now handle null and zero suppressions effectively through the “Show/Hide” table value settings.

  • Ignore Null Values in Table Calculations

    When calculating cell values in tables, null values will no longer affect the results. Null shall be treated as no value (similar to Microsoft Excel) for table calculations such as A + null = A and A – null = A.

    For complex range functions such as Average(A,B,C) shall be (A+B)/2, the C value is null in this case. Calculation guidelines are based on Microsoft Excel functions except for the following case:

    • SAP Analytics Cloud: Average(null,null) = null

    • Microsoft Excel: Average(null,null) = DivByZeroError (where null means an operator pointing to an empty cell)

  • Enable Optimized View Mode for Certain Live Data Models

    Users can now enable an Optimized View Mode for live SAP HANA, HANA Cloud, Acquired Analytic, and Business Warehouse data models on a per story basis. This feature improves the usability for filters and widget interactions as well as the performance of dashboards in certain scenarios.

  • Leverage Active View Port Rendering in Optimized View Mode

    Active View Port Rendering is the new default rendering behavior in Optimized View Mode. Only objects that are visible on-screen will be rendered while all objects outside of the view port will be paused until the user modifies the active view port by scrolling in the dashboard.

    This feature overall allows users to have a consistent experience from opening a story to executing subsequent interactions as all objects within the view port are requested for at the same time. The story designer has the option to override the default rendering behavior with the option for the story viewer to override it on a per session basis. However, reloading the story as a viewer will resume the default behavior that is set by the story designer.

Reporting

• Sections Preferences

  You may now format sections in you stories and make them stand out using the new dedicated options in the user preferences. This allows you to update section properties, body styles, and heading styles to both new and existing sections.

• Create Linked Dimensions on ID for Parent Child Hierarchy Dimensions

  Users can now link parent child hierarchy dimensions together based on ID when blending on SAP HANA or SAP Business Warehouse data sources.

  This Linking on ID feature provides a more unique match when blending multiple data sources. It effectively:

  • Eliminates the possibility of mismatched data if the description is not unique or has a slight discrepancy.

  • Addresses the possibility of missing data if the parent and child nodes share the same description and ID (SAP Business Warehouse postable nodes).

• Schedule Paginated Table and Section to Export Data

  Users can now schedule a story with paginated tables and sections to export all its data in PDF or PPTX with a maximum file size of 15 MB and a maximum export time of 15 minutes.

Enterprise Planning

• Adding Teams to Calendar Events

  We have simplified people assignment for your calendar events. You may now add individual users, as well as SAP Analytics Cloud teams as owners, assignees, reviewers or viewers (“Shared With”).

  If you have defined teams in your dimension attributes, and you generate events along this driving dimension with the calendar wizard, the generated events will be assigned to the specified teams.

• Easier Creation of Process Hierarchies

  The creation of process hierarchies for your calendar events is a lot easier now – when you create a new task or process, you can add the required parent process in the create dialog. If you selected the process in the calendar and started creating a child event, the process will be preselected as parent process.

  When copying a task or a process, you may select the parent process for the copied event in the copy dialog.

• New Recurrence Pattern for Calendar Tasks: Minute

  Calendar tasks can now be set with a recurrence pattern by the minute; The minimum time interval is every 5 minutes. Note a recurrence by minutes can put extra load on the system. To avoid unnecessary system load, automatic tasks with preceding task occurrences that are still running will automatically be canceled.

• Copy Data Point Comments between Versions

  Users can now preserve data point comments when copying versions. When publishing private versions, comments are copied to the public version while duplicates are removed.

• Leverage Negative Reference Values in Structured Allocation

  Structured Allocation now supports the use of negative reference values. This feature can enable users to scale their results from previous periods by using those as reference for future planning.

• Include Value Driver Trees in Stories as PDF Exports

  Users can now share stories including Value Driver Trees outside of SAP Analytics Cloud by exporting them as PDF. However, Legacy Value Driver Trees will not be included.

• Activate Planning Event Sequences through Multi Actions

  Multi actions are now available to link a sequence of different types of planning operations to a single planning trigger through the Multi Action Designer. Users can run a sequence of data actions and version management steps on one or more models or versions.

  In the Story or Analytic Designer, users can trigger the Multi Actions execution with one click. Users can also set the value in the trigger and configure the styling of the trigger. This feature reduces the manual efforts on the administrator and end user, and the overall operational costs.

• Leverage Models with Measures in Structured Allocations

  Structured allocations now support measure models and universal models. There are three driver modes: only accounts, only measures, or accounts and measures. Users can allocate multiple measures in parallel, and filter for measures when using allocation.

• Leverage Models with Measures in Value Driver Trees

  Value driver trees now support models with measures. They come with the complete feature set that is also available for account-based models. Users can apply driver-based planning on models with measures even if the planning scenario is not account-centric.

• Reopen Closed Calendar Events for Follow-Up Adjustments

  Owners of calendar events can now reopen events that have been accomplished, partially accomplished, or canceled. The events that are directly connected with the reopened event by a dependency or by a hierarchical relationship will also be reopened, and the involved people can proceed with their work. However, users cannot reopen task series, automatic tasks, input tasks, and manual data locking tasks.

• Use Specific Number and Exit Conditions in Advanced Formulas

  In an advanced formulas step, users can now apply the FOR keyword to repeat a group of statements a specified number of times. And by adding a BREAK statement inside a FOR loop, users can then stop the loop when a given condition is met. This feature offers more simplified scripting and flexible iterative calculating to improve performance overall.

Augmented Analytics

• Smart Predict

  • Identify the Main Factors Influencing Individual Predictions

    Smart Predict now provides a collection of prediction explanations in the form of additional columns within the resulting dataset. Users can analyze individual prediction explanations from their classification or regression predictive models. This data can be leveraged in stories to provide a better understanding of the reasons behind the predictions, to develop trust in the prediction results, and to enable better business decisions for the future.

• Predictive Planning

  • Detect Multiple Linear Trends in Time Series Forecasting Models

    A Predictive Scenario can now detect multiple linear trends in a time series. This feature increases the overall forecasting quality in case of any disrupted time series.

  • Refine Predictive Forecasts with Influencer Variables

    Users can now further refine their predictive forecasts by using the Influencers setting that allows them to select which influencer variables to include before training the predictive planning model. This feature improves the accuracy of predictive forecasts by selecting the most relevant influencer variables to include based on any known and unknown business conditions before applying Smart Predict.

Analytics Design

• Bookmark Property Support with Script API

  Application developers may now add properties to a bookmark in one or more key-value pairs via script API when saving a bookmark.

  Application consumers may now define and load the default bookmarks, in addition to saving and loading bookmarks with the additional property information.

• Opening Bookmark/Application Sharing Dialog at Runtime

  Users may now very conveniently sharing the application and bookmark with others at application runtime. This change provides new script APIs which open:

  • The application sharing dialogue

  • Bookmark sharing dialogue for personal bookmarks

  An additional change is you may now customize the link to a shared application or bookmark by setting additional URL parameters. Note users must be assigned sufficient rights to share applications and bookmarks.

• Leverage Graphical Visualization of Performance Logging Information

  Users can now log the performance of scripts used in their analytic or planning application by triggering the performance measurement popup through the following URL parameter: ?APP_PERFORMANCE_LOGGING=true and by pressing Ctrl+Shift+A. Performance logging information includes the script runtime and some events. Users can leverage this performance measurement popup to quickly identify long running scripts and check for optimization opportunities.

• Configure Sandbox Restrictions for Web Page Widget

  Users can now apply additional sandbox restrictions to the web page widget to allow for downloads and popups. Users can also create different embedding scenarios to support customer scenarios including embedding custom pages into analytic applications and embedding several small analytic applications into a central analytic application.

• Save Insights from Data Analyzer into Private Files for Viewer Users

  Users who have the viewer role, can now save private insights within My Files. To do this, an administrator can grant the private insight privilege to these users who have no create rights on the public or private files. However, please note that these users will not be able to overwrite the insights.

• Add Input Control as a Dimension Member Filter

  Application designers can now add an input control as a dimension member filter to the canvas page and apply related settings without needing to script any codes. Supported widgets and features include chart, table, R visualization, geo map, value driver tree, cascading filtering, multiple/single selection mode, display as ID/description, and more.

• Manage Calendar Task Integrations at Application Runtime

  Users can now create, open, or reject calendar tasks at application runtime and review task properties by Task ID, Name, Start Date, End Date, Status, Due Date, Description, and Type.

  This feature enables users to manage calendar tasks within analytic applications without the need to switch to the calendar view. The following APIs are available:

  • getCalendarTaskById() to retrieve a task on demand

  • activate() to activate a task

  • createCompositeTask() to create a new composite task

  • submit(), decline(), approve(), and reject() to change the status of a composite task

  • getRelatedTaskIds() to get the tasks excluding recurring composite tasks, for the opened analytic application, for which the application is a work file

• Remove Default Filters from SAP Business Warehouse Query in Data Analyzer

  When doing ad hoc analysis, users in Data Analyzer can now remove default filters coming from an SAP Business Warehouse query that are displayed in the table header.

Mobile Analytics

• Access Responsive Stories enabled with Optimized iOS based on Live SAP Data Warehouse Cloud Connection

  In the SAP Analytics Cloud Mobile App for iOS, users can now access the SAP Data Warehouse Cloud live connection based responsive stories using SAML Single Sign On.

• Access Responsive Stories enabled with Optimized iOS based on Live SAP HANA Cloud Connection

  In the SAP Analytics Cloud Mobile App for iOS, users can now access the SAP HANA Cloud live connection based responsive stories using User/Pass or SAML Single Sign On.

• Manage Lifecycle of Personal Bookmarks on SAP Analytics Cloud Mobile App

  Users can now delete personal bookmarks from the SAP Analytics Cloud Mobile App on both iOS and Android. For iOS, Optimized iOS needs to be enabled in story detail.

Analytics Platform Services

• New Product Navigation for SAP Analytics Cloud

  We’ve introduced navigation improvements to the overall product design to simplify how you interact with SAP Analytics Cloud:

  • A more accessible side navigation is faster to use and responsive to your needs. Enjoy one-click access to your tools and make use of flexible display options to get the most out of your screen space.

  • Consistent start pages to let you browse your recent files or create new content from the same place. A streamlined breadcrumb navigation provides a fast and easy way to find your files and folders.

  • Content creation shortcuts let you quickly move from one part of the product to another without breaking flow. Create a new story based on an open model or launch directly into a planning workflow – make use of shortcuts for many common interactions.

  To learn more and access additional resources, check out our community article and announcement blog!

  Are you an SAP Analytics Cloud administrator? Read through our comprehensive IT handbook for a summary of changes, tips and highlights, and an FAQ.

• Select Default Page Navigation Style Options

  Administrators can now choose whether the default navigation for story pages is a tab bar or a dropdown list. End users may still change this navigation style when viewing a story. This feature offers the option for a consistent default page navigation style and the time to adopt a new interface experience.

Analytics Cataloging

• Requesting and Granting Access to Content in the Catalog

  Content metadata can now be published to the Analytics Catalog for all users in SAP Analytics Cloud without granting access rights. By decoupling the ability to view metadata of the object from the rights on the object, all content can be discoverable by end users. This feature will enhance the findability of content metadata, eliminate manual work for end users to get access, and simplify the administrator workflow on managing access requests.

• Surfacing Catalog View in Creation Workflow

  Models and datasets are available to be published in the catalog, and are now surfaced in the creation workflow in the model selector dialog. Users can select published models/datasets for story creation and stories for digital boardroom creation through the catalog view in the model selector. This feature will solve governance issues of users working with unverified content and encourage end users to consume published models as IT verified content.

• Flag Content Link Resource Type for Translation

  Content creators can now have the metadata for content links translated through the common translation service. This can be accessed through the metadata dialog and includes the titles as well as the descriptions of the content links, plus the titles of any secondary links. The feature enhances the content link creation workflow and the consistency with other resource types in terms of metadata translation.

Add-In for Microsoft Office

• Value Sorting

  SAP Analytics Cloud, add-in for Microsoft Office now supports value sorting in default, ascending, or descending states.

• Working with Hierarchies

  In addition to the arrow icons in the table, you now have the Hierarchy option in the ribbon to expand and collapse hierarchy nodes. Depending on the selected cell, you can expand (or collapse) the current node or all nodes of a dimension.

• Filtering Data: Member Selector in Search

  In the filter dialog, you have now a Search field to search for members in the Available Members list.

• Locate Invalid Data Entries from the Error Pane Overview

  Users can now leverage an error pane to show a scrollable list of all erroneous values each with a link to directly jump to the respective cell. This feature provides a panel overview with easier access to any invalid data.

• Set Ranking Directions for Table Data Values

  Users can now define rankings to filter the data in a table and select the direction ranging from top to bottom values.

• Enable Search and Display Options with Member Selector Enhancements

  Users can now choose between additional display options (ID, description, or ID and description) as well as between a flat presentation and a hierarchy list for the dimension. There are also enhanced search criteria options for users when searching up members.

New Model

• Meet the New Model

  Introducing: a new modeling paradigm.

  SAP Analytics Cloud has completely redesigned the modeling experience for the better. The Modeler now offers the possibility to create a New Model which lets you add multiple measures and an optional account dimension to the model, benefiting both planning and reporting functions.

  This New Model blends concepts from account-based modeling and measure – or key figure – based modeling approaches to allow for greater flexibility and power in solution design, providing you with:

  • More flexible modeling: You can set formatting and aggregation on accounts, measures, or both, and choose which settings to prioritize. This flexibility opens up new options like integrating your balance sheet and your profit and loss statement. You can also choose to use a generic dimension for your accounts to avoid any restrictions related to the account dimension.

  • DECIMAL and INTEGER support: When you create a measure, you can select a measure data type. Supported data types include DECIMAL(31,n) where n is in 0,…,7 and INTEGER. When you enter and distribute data in tables, all cells of an integer-type measure will get integer values.

  • Powerful calculation options: Calculated measures and currency conversion measures can be added in the modeler and reused across multiple stories and analytic applications. You can create calculated measures in the modeler that take another measure and a typed dimension attribute as an input and flip the sign of the input measure according to the sign of the typed attribute. You can also create a custom priority for calculations to ensure that measure and account calculations are applied in the required order.

  • Enhanced currency conversion: Besides reusable conversion measures, you can base calculated measures and accounts on your currency conversions. In tables, you can plan on any base measure or conversion measure and instantly see the results across currencies – and you can apply currency conversion while copying data with a data action. Finally, all options (rate versions, booking date, and more) that are known for Classic Account Models are supported, and existing rate tables created for Classic Account Models can be re-used.

  • Better integration: Measure models match the structure of many trusted data sources like SAP S/4HANA more closely, making data integration faster and simpler. As a result, you can re-edit existing jobs and benefit from a more intuitive workflow and mapping experience, enhanced wrangling expression language, an improved experience during execution – including visual cues of job progression – and more.

  • Clearer experience for story builders and viewers: Non-financial data can be stored in measures instead of members of the account dimension, making data in charts and tables easier to understand.

  • Migration tool: To get access to the new features quickly, you can migrate a classic account model with no dependent objects into a new model with measures. The resulting New Model has same account-type dimensions as the classic account model and the option to add additional measures.

  Please note that Classic Account Models continue to work as before. Furthermore, you can choose to opt-in to the New Model at your own pace, so there's no rush!

  Note also that Classic Account Models can be converted into New Models and additional measures can be created after conversion.

Analytics Data Modeling

• Filter Data Audit Reports with Enhanced Filter Functionalities

  This just in! On the Security   Data Changes screen, you can now filter auditing data by Audit Time, Audit User, Audit Action, and all dimensions from the planning model.

  Prior to this feature, in audit reports, you could only filter audit data by Audit Time. Now, you can filter by Audit Time, Audit User, Audit Action, dimensions, and more to easily narrow down search results for large reports.

Dashboard & Story Design

• Data Visualization

  • Support Restricted Measures Based on Calculations and BW Formulas for SAP BW Live Data Sources

    For SAP BW Live data sources, you can now create restricted measures that are based on SAP Analytics Cloud story calculations or on SAP BW formulas.

    Please note that SAP BW Live requires versions 1.0.75 and above. See SAP Note 2984958 for reference.

  • Replace Datasets in Your Story with New Public Datasets

    Great news! You can now replace any public or private dataset in your story with a new public dataset that can contain additional measures and dimensions, alongside the measures and dimensions of the original dataset.

    Thanks to this feature enhancement, you can preserves the configuration of all widgets in your story, and story editors can easily update datasets directly from their stories.

  • Add Expression to Your Comments with Rich Text Formatting

    Add some personality and expression to your story and data point comments by formatting with different font styles and colors. You can also add bullet or numbered lists, and insert hyperlinks. This will be key to linking to useful examples and resources while collaborating on a story with your team.

Enterprise Reporting

• Create Pixel-Perfect Reports

  Since its initial release in Q1 2021, Enterprise Reporting in SAP Analytics Cloud has come a long way. In fact, planners and business analysts can now create near pixel-perfect reports and distribute them across their organization easily and effectively. This is all thanks to some key highlights in the Enterprise Reporting realm, including the ability to…

  • Repeat Dimension Headers in Tables: We know when managing tables that span across several pages that it's not always clear what a dimension contains. As a result, for Beta tables that span across multiple pages, SAP Analytics Cloud now repeats the table header on each page for easy consumption. Furthermore, you can now freeze a table's header for vertical scrolling to make for a more intuitive, Excel-like experience.

  • Add sections to your canvas story tabs: Sections allow you to split report information into smaller, more comprehensible and manageable parts. This is a great way to create comparisons quickly by laying out multiple section instances in a paginated canvas. You can also use sections to improve the layout of your stories and break down your analysis per dimension member. Once you have chosen a dimension as a section filter, the members are displayed in the section, and the widgets in the section that are based on the same model are filtered on that member.

  Essentially, at design time, you can insert a section in a canvas to group widgets and break them down by dimension values into a container widget. By default, sections are set to Show all instances on pages in the Styling panel.

• Repeat Dimension Headers in Tables

  We know when managing tables that span across several pages that it's not always clear what a dimension contains. As a result, for Beta tables that span across multiple pages, SAP Analytics Cloud will now repeat the table header on each page for easy consumption.

  Furthermore, you can now freeze a table's header for vertical scrolling to make for a more intuitive, Excel-like experience.

• Include Sections in Canvas Tabs to Improve Reporting and Dashboarding

  Sections allow you to split report information into smaller, more comprehensible and manageable parts. This is also a great way to create comparisons quickly by laying out multiple section instances in a paginated canvas.

  You can use sections to improve the layout of your stories and break down your analysis per dimension member. Once you have chosen a dimension as a section filter, the members are displayed in the section, and the widgets in the section that are based on the same model are filtered on that member.

  Customization and Styling

  Essentially, at design time, you can insert a section in a canvas to group widgets and break them down by dimension values into a container widget.

  By default, sections are set to Show all instances on pages in the Styling panel. Like with other widgets, however, section and section heading styling can be customized. That is to say, if you wanted to quickly browse through the members of a section in View mode, make sure to enable the Browse and search instances option in the Styling panel. When enabled, the application displays in View mode:

  • Left and right arrows in the section header so you can switch between members of a section.

  • A search to quickly reach a dimension member and browse through your data.

  From here, you can choose the view time behavior. Your options include:

  • Or display a carousel that also allows searching dimension values.

  Restrictions

  Please note the following restrictions to this feature

  • Sections take the whole width of the canvas.

  • You can’t currently create sections within sections.

  • Some widgets can’t be place in a section (Value Driver Tree, Data Action Trigger & BPC Planning Sequence).

  • You can’t use time hierarchy dimensions as section filter.

  • You can’t use Planning features in a section.

  • You can’t add comments to a section.

• Try the New 16:9 (HD) Canvas Size at Design Time

  Previously, at design time, the default "Present" template was sized at 1024 x 768px. Now, users can set the size of a fixed canvas to exactly match the Microsoft PowerPoint default size of 16:9 (HD), or 1280 x 720px. Note that this will be the default export file type to PowerPoint (pptx) when all canvas tabs are 16:9 (HD), and that this canvas size is only available in landscape orientation.

Collaborative Enterprise Planning

• Publish the Delta Version by Default

  Heads up SAP Analytics Cloud users – when you publish a private version to an unrelated public version, the default publishing option has changed.

  Previously, the default action was to overwrite all existing data. Now, by default, you'll publish only the changed data, not the entire version. This is the more defensive alternative as it reduces the likelihood of accidental data overwrites.

  Paired with the upcoming “Private Version Size Limits” feature which promotes creating smaller private versions, delta publish is the best default option for you.

• Compute Data Locks for Advanced Filters in Story Tables

  Previously, data locking was disabled in story tables when Advanced Filters (also known as complex filters) were present. Now, data locks are supported with certain types of Advanced Filters: the filter definition must be Cartesian and it must be inclusive.

  This applies to Advanced Filters that are generated when clicking "Filter" in the context menu of the story table for Cartesian selections, for instance. However, other ways to define Advanced Filters can be used as well.

  The data locks will display correctly while performing planning operations in appropriately filtered tables. Note also that Linked Analysis is a special workflow that will especially benefit from this feature.

• Preview Validation Rules in Table View

  You can now preview validation rules in a table view that displays all relevant dimensions.

  This is an effective method for Administrators to quickly understand the impact of validation rules, simplifying admin work and saving configuration time.

• Automatically Run Data Actions in the Background

  When you add a data action trigger in asynchronous mode, you can now set it to automatically run the data action in the background with the new "Always run in background" option.

  When you log on to your SAP Analytics Cloud tenant, you will notice that when you click data action task in a story, this option is visible.

• Highlight Modified Cells in Tables

  When you modify data in the cell of a table, all changed cells – including any new cells (i.e., records) – will now be highlighted. This will make for simpler and easier to understand rules for cell highlighting.

• Use Dependent Variables When Executing BPC Planning Sequences

  In the BW system, Compounded Characteristics enable variables and dimensions to be dependent on one another. This is less formally known as Parent and Child Characteristics. When we have dependent Parent and Child variables, a Child value has no logical meaning in the system without a fitting Parent value.

  If you had two variables, a Parent variable and a Child variable, you could enter values for each. The previous problem here was that, if you used the value help for the Child variable, you saw all the values that existed in the system, independent of the Parent variable.

  Now, if you select a Child variable, the inputs for the Parent variable are considered. In other words, only the children of the parent, so to speak, are shown in the value help, making selecting relevant variables fast and easy.

• Navigate to Desired Functions with even Greater Ease with our Improved View Time Toolbar

  To make it easier to access functions directly where you need them in your workflow, we have now moved some functions – such as Value Lock Management, Cell References and Show or Hide for Formulas – from the view-time toolbar for Stories and Analytic Applications to the Table context menu.

• Get Notified of Exceeding Version Size Limits to Ensure Optimized Performance

  Since planning on large model versions can affect performance, models now have a recommended limit on the initial version size for planning. As such, modelers can configure the size limit, and if users exceed this limit while creating a private version or starting to edit a public version, a warning dialog like the one pictured below appears.

• Schedule Automatic Data Locking Tasks in the Calendar

  As the data locking owner of a specific region (or data slice) of a model, you can now schedule automatic data locking tasks in the calendar, and the system will set the locks at the specified time. As a result, in the first scope, the data locks are executed on the rights of the owner or creator of the task as there are no assignees on automatic tasks.

  Through the automation of data locking, you do not need to log in just for a simple click on submit. With the recurrence feature it is then possible to have all regular locking executed automatically at the point in time they are needed with no need for users to take any further steps except creation.

• Publish and Submit in One Step

  If you are working on a task with an associated story, you now can publish your data changes within the submit dialog. That is to say, when assignees and reviewers of calendar tasks change data in a story or analytic application, they don't need to publish their changes in a separate step anymore. The data changes will automatically be published when assignees submit the task, and when reviewers approve or reject the work of the others.

• Run Data Actions in Story Contexts

  For data action triggers in stories, you can now link parameter values to input controls and story filters. This lets users run the data action on the current story context by retrieving parameter values automatically from the linked input controls and filters, without opening the trigger configuration or the prompt dialog.

• Optimize Advanced Formula Scripts with the Calculation Scope Dialog Box

  When working in advanced formulas, you can now benefit from a pop-up dialog box that shows the calculation scope of the formula in question. With this new feature, you can estimate the scope of a calculation in design time and optimize the formula script for better execution performance.

• The Sky is the Limit with Removed Restrictions for IF Conditions with AND/OR Keywords

  Several restrictions have been removed for IF conditions with AND and OR keywords. For example, you can now combine conditions on members, RESULTLOOKUP values, properties, variables, external parameters, dates, and numbers. You can also use parentheses to group conditions. Furthermore, more complex and detailed condition expressions are possible with shortened scripts, meaning better execution performance time and better overall readability.

• Leverage Aggregated Dimensions in Advanced Formulas

  In the advanced formulas script editor, you can now specify dimension members to aggregate for the entire step, whether from the default model or a linked model. This way, you can avoid running calculations on separate records for each dimension member. You can also load pre-aggregated values as the calculation scope for current or remote models, minimizing the dataset size of calculation scopes for non-calculation related dimensions, such as SAP Analytics Cloud story filters or Business Warehouse aggregation levels.

• Stop and Exit FOREACH Loops Immediately Using BREAK

  In an advanced formulas step, you can now specify a condition to skip the remaining loops of a FOREACH function, using the BREAK keyword. For example, you can stop the depreciation loop with a date dimension if the residual book value reaches a value of zero.

  This gives you better control over FOREACH calculations, and lets you improve the performance of your data action by skipping unnecessary calculations in a FOREACH function.

Augmented Analytics

• Smart Predict

  • Make Predictions with Greater Accuracy When Using Classification and Regression Predictive Scenarios

    Classification and regression predictive scenarios now leverage a gradient-boosting technique to deliver more accurate and trusted predictions.

    Accuracy improvements are approximately in the range of 2-20%, depending on the underlying data.

  • Create Better Quality Time Series Forecasts with the Exponential Smoothing Technique

    You can now experience better quality time series forecasts with our data smoothing technique, especially in the event of a disrupted time series.

    Please note that no additional setting is required, and that the data smoothing technique automatically competes with the other forecasting techniques. Furthermore, we have enriched reports for time series predictive scenarios to describe the forecasting technique used.

    As for other forecasting techniques, the data smoothing technique clearly highlights the trend & cyclic components detected in the time series.

• Predictive Planning

  • Build Your Own Time-Series Performance Indicators

    Predictive planning now lets you save predictive forecasts for past periods to the private version of your planning model. This means you can assess the performance of your predictive forecast by using all the visual and modeling powers right there in your story, to compare the difference between your predictive forecast and the actuals, plans or budget.

Analytics Design

• Leverage Live SAP HANA and SAP Analytics Cloud Model Support in Data Analyzer

  Data Analyzer continues to be one of the most sought-after features to manage and analyze your data in SAP Analytics Cloud. This quarter, we are excited to introduce the ability to connect to SAP HANA Live calculation views and the ability to create an ad-hoc analysis based on an SAP Analytics Cloud Model. That is to say that as a user of Data Analyzer, you can now select SAP HANA view as a data source for your data analysis through the data source dialog or by URL – with no additional model creation required.

  As a result, for ad-hoc analysis, you can use the Data Analyzer to connect to SAP HANA Live views to get the job done quickly and efficiently.

• Customize Parameters with the Data Action API

  Our next update is for the planning and Analytics Designer users. Introducing: the Data Action API – a feature that enables execution selectively based on triggered events captured by analytic applications. This allows users to customize the parameters sent to each Data Action execution and makes for a much more robust and dynamic planning experience.

  Moreover, the Data Action API allows you to automatically enable Analytics Designer to update based on certain events and chain multiple data actions together as part of the call, thereby dramatically improving usability and performance.

• Directly Manage Calendar Tasks Within Analytic Applications

  With this latest calendar task integration, directly within analytic applications, users can:

  • Submit() and Decline() APIs to submit/decline a calendar event for the assignee user role, or

  • Approve() and Reject() APIs to approve/reject a calendar event for the reviewer user role.

  Additionally, as an application designer, you can now use the new technical component Calendar Integration together with the following new APIs for the calendar event:

  • getCurrentTask()

  • getStatus()

  • getType()

  • hasUserRole()

  All of this can be done via Analytics Designer script APIs or through the Calendar Task Toolbar.

• Use Script APIs to Create Stories from Charts and Tables in Analytic Applications

  Application consumers can also more conveniently create a story from tables and charts within analytic applications. This provides more flexibility for integrations scenarios in relation to stories and applications.

• Trigger Data Actions Within Analytic Applications for the SAP Analytics Cloud Mobile iOS App

  This just in! You can now add and trigger data action widgets within the SAP Analytics Cloud Mobile iOS App. In addition, we've introduced a CSS class to allow users to change the opacity of a widget, so that you can further modify the appearance of the data action widget.

• Select SAP HANA Views in Data Analyzer

  As a user of the data analyzer, you can now select SAP HANA view as a data source for your data analysis through the data source dialog or by URL – with no additional model creation required.

  As a result, for ad-hoc analysis, you can use the Data Analyzer to connect to SAP HANA Live views to get the job done quickly and efficiently.

• Leverage Data Change Insights Enhancements and APIs

  As a user of analytic application, you can now set the chart-level change range when setting high importance/subscribe/unsubscribe in Data Change Insights, such that you can decide whether the data point value is included or excluded during the Data Change Insights calculation.

  Moreover, you can define the version of the Data Change Insights component for snapshot validation and customize subscription settings or open the subscription dialog using script APIs.

  The provided script APIs include:

  • Open subscription dialog via Script API

  • Get/set subscription level/range

  • Define a subscription range

  With this enhancement, application consumers can receive more focused and personalized data change insights results based on the data range settings. Moreover, application consumer can more conveniently trigger the subscription dialog and view the data change insight result based on different snapshot comparison.

• Trigger Export to Excel/CSV Dialogue via Script API

  Besides starting the export to Excel and CSV from the table's context menu at runtime, as an application designer, you can now use the Script API exportReport() to launch the table export to Excel and CSV on an event such as Button.onClick. This provides corresponding APIs for different Export settings, enabling application consumers to more conveniently trigger the export to Excel or export to CSV with pre-defined settings.

• Plan Unbooked Cells for BPC Live Models with Script API

  This new feature enhancement is short, but sweet. As an application designer, you can now use the setUserInput() API on BPC live models to plan an unbooked cell.

• Access Models Directly in Data Analyzer

  As a user of data analyzer, you can now directly access SAP Analytics Cloud models in the Select Data Source dialog for your ad-hoc data analysis.

• Use Data Actions for Analytical Applications

  As an application designer, you can now use the technical object Data Actions and the relating script APIs to run short-running data actions via scripts as well as set and read parameter values, allowing for better, more flexible integration of Data Actions into your workflow.

Mobile Analytics

• Provision Default Configurations for the Mobile Android App

  System administrators can now provision default configurations for the SAP Analytics Cloud mobile Android app, using VMware AirWatch, MobileIron Cloud, and MS Intunes. This allows MDM solutions to push a default tenant URL such that users do not have to enter said URL manually. Furthermore, MDM solutions can push a default story – removing the need to set a story as a default manually.

• Allow Table Actions in SAP Analytics Cloud Mobile

  Great news! You can now enrich the table consumption and interactions capabilities in mobile by enabling table actions when working with the SAP Analytics Cloud Android app and when working with the iOS app in Optimized iOS mode and iOS Safari. As such, the following table cell actions are now supported:

  • Swap Axis

  • Drill

  • Display Options

  • Hyperlinks

• Leverage Live Connection to SAP BW/HANA Using a Tunnel Connection with SAML SSO for iOS

  The SAP Analytics Cloud Mobile iOS app now supports "Tunnel" direct remote connections with SAML SSO when working in the optimized story loading mode. Users leveraging this type of connection can remove dependency over VPN and can seamlessly connect to their backends both for SAP Analytics Cloud desktop and mobile versions.

Analytics Platform Services

• Preview the Availability of Publication Slots

  In SAP Analytics Cloud, there is a limit to the amount of publications that can run in a given timeframe.

  We are happy to announce that when scheduling your publication, you can now check the availability of time slots in each timeframe – enabling you to select the appropriate slots and plan ahead with confidence.

• Define Commenting Privileges in Stories, Analytic Applications, Models, and Folders

  At SAP, we understand that comments made on deliverables such as stories and analytic applications can contain confidential information.

  As a result, while sharing a story, you now have the option to define commenting privileges for end users – such as the ability to view, add, or delete comments.

• Embed Safely and Securely with the Removal of "Allow All Origin" in Trusted Origin

  On SAP Analytics Cloud's System  Administration  App Integration tab, the "Allow all origins" option has been removed from the "Trusted Origins" section. This option was removed to enhance security when embedding SAP Analytics Cloud in your client application.

  Please note that you can still add any specific trusted origins that will host your client application, but intruders can no longer infiltrate via an allow all option.

Add-in for Microsoft Office

• Leverage Unbooked Support

  SAC add-in for Microsoft now supports unbooked setting per dimension. With this, you can show not only values that can be found in the transactional data, but also master data for which you do not find equivalent values in the model. If you have new master data (e.g., new employees, new products, etc.) that you would like to plan on, the setting will show you new lines for this master data.

  The feature also allows you to delete existing data.

• Report and Sort According to IDs and Texts with Enhanced Display Options

  You can report and sort according to IDs and texts. This is a basic reporting requirement that enables you to use display options to either show ID or description. Note that, if you need to show both ID and description, we recommend to use properties.

Administration & Infrastructure

• Change in SAP Analytics Cloud’s Catalog Filter Behavior

  In the past, the logic on filtering across categories was based on the OR operation. This meant that users could effectively utilize one filter category at a time. Now, the logic has been changed to AND, enabling users to drill down to more specific result sets.

  For example, let's say you have the following company departments:

  • Sales Canada

  • Sales Germany

  • Operations Canada

  • Operations India

  • Development India

  • Development France

  If you select Sales and Operations in the Department filter category, and you select India in the Region category, the filter will return:

  • Operations India

  In previous releases, the filter would return:

  • Sales Canada

  • Sales Germany

  • Operations Canada

  • Operations India

  • Development India

  With this enhancement, catalog filtering behavior is more aligned with common patterns for filtering, enabling users to find the right content faster.

• SAP Analytics Cloud Performance Analysis Tool

  Through the SAP Analytics Cloud Analysis Tool, performance statistics of stories and Analytic Applications are collected and stored in the tenant database, independent of live or import connectivity. This tool can be exposed through SAP Analytics Cloud live models and consumed in a preconfigured Analytic Application.

  As a result, you can not only analyze the performance of specific story and Analytic Application executions, but also compare historic runtimes of single users against your whole user community.

Analytics Designer

• Changes to the General Availability of Data Change Insights

  You can subscribe to data change insights from the toolbar menu if Data Change Insights is switched on in the details of an analytic application. Some subscription details can be set in the dialog, including name, subscription recurrence, global variables, and bookmarks. Now, users can also identify the importance of the Chart and the number of data change insights that can be configured!

  Furthermore, an email and a notification can be sent to multiple end users, and a “do not send notification” option can be set when no insights are found. You can also change the subscription “customize script variable” option to be turned off by default.

  Supported data connections include both live and import connections. These changes also support the ability to save snapshots in remote repository schemas while providing script APIs to configure the display of data change insights.

• Comment Widget Integration

  Hey Analytics Designer users! Meet the comment widget. Use the comment widget in analytic applications to save, edit, read, and delete table-cell comments to pave the way for ever clearer communication!

  Please note that comments entered through existing script APIs are synchronized with the new comment widget.

• Mobile Support for Custom Widgets

  Get excited! Custom widgets can now also be interacted with and consumed in the Safari browser on the iPad as well as in the SAP Analytics Cloud Mobile iOS App.

  Before using this feature, make sure the following prerequisites have been completed:

  • Set “supportsMobile” to true in the contribution json file.

  • Add MobileMode to the custom widget property to enable developers to add mobile-specific behaviors such as different CSS classes or different event listers.

• Script API Enhancement – Apply Explore Results Back to Table and Chart

  Did you hear? You can now enable tighter integration between Analytics Designer and the Explorer by applying Explorer results back to analytic applications. This means that, by leveraging script API, once you have finished analyzing in Explorer, you can take the analysis results back to charts or tables in analytic applications.

  Bonus: you can also bookmark the application to save the Explorer results!

• Script API Enhancement – Retrieve Member Information of a Data Source

  You can also use script APIs to retrieve member information from a data source:

  • DataSource.getMember as the new API

  • DataSource.getMembers Improvements

  • Extend MemberInfo:

  • ID

  • DimensionID

  • Description

  Furthermore, you can add new JSON object MemberOptions such as:

  • limit

  • accessMode: Master data or Booked data

  • hierachyId

• Sample Content – Generic Analysis Application

  Generic Analysis Application is delivered as sample content to cover flexible ad-hoc analysis scenarios for your SAP Analytics Cloud data models. With the Generic Analysis Application, you perform analysis on all your SAP Analytics Cloud models. Sample content can be used directly or as inspiration to further configure, change, or enhance your existing models.

  Functionalities of the Generic Analysis Application include:

  • All SAP Analytics Cloud models are supported as data sources

  • Use the data browser to select SAP Analytics Cloud models as the main data source

  • Dynamically set SAP Analytics Cloud model IDs via the URL parameter

  • Leverage tables for data visualization purposes

  • Add or remove dimensions or key figures via Navigation Panel

  • Configure a quick menu or a context menu for tables

  • Variable prompt dialog

  • Export tables as Excel or CSV files

  • Export the application as a PDF

  • Create global and personal bookmarks

  • Find filter information and variable information in the information panel

  • Explore the table setting panel (scaling, unit etc.)

  With this ready-to-run application, you can directly perform ad-hoc analysis based on all SAP Analytics Cloud models. Furthermore, you can leverage Analytics Designer capabilities to customize and modify this pre-defined application to create your own generic ad-hoc analysis.

Data Discovery

• Save an Insight in Data Analyzer

  The much-anticipated Data Analyzer capability from 2019 just got better! Now, Admin, BI Admin, and BI Content Creators can save an insight within the Data Analyzer. These saved insights can contain data source information such as:

  • Selected variable prompts,

  • Filters,

  • Text presentations (ID / Description), and

  • Drill-down levels in hierarchies

  SAP Analytics Cloud displays the insights you save in folders. After you have saved an insight, you can launch and manage it through Files, where you can perform operations such as:

  • View

  • List

  • Rename

  • Overwrite

  • Delete

  • Share

Data Integration

• New Custom Transformations in the Wrangling Expression Language (WEL)

  By accessing the WEL through the Custom Expression Editor, you can transform your data with new custom expressions and model your dataset based on your exact needs. The delivery of this new set of custom transformations is geared towards grouping values together and includes the following expressions:

  • Filter your values for further analysis using the "startsWith" and "endsWith" expression, which search for values starting or ending with a specific string value.

  • Count the number of words within the cells in a given column using "countWords".

  • Group the records based on numeric values into bins.

  • Use binByBinWidth to group records of a column into bins of equal width.

  • Use binByBinCount to specify the number of equal-width bins you need and distribute the data in those bins.

  • Use binByTileCount to distribute the data points equally by bins.

  • Use binByStandardDeviation to get bins based on standard deviation from the mean.

  This means that users who are familiar with the WEL can now segment specific columns regardless of whether variables are numeric or string (containing non-numeric values such as letters and other characters).

• Setting Scale for Measures in SAP Analytics Cloud

  For improved readability, new scale factors have been incorporated for measures in embedded and public datasets. Today, the scaling options available in Measure Properties are:

  • None

  • Percentage

  • Thousand

  • Million

  • Billion

Data Visualization

• Story Exploration and View Time Toolbar

  Great news! With Q1 2021’s enhancement to the Explorer, you can more easily explore your entire story while navigating between pages and widgets. You can also open a story in Explorer by default.

  What’s more? Now, you can bookmark, save, and enter full-screen within the Explorer and enable the Explorer for all charts and tables in your story.

  Furthermore, we are always working to ensure that our SAP Analytics Cloud features are easy to use and navigate to make for a seamless user experience. As a result, for one of our first updates of the 2021 year, we redesigned the view time toolbar for Stories and Analytical Applications:

  • So that you can quickly get to the most commonly used functions, we've grouped the functions into sections with quick access buttons – sparing you search time and helping you get the job done faster.

  • You can also move more easily through stories with a lot of pages, using the enhanced page navigation, making for a more streamlined consumption experience and equating to an enterprise-ready toolbar that scales to users' needs.

  • For Planning users, the new full-screen mode completely hides the toolbar so that you can focus more on your content. But, if you want to see a condensed version of the toolbar again, just hover over the top of the screen.

• BI Calculations – Standard Deviation

  With SAP Analytics Cloud Story calculations, you can create new measures based on your existing business data to gain more advanced insights.

  Thanks to this week’s feature enhancement, story designers are now able to create standard deviation calculations in the Exception aggregation list. For reference, standard deviation is a calculation used in statistics across finance, supply chain, operations, and marketing in many different forms.

  More specifically, a standard deviation formula can be used to understand customer distribution based on average spending! The standard deviation lets you know how close the data is or how much difference there is between pieces of data by showing how close to the average each data point is.

  What can you conclude from a high or low standard deviation result? A low standard deviation means that the data is closely related to the average and is thereby considered reliable. A high standard deviation, on the other hand, means that there is a large variance between the data and the statistical average, deeming it unreliable.

  Note that the Standard Deviation formula is supported for models based on acquired or live HANA connections only. Live HANA requires versions 2.00.024.0500 (EPMMDS 1.00.201815.00) or above.

• Canvas Pagination for Vertically Resizing Legacy and Beta Tables

  Tables are a great way to view and analyze data more clearly within a story. When changing existing features or adding new ones in tables, however, you run the risk of creating problems with your data. With beta tables, however, you can test new functionalities instead of replacing known behavior, mitigating risk.

  With the latest beta table enhancement, users can now benefit from the vertical resizing table property. That is, Story Designers can now configure report tables to vertically expand when more data needs to be displayed.

  This allows users in  view time to see all the data of a table in a report, paginated based on the canvas size at design-time.

  Note that these "pages" can also be exported.

• Replace an Analytic Account Model in a Story with a Planning Model

  This just in! You can now replace analytic account models with Planning models. That is, story editors can re-point an analytic account model to a “compatible” Planning model (and vice versa), as long as the target model contains all the measures and dimensions of the source model.

  As a result, the story editor can re-use Business Intelligence (BI) stories for planning purposes and Planning stories for BI purposes! Note that replacing the model preserves the configuration of all widgets in your story.

• Pagination Export to PDF/PPT

  With product update 2021.01, users can export all Pagination Pages from story view mode to PDF and PowerPoint (PPT) formats. Furthermore, users can export in Edit Mode to maintain old behavior.

  That’s not all, folks! Users can also perform regular exports, batch exports, sync exports, and async exports, based on what their situation requires. Note that there is also the option for users to disable pagination exports all together, if they wish to do so.

• Independent Rank and Sort

  Previously, our rank and sort features were dependent on one another and were performed simultaneously. That is, upon ranking data, our rank feature performed both a rank and a sort action when producing chart results. With update 2021.02, when ranking is applied, sorting is disabled and vice versa.

  As a result, ranking and sorting features are specified independently and are de-coupled such that you have full control of how your ranking is ordered. Furthermore, users are offered a greater degree of flexibility when ranking or sorting their data.

Mobile

• Voice Support in Search to Insight for iOS

  You may have heard about Search to Insight, a powerful feature that allows users to ask questions about their data using natural language queries. With this 2021 enhancement to the SAP Analytics Cloud mobile iOS app, you can leverage the power of Search to Insight from your mobile iOS device by commanding queries such as “show top five British Columbia sales by priority” out loud, and SAP Analytics Cloud will return your desired results.

  Note that some queries may require the use of a combination of voice commands and typing in order to prepare your query. Furthermore, suggested tokens require manual selection.

• Default File and Landing Tab for the Android App

  We are happy to announce that SAP Analytics Cloud can also run on Android 11. Furthermore, you can now specify which landing tab and story you would like to open by default when you initially launch and log in to the Android app.

  As a result, from now on, users can avoid the same steps required to navigate upon logging in – simply open the Android app, and you will instantly be brought to your desired page.

• Android App Now Supports Default Server URL Configuration Pushed through Microsoft InTune

  Great news! Our Android app now supports the default server URL configuration to be pushed through Microsoft InTune. This means that Administrators can preconfigure the tenant URL such that users no longer need to manually add it in, allowing for a more simplified user experience.

  Please note that the app currently only supports Microsoft InTune mobile device management (MDM) and that only single URLs can be preconfigured.

• Live Data Connection to SAP BW/HANA Using a Tunnel Connection and SSO – Android App

  SAP Analytics Cloud now supports the Tunnel Connection type with SAML SSO. Users that leverage this type of connection no longer need to be dependent on VPN and can connect to the backend seamlessly! Now that’s an enhancement we can get behind.

  Please note that currently the support is only for Stories in the Android App.

• Live Data Connection to SAP BW/HANA Using SAP Cloud Connector – Android App

  There’s more! The Android App now also supports the Cloud Connector based SSO as an Advanced feature on the current direct SAML connection. Users currently leveraging the Cloud Connector based SSO with the iOS app can use the same connection type with the Android, once again removing the need for VPN to access the backend connectivity.

• Saving Default Bookmarks with Optimized View – iOS and Android App

  Have no fear, Apple users, here’s an update for both the iOS and the Android App! Discover the added capability to save the current state of your story as a Default Personal bookmark in the SAP Analytics Cloud mobile app based on your choice of defaults.

  If you are an iOS user, please note that you must toggle iOS Optimized View in order to make use of this update.

• App Link Support – Android App

  With App Link support in SAP Analytics Cloud Android App, you can now directly jump to the app using copied links shared with you via email or through SAP Analytics Cloud’s Share functionality. Supported domains include .sapbusinessobjects.cloud and .sapanalytics.cloud.

  Please note that universal links are not yet supported in the iOS App, and additional domains are forecasted to be added in the near future.

  The ability to open stories directly in the Android App allows you to jump seamlessly from your email – or any other method of sharing links – to the app with ease.

• XCode 12 Support for SAP Analytics Cloud Mobile App SDK – iOS App

  SAP Analytics Cloud Mobile App SDK is now compatible with XCode 12! Please note that the new App SDK will now require XCode 12 to build and deploy Apps to internal App stores, and XCode 11 will no longer be supported.

  The introduction of XCode 12 support makes the app future-ready for upcoming iOS releases, fulfilling App store review guidelines and creating a base for leveraging new iOS features.

Modeling

• Overwrite Formulas Used in Public Account Dimensions

  With this next new update, you can now overwrite formulas located in models and used in public account dimensions without affecting other models that are based on those same public account dimensions.

  This means users can customize account members in one model without having to worry about making undetected changes to other models. In addition, the Modeler UI now indicates the differentiation between the non-model-specific formulas and the model-specific formulas so that users can detect the difference every time.

Planning

• Flexible Modeling of Calendar Tasks and Processes

  You can now use new task types in the SAP Analytics Cloud calendar: composite tasks, general tasks and review tasks. Your existing events are automatically migrated.

  Additional features let you set up your workflows in a flexible way:

  • Owners of a composite task can adjust the default time distribution between the assignees' and the reviewers' work.

  • When multiple assignees work on a task, not all of them need to submit it. The task is accomplished once one of them submits.

  • When multiple reviewers work in one review round, not all of them need to accept the task. The review round is accomplished once one of them accepts.

  • To fine-tune their workflow, owners can convert a composite task to a process that consists of a general task for the assignees and one review task for each review round.

  • To delegate their task to others, assignees can convert the composite task assigned to them to a process that consists of a child process and one review task for each review round.

• Support the Conversion of Text Script to Visual Formula

  Through Visual Formulas, we aim to make advanced enterprise planning universal. With this new enhancement to our Visual Formulas feature, Planning users can convert text scripts into their visual counterparts within advanced formulas for Data Actions. As a result, users are able to quickly switch editing modes to fine tune calculations and leverage all the benefits from text scripts and visual formulas alike.

  Please note that some text script syntaxes are not supported by the visual tool and will thereby be displayed as ‘read-only.’ New text script syntaxes have also been introduced for Block comment (/* */) and Visual Formulas Annotation (/*! */).

• Support ELSE Statement in Advanced Formulas

  You may recall that, in the past, there was no way to automatically calculate the remaining scope of all previous conditions. As a result, you had to define the remaining scope directly with IF/ELSEIF statement. Well, now you can use the ELSE statement, instead!

  What does this mean, exactly? Now, users can define ELSE in an IF statement to take in the remaining scope of all previous conditions in advanced formulas step of data action.

  Note that you can calculate a larger scope due to ELSE statement, therefore a warning message might show up in certain conditions.

• Support Member Suggestion in Advanced Formulas

  In advanced formulas, if you only know part of a member ID or description, you can now simply type a double quotation (") to get a filtered list of valid members. As a result, you no longer need to know or type in full details.

Smart Assist

• Define the Context of Your Business Question in Smart Discovery

  Smart Discovery now helps you explore your data more effectively by letting you clearly define the context of the business question you want to ask. As well as choosing a measure or dimension as a target, you can now also select an entity, which consists of one or more dimensions.

  The entity defines the level at which Smart Discovery will aggregate your data so that it can be analyzed in relation to the target. For example, if you want to explore revenue by customer, you can select ‘Revenue’ as the target and ‘customer’ as the entity. In contrast, if you wanted to understand revenue by product, you could select ‘Product’ as the entity instead.

  To access a brief summary of the data selected prior to running Smart Discovery, users can open a Preview dialog. Here, you can find enhancements to the content and presentation of the analysis results generated by Smart Discovery through new heuristics that display charts that are more meaningful and easier to consume.

  Now, users are empowered to explore their data in relation to a specific context and entity without the need for any additional data preparation. This way, users can analyze the same target in relation to different entities and get different results that reflect the specific question being asked in a way that is easier to digest.

• Customize Smart Insights Top Contributor Results

  Gone are the days of sifting through Smart Insights results to find relevant dimensions. Now, through the Smart Insights panel, story designers can customize Smart Insights top contributor results by excluding unwanted dimensions. This way, if a user excludes a dimension, no dimension member for said dimension will be shown as a top contributor, ensuring that results are as relevant as possible to the business context.

  Excluded dimensions are then hidden from users’ top contributor results for the lifetime of their story or until they wish to undo the action and include them again.

• Use Latest Data to Fit Time Series Model

  Previously, several hypotheses (combination of trend, cycles, and fluctuations) were fitted on three quarters of the available data, and the best one was selected on the last quarter. In Smart Predict, for Time Series analysis and forecasting, the final model retained is now refitted on the whole available data.

  As a result, the Time Series model should be closer to the last part of the signal, providing response to recent changes in the data, with expectation of better forecasts!

• Improved Default Visualizations in Search to Insight and Explorer

  With this new enhancement, Search to Insight and Explorer present improved default chart types, which help users gain valuable insights quickly. The charts are also more readable and follow visualization best practices.

  Improvements include:

  • Auto Scaling

  • Auto Sorting (if applicable)

  • Formatted Data Labels

• Recommended Alternative Charts (Search to Insight)

  In certain scenarios, more than one chart type may be useful in presenting the data. Improvements in Search to Insight include recommending suitable alternative visualizations within Search to Insight, so users can choose the best way to gather valuable insights.

Add-in for Microsoft Office

• Get Help through the SAP Analytics Cloud Ribbon

  Within the SAP Analytics Cloud Ribbon in Microsoft Excel, users can benefit from a Help button, providing direct access to our SAP Help Portal. Here, users can find information related to what’s new in SAP Analytics Cloud, how to get started, FAQs related to troubleshooting, and more.

• Support for Automatic Mass Data Entry Mode

  Furthermore, Mass Data Entry Mode is now the default for SAP Analytics Cloud’s Microsoft Office add-in. This mode is Excel-optimized, making for a simpler, more intuitive user experience.

• Mass Data Entry Mode – Enhancement

  With SAP Analytics Cloud’s latest Add-in for Microsoft Office enhancement, you can now copy and paste several values into data entry cells – making for a more intuitive, Excel-like experience. Furthermore, with the latest enhanced error handling feature, incorrect cells are highlighted to improve the overall data entry process.

• Member Sorting

  But wait, that’s not all! You can now also sort member values such as flat lists and hierarchies by default, ascending, or descending order.

APIs and Extensions for Developers

• SCIM API – Remove Sensitive Data from URLs

  A new POST endpoint for searching users has been added to the SCIM API. This API allows consumers to pass in search data such as usernames and email addresses in the POST request body. This addresses privacy concerns where personal identifiable information was being passed in the URLs as query parameters.

  For more information on this topic, visit the SCIM section of our Help Portal.

General

• Renaming “External Content” to “Content Link”

  The object type “External Content” is used to provide URLs to content located outside of SAP Analytics Cloud. The term has now been renamed “Content Link” to remove the confusion surrounding the word “External,” especially while viewing filters in the Catalog.

• Improved Consumption Experience – Story & Analytics Designer

  We are always working to make sure that our SAP Analytics Cloud features are easy to use and navigate to make for a seamless user experience. As a result, for our first update of the 2021 year, we have redesigned the view time toolbar for Stories and Analytical Applications:

  • So that you can quickly get to the most commonly used functions, we've grouped the functions into sections with quick access buttons – sparing you search time and helping you get the job done faster.

  • You can also move more easily through stories with a lot of pages, using the enhanced page navigation, making for a more streamlined consumption experience and equating to an enterprise-ready toolbar that scales to users' needs.

  • For Planning users, the new full screen mode completely hides the toolbar, so you can focus more on your content. But, if you want to see a condensed version of the toolbar again, just hover over the top of the screen.