BI Self Service: Why Departments should have access to SAP Key Figures
Abstract — As software developers in the area of SAP Business & Analytics, we repeatedly encounter “time wasters”, i.e. everyday Business Intelligence processes that could be approached much more effiecient. This article deals with the dependency between business departments that work with dashboards and reports and IT, which in turn processes tickets when errors occur. As a solution, it discusses the BI Self Service concept, which can help to speed up these processes and thus save costs, time and nerves. Specifically, it involves utilizing data cataloging to provide business departments with insights into the metadata of their key figures and reports – thus relieving the burden on IT and making business processes more efficient.
The Use Case: Usually an Error in a Dashboard
We all know how it goes: Business dashboards are supposed to provide clarity – but if they don’t display the correct values or show error messages, the opposite is of course the case. This is particularly bad if the department notices the error shortly before a meeting in which the dashboard is needed.
The error often stems from one of the key figures used in the SAP system – especially if the key figure is made up of several other key figures in the system. We call this a ‘nested key figure’. Another term that is often used is the ‘calculated key figure’.
Calculated Key Figures Have Their Pitfalls
The key figure ‘Expected Incoming Orders’ in a sales dashboard can, for example, be made up of four to six other, equally nested key figures – for example, the sales probability, the open offers, and so on.
Finding out whether there is an error in one of the many key figures in the SAP system takes a hell of a lot of time.
What exactly is taking so long? As long as the department can only detect the error in the dashboard, but cannot see which other underlying key figures the incorrectly displayed key figure contains, it can only submit an unspecific support ticket to IT. The IT then have to search for errors and investigate the entire background of the key figure in the SAP system. And since IT is known to be swamped with tickets, the problem will not be solved in time before the meeting (or the next one).
As promised, this article is not only about problems, but also about solutions – and the solution in this case is BI Self-Service – more precisely, a Data Catalog. And a driver tree. Let us explain, why.
The Solution: SAP Metadata in Any Business Department's Data Catalog
In order to provide business departments with more empowerment with their dashboards and relieve IT of work in equal measure, it is advisable to use a data catalog that also provides an overview of SAP – the prerequisite, however, is that the information displayed is prepared in a way that is understandable for business departments.
Our Data Catalog, the Enterprise Glossary creates glossary entries for each key figure of synchronized SAP systems, in which both the technical definition and its calculation with all involved key figures are mapped. With the latest Enterprise Glossary function, the “driver tree”, the formula is even displayed graphically in a network graphic, providing an easy-to-understand overview of all levels of the nested key figure (see GIF).
This means that specialist departments without access to SAP backend can immediately see which key figures are involved in the dashboard. Since they can comprehend the mathematical calculation of the key figure, they will most likely already be able to tell IT the specific key figure that is displayed incorrectly in SAP. IT then will be able to rectify the problem in the backend in a much more targeted manner – and much more quickly. The Data Catalog thus acts as a link between business departments and IT – and makes life a little easier for everyone. Of course, the function is also useful in everyday life to understand how certain values in dashboards come about in the first place.
Conclusion: The use of a data catalog with a real-time connection to the SAP systems creates a self-service point that enables more efficient collaboration between specialist departments and IT – be it when searching for errors in dashboards, defining key figures or answering questions about existing reports.