SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) is a best-in-class SaaS solution that combines all the analytics functionalities (Planning, Predictive, Business Intelligence and more coming soon such as Governance Risk and Compliance – GRC) in one intuitive user interface, saving time and effort while making better decisions.

Software as a service (or SaaS) is a way of delivering applications over the Internet—as a service. SaaS applications are sometimes called Web-based software, on-demand software, or hosted software. Whatever the name, SaaS applications run on a SaaS provider’s servers. The provider manages access to the application, including security, availability, and performance.

The main structures of SAP Analytics Cloud are called models. These models contain dimensions which are hierarchical structures where organizations can manage their Accounts, Organizational Structure, or any other parameter their need to plan or evaluate results.

There are two type of models in SAP Analytics Cloud: Planning and Analytics. As their names indicate, the first type allows users to execute planning activities within those models while the second type is a “read only” structure that allows user to perform analysis with the data gathered.

Models can be created manually, importing a file from your computer, getting data from a cloud app such as Google Drive or Success Factors or connecting with a data source such as BPC, SAP BW, SAP ERP, SAP HANA or SAP Universe.

Analyzing the data is as simple as selecting the cells on the spreadsheet and asking SAP Analytics Cloud to create a chart with it. The application will analyze the data and recommend the best way to visualize it. Users can then modify the chart type, add or modify the format and then share it by adding it to a presentation that can be completely formatted to meet any branding requirements.

On the planning side, SAP Analytics Cloud allows users to configure formulas for different accounts, manage currency conversion tables as well as allocations.