Lesson 2 of 6
Analytical apps
7 min
SAP S/4HANA offers several kinds of analytical app. They differ in how much freedom they give you and how close they sit to the transactional work. Choosing the right one is the difference between a two-minute answer and an afternoon in a spreadsheet.
Measures and dimensions
Every analytical app works with two kinds of fields. Measures (key figures) are numbers that aggregate: amount, quantity, number of documents. Dimensions (characteristics) are what you group and filter by: customer, product, plant, period, profit center. "Revenue by customer by month" is one measure and two dimensions. When you slice by customer, you are using customer as a dimension.
| App type | What you get | Freedom to explore | Use it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overview page | Cards summarizing an area, each linking to detail | Low | A daily starting point for a role |
| KPI tile | One measure against a target, with a status color and drill-down | Low to medium | Monitoring a few critical numbers |
| Analytical list page | Visual filters, chart and table on one page, linked | Medium | Finding which records explain a total, then acting |
| Multidimensional report | Pivot-style grid on an analytical query | High | Free slicing, drilling and comparing |
| Review booklet | A set of related analytical pages bundled together | Medium | Periodic reviews, such as a monthly cost center review |
Analytical list pages
An analytical list page puts a chart and a table together. In its header, visual filters show small charts you can click to filter; KPIs may appear above them. In the content area, select a bar or a segment and the table below shows the records behind it. It is ideal when the question is "which items make up this number, and what do I do about them?"
Multidimensional reports
A multidimensional report presents an analytical query as a grid. Launch it from a tile and you see a default layout chosen by whoever built the query. From there you can:
- Drag dimensions between rows, columns and the list of free fields in the navigation panel.
- Filter on any dimension, for example product CMC-ALT-100 only.
- Drill down from a total into its parts, and expand hierarchies such as a profit center hierarchy.
- Swap axes, add or remove totals and switch between table and chart.
- Jump from a result to a related app where the query offers it.
- Save the navigation state as a bookmark, share it, create a tile from it, and export to spreadsheet or PDF.
- OpenTile opens the report with its default layout: billed value by customer
- ArrangeAdd month to columns; now customer by month
- FilterRestrict to sales organization 1710 and product CMC-ALT-100
- DrillExpand Great Lakes Fleet Services to see value by ship-to
- KeepSave as a bookmark "Alternators by customer and month" and share it
KPIs
A KPI compares a measure with a target or thresholds and shows a status color. In SAP S/4HANA KPIs appear as tiles or cards and lead to drill-down views. Many KPIs are delivered by SAP; key users can create their own with the Manage KPIs and Reports app, based on released CDS views or analytical queries. A red tile is a reason to look, not a conclusion: always drill into the detail before acting.
What would you do?
Maria needs to find which deliveries make up the jump in unbilled value this week and then process them. Which app type should she use?
- Measures aggregate; dimensions group and filter.
- Overview pages and KPIs are starting points; analytical list pages link totals to records; multidimensional reports give free slicing.
- Multidimensional reports support drag-and-drop layout, filters, drill-down, bookmarks, tiles and export.
- Key users create KPIs with Manage KPIs and Reports from released CDS views or queries.
- Check the documents behind a KPI before signing it off.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. In a multidimensional report, what does slicing by customer mean?
2. What can you save in a multidimensional report to reuse your layout?
3. Which app type links a chart selection to the table of records behind it?
4. Which app do key users use to create their own KPIs?