In the realm of business intelligence and analytics, data acquisition is the foundational step that determines the quality and comprehensiveness of insights. SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) provides versatile data acquisition capabilities, enabling organizations to import and integrate data from a wide array of sources. Understanding how to efficiently acquire data into SAC is critical for building robust analytics and planning solutions.
Data acquisition refers to the process of importing or connecting data from external systems into SAP Analytics Cloud for analysis, reporting, and planning. SAC supports both imported data models, where data is physically loaded into SAC, and live data connections, where SAC queries the source system in real-time without storing data locally.
This article focuses on importing data—the core aspect of data acquisition that involves bringing data into SAC’s own storage for offline use.
SAP Analytics Cloud supports importing data from numerous sources, including:
Users can upload flat files such as CSV or Excel files directly into SAC to create new models or append to existing ones. This method is quick and ideal for ad-hoc analysis or small datasets.
SAC can import data by connecting to external databases or SAP systems through predefined connectors. For example, importing data from SAP BW involves creating a connection and selecting InfoProviders to import.
Scheduled or manual data acquisition jobs enable periodic imports to refresh SAC data models with the latest data from source systems, ensuring consistency and up-to-date reporting.
For custom or cloud-based applications, SAC supports data acquisition via OData services or REST APIs, enabling flexible integration scenarios.
Effective data acquisition is a critical enabler for successful analytics and planning in SAP Analytics Cloud. By importing data from diverse sources—ranging from simple CSV files to complex SAP ERP systems—organizations can create rich, consolidated models that fuel informed decision-making. Mastering the data acquisition process within SAC ensures that your analytics landscape is both comprehensive and reliable, setting the stage for impactful insights and business growth.