Document SAP Data Flow: Fast & Standardized Through Automated Documentation
The more complex the SAP data flow, the less motivation there is for technical documentation. This blog article discusses the potential of technical SAP documentation, the risks of neglecting it and shows a practical approach on how to efficiently document SAP data flows across systems: With automation through SAP AddOn tools.
Complex SAP Data & Analytics Structures Complicate Documentation
SAC Stories rely on Datasphere Views, which in turn rely on Calculation Views in HANA or tables in S/4HANA, BW Queries, InfoProviders, DataSources… – modern SAP Data & Analytics architectures combine a variety of systems and technologies.
As complexity increases, the motivation and capacity to document a long and ramified data flow usually decreases – plus: New requirements take priority anyways and are simply implemented directly in the system. This practice, however, is not without risks – whether in terms of quality, compliance or development speed. And: It also wastes potential. The list of use cases in which technical SAP documentation is advantageous is long:
Advantages of Technical SAP Documentation
- Fast knowledge transfer when new team members are onboarding or projects are handed over by external/internal staff
- System and process analyses by mapping data origin, data transformation and data lineage
- Accelerated search for errors in dashboards and debugging
- Thorough change management / impact analyses
- Audits & compliance requirements (proof of data flows, responsibilities, transformation logic, etc.)
- Redesigns & system migrations (simplified analysis of legacy systems, optimal setup of structured target architecture, e.g. for BW on HANA → BW/4 or Datasphere migration)
- Reusability & standardization (documented applications serve as templates for new developments)
Game Changer: Automated SAP Documentation
What many SAP developers don’t know: Thanks to automated SAP add-on tools, it has long been possible to benefit from the advantages of SAP documentation without wasting time. Integrated via function modules, Docu Performer documents entire data flows across systems at the touch of a button.
The SAP documentation tool offers the following possibilities:
- Automated documentation of entire data flows or individual objects as well as any comments created for them
- Export of a structured, searchable document with a directory (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF or HTML) and optional upload to Confluence
- Supported technologies for documentation: SAP BW – SAP BW/4HANA – SAP Business Objects – SAP Analytics Cloud – SAP Datasphere – SAP ECC – SAP S/4HANA
Here is an example of how to document data flow of a SAC story from a purchasing dashboard:
Object Selection and Variants:
In the settings, you can first define whether individual or all objects of the story should be documented (“Document Entire Dataflow”, available with version 24.2) and whether existing comments on the objects should also be documented. You can also specify the level of detail and the language of the documentation to suit different target groups.
Export:
As export variants, you can select a desired document format (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, HTML) and specify whether the document should be uploaded centrally available to Confluence.
Final Document:
The result is a detailed documentation in which all objects of the data flow are documented – searchable and clearly structured. Here you can see the information content of the SAP documentation for yourself in the exported PDF.
Schedulability:
Another exciting feature is automated updating. Documentation can be automated using scheduled jobs so that up-to-date information is available on a daily basis, for example.
Conclusion: SAP Documentation Must Grow with the Complexity of the System
Manual documentation is a thing of the past – in modern SAP Data & Analytics architectures, automated documentation is not a luxury, but a decisive factor for efficiency, quality and scalability. Those who rely on smart solutions at an early stage create a resilient basis for agile further development – without having to constantly start from scratch.
You can easily try out how the automated documentation of your own data flows feels in practice: With a free trial version via our website.