A Tactical Approach For BI Migration To The Cloud

If you have read my previous blog “Every Silver Lining Has Its Cloud”, you could be forgiven for thinking I was an SAAS hater. In fact, the opposite could not be more true. I stand by my concerns regarding SAAS solutions and the ramifications for IT governance, however, there is a lot of value to be had, both through both cost savings and the incredible functionality on offer. The exam question is therefore: How do I position my environment so that I can extract the most value from my data, now and in the future, whilst still ensuring the governance that my organisation needs?

First and foremost, whilst the solutions have some shared capabilities, for example data storage, they each have their own strengths, and the systems are not mutually exclusive. Like Boris Johnson, I am pro having cake and pro eating cake, and this means using Cloud and on Premises solutions synergistically.

The most common example of this is SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) and BW4/HANA. In this scenario, SAC accesses data in BW4 via a ‘live connection’. The data is loaded and transformed by BW4 processes, it is accessed by SAC via BW4 queries and secured via BW4 authorisations. SAC renders the data in a aesthetically pleasing front end, supporting collaborative and mobile-enabled capability. What’s not to like?

Some of SAC’s best functionality, its ‘Smart Features’ requires the data to be loaded into it.

It isn’t SAC but Datasphere

What are the strengths of each approach and how can they be leveraged in concert? Questions generate further questions. Answers generate even more.

Data may not be necessarily be the new oil, mined to and refined to create new products and huge profits, but in almost all organisations it can be the grease to ensure that the wheel keep turning as efficiently as possible.