Inside Insights: SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) - Keys to Success with Hau Ngo

In this next episode of Tech-Driven Business, Mustansir Saifuddin brings back Hau Ngo of Summerlin Analytics to share an update on SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC). Hau first joined us for a 6-part series in 2021 to talk about SAC and what it means to enterprises as they move to the cloud. He revisits us to talk about what it takes for an architect to be successful in implementing SAC. Listen is for quick takeaways that you can put in to place today. With the wealth of learning tools available, SAC is no longer out of reach for clients or consultants. 

Hau is an SAP Analytics Architect and an early adopter of SAP Analytics Cloud. In 2017, he helped a technology company in California consolidate global sales reporting across 7 different ERP systems. This effort culminated in one executive dashboard that displayed real-time information, eliminating weeks of manual coordination and data wrangling. Subsequently, Hau has presented his work at conferences such as SAPPHIRE 2019 in Orlando Florida, and has gone onward to help additional customers streamline their reporting processes and visualize the key company metrics. His experience with SAP Analytics Cloud extends to customers with various systems such as SAP Data Warehouse Cloud, BW/4HANA, and S/4HANA. 

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Hau Ngo

Mustansir Saifuddin

Innovative Solution Partners 

Twitter: @Mmsaifuddin YouTube

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Episode Transcript Mustansir Saifuddin (00:03)

Welcome to Tech-Driven Business. Brought to you by Innovative Solution Partners. In this episode, I welcome back Hau Ngo of Summerlin Analytics listen in as he talks about his real-life experience of SAP Analytics Cloud, specifically, how SAP is making it easier for clients, lessons he has learned since he last joined me in 2021, and more importantly, what you need to do to be successful with an SAC implementation.

 

Mustansir Saifuddin (00:51)

Yeah, it's been a while. It has been a year and a half when we last spoke about SAC and the role of SAC in the business intelligence SAP world.

 

Hau Ngo (01:04)

Yeah, I think so. And I think at that time, SAC was still relatively new and unknown. So it's good to catch up after some time in the field and see what other people are experiencing with the tool.

 

Mustansir Saifuddin (01:16)

Yeah, for sure. I think it's come a long way since we last spoke, and for today's session, I would like to talk about some of the key ingredients, especially when you're making your reporting and analytics implementation right. And what makes them successful, especially when you're dealing with SAC.

 

Hau Ngo (01:35)

Yeah, sounds good. And I would say now that things are starting to pick back up, projects are starting to come back online, a lot of people are starting to look at reporting as the key driver in the businesses again. And it's good to see that SAC is up there with the other cloud tools.

 

Mustansir Saifuddin (01:51)

For sure. Yeah, I think we've seen a lot of good changes coming through the tool and how it has kind of developed over the past couple of years. So okay. With that, let me get into the first topic I would like to get your insights into. So when we talk about SAC, what is the role of the analytics architect, especially when it comes to implementing SAC?

 

Hau Ngo (02:20)

Sure, I think that's a great initial question, and I think a lot of clients overlook communication as a quality that should be high up the list. Of course, technical competency and familiarity of the tool is a given. The resource should know where 80% of the time, where to find the option to change a setting or to enable a feature. And I think I've done about ten SAC projects so far, and I still ask my clients for direction when they come and ask for something I'm not clear about. But getting back to the communication part, I think this skill ranks nearly as high as the technical know-how, because building a dashboard is very collaborative and it's an effort that involves directors of finance or supply chain who then need to present the information to someone in the executive office. So folks at these level are exceptionally pressed for time and having a resource who communicates well, whether it's during the working sessions or through email makes this process go smoother, quicker, and more enjoyable.

 

Mustansir Saifuddin (03:30)

Interesting. So it seems like one of the key skills required for having a successful implementation, especially when you're playing the architect role, is communication.

 

Hau Ngo (03:40)

Yes, absolutely. Only because this tool is end-user friendly. And there's a lot of things now, I guess, two or three years later, written about this tool and the functionality, and SAP has done a wonderful job of marketing that. Where it gets into a little bit of trouble, I think, for a lot of end users and clients is they're not sure what the tool can do because it can do a lot. But what they have in their specific environment, whether it's Analytics Cloud to S/4 directly, or if they're connecting to the new Data Warehouse Cloud, or if they're connecting to HANA Data Warehouse, or BW Warehouse, or BW/4HANA. So depending on how it's used and what it's connected to, it can do certain things in some instances, but not another. And having an architect who maybe have a little bit of experience in all four different areas could definitely help walk them through that process.

 

Mustansir Saifuddin (04:40)

That's interesting. Yeah, I think that makes sense, especially when you're dealing with the level of users who are more business focused and having that communication skill, as well as a way to understand what their requirements are. Right, I think that makes sense.

 

Hau Ngo (05:00)

Yeah, absolutely.

 

Mustansir Saifuddin (05:01)

So I think this kind of leads me into my next question. We always talk about this, right? Why does the business knowledge and collaboration with business users is so important, especially when you go about implementing SAC?

Hau Ngo (05:15)

Yeah. If you recall a couple of years ago, and this is maybe speaking to our age, but most of the reporting tools were excel-based, and now dashboards have been recognized as the more efficient way of presenting large amounts of data in a quicker way. And the challenge with this new approach is that each business department looks at different metrics and how they interpret the data differently. Right. So, for example, someone in finance looks at the profit and loss or maybe the sales margin numbers and may want key data points in a tabular review and in a specific order or grouping. Someone else in order fulfillment or customer service may like the larger numeric tiles that show daily sales numbers or bar tiles that show open orders for specific items that may not ship in time. So to add to that, each dashboard will be tailored to the preference of that particular executive. Maybe she's older and you have to use larger fonts and maybe consider something that's print ready. Or you may have a director who's younger and wants to see numbers on the go. So you may have to consider a mobile, responsive layout.

 

Hau Ngo (06:29)

So all of this is to say that design dashboards and the data models that go with it is often highly customized and require a lot of interaction. More so than your typical back-end developer maybe used to.

 

Mustansir Saifuddin (06:42)

I think that is important to know, especially when you talk about a demographics. Right. Who is my end client, especially the age. The way of presenting the information based on their key roles seems like one of the key reasons that you need to understand the business. And what I'm hearing from you. Collaboration is the key piece, right?

 

Hau Ngo (07:10)

Yes, absolutely. Because you don't want to go back and forth with a higher-level executive. Too many times they are pressed for time. So however, you can shave off those cycles of back and forth, whether you're familiar with the process area or maybe you can anticipate the request. That definitely goes a long way.

 

Mustansir Saifuddin (07:31)

For sure. So I think that let me ask you a personal question. What do you consider one of your biggest accomplishments when it comes to doing these implementations? Any personal favorites?

 

Hau Ngo (07:49)

Yeah, I would have to say that learning new skills and learning them quickly has been exciting and rewarding. I would say during the first 15 years working with SAP, the technology has been relatively slow. Back then you had BW and ABAP for data warehousing and reporting. But just in the last five years, that has been a blur with Hana calculation views, S4 CDS views, analytical cloud and the application design, of course. And now with Data Warehouse Cloud and each one of these required learning and retooling and it's a very exciting time.

 

Mustansir Saifuddin (08:30)

Absolutely. I think that kind of sums it up. Right. I mean, things have changed quite a bit in the past few years, especially when it comes to SAC and certain tools that are very business focus and the whole layout and the communication that it brings to the end users, I think is much different than what it was in the past.

 

Hau Ngo (08:55)

Yeah, you can almost say we went from waterfall to agile very quickly.

 

Mustansir Saifuddin (09:02)

That's a good comparison. Things were done a certain way for a very long time, especially when it comes to analytics. Now we are able to take that to the next level, right?

 

Hau Ngo (09:13)

Yes, absolutely.

 

Mustansir Saifuddin (09:14)

Especially with SAC some of the key ingredients that it contains. As a tool, from predictive to planning to the stories, everything is just giving you the information very quickly in a very precise way.

 

Hau Ngo (09:34)

Yeah, and SAP has done a good job with that. They actually package a lot of the information where it's almost out of the box and implementation is very minimal to get your data into a presentable format quickly.

 

Mustansir Saifuddin (09:47)

Absolutely. We always talk about these implementations and that question comes up. Right. Analytics implementations are challenging at times and especially when you're dealing with different levels of business users. What are some of the key indicators for a successful implementation? How would you quantify that?

 

Hau Ngo (10:12)

If you ask a lot of people, I'm sure you'll get different answers. But I think the clarity of the project goals and limitations of the tools are important. Sometimes I see projects fail because the client expects more than what the people or the tool can deliver. In a limited time, the scope keeps expanding. But where I've often seen successes are when projects that have a team that constantly work together to define and agree to what's possible. Those projects tend to be more successful more often than not.

 

Mustansir Saifuddin (10:48)

So I think it kind of sums it up with that statement you had just made. Right. As long as you have a very succinct definition of the requirements and then a resource or an expert who understands architecture can do things, these things in a very precise manner right. In a very timely delivery also.

 

Hau Ngo (11:13)

To be honest, most of my projects, the one I enjoy the most, I actually learn from the client. So it's an oxymoron. You're hiring someone who's an expert in this field but that person is also learning both the functional business side and the technical side, sometimes, from the client. So it has to be collaborative for some of these things to work out well.

 

Mustansir Saifuddin (11:35)

Yeah, I think that's a key statement you just made. Especially a lot of these kind of projects tend to go different ways depending on how requirements are defined and what kind of challenges you have when you come on board in these projects. Technical challenges, business challenges, et cetera. And when I look at it as a whole, it seems like the learning is on both sides, especially when you are interacting with the level of users in these kinds of cases is definitely different than working with an analyst, right?

 

Hau Ngo (12:21)

Yes, absolutely.

 

Mustansir Saifuddin (12:24)

Okay, great. So I know we kind of come to our time for at least this particular session. I would like to ask you this based on what we have covered so far, what is one of the key takeaways that you would want to leave the listeners with today?

 

Hau Ngo (12:42)

I would say most of the new cloud-based tools that we see today, like analytics cloud, they're relatively easy to use, but still I see a lot of hesitation when it comes to adapting or even trying out these new technologies. So my advice is to just give it a try, even if it's just an evaluation, and learn what it can do and just as important, what it cannot do. There's a lot of tutorials, online video and written, so the barrier to entry isn't as high now as it's been in the past. You'll have to put in the work, of course, but you'll be surprised how quickly you can become an expert with these new tools. And after that, it's about sharing what you've learned and helping your team succeed.

 

Mustansir Saifuddin (13:28)

That's a great advice. That's a great advice. I like it. Especially when you mentioned that there are so many tools available for anyone who is interested and has the desire to take that to the next level. So the information is available as long as you're willing to go out and explore.

 

Hau Ngo (13:48)

Yes.

 

Mustansir Saifuddin (13:49)

Great. Well, thank you so much, Hau. So it's been a pleasure talking with you and look forward to our next session.

 

Hau Ngo (13:56)

Yeah, likewise, Mustansir, to dive into some deep conversation technical conversations next time. So talk to you then.

 

Mustansir Saifuddin (14:05)

Thank you so much.

 

Hau Ngo (14:07)

Yes, thank you.

 

Mustansir Saifuddin (14:11)

Thanks for listening to Tech-Driven Business, brought to you by Innovative Solution Partners, Hau gave a great overview of SAP Analytics Cloud in today's environment. His main takeaway: take advantage of the many resources available to learn. The barrier to entry for SAC is low, so take advantage of it to learn all that you can. We would love to hear from you. Continue the conversation by connecting with me on LinkedIn or Twitter. Learn more about Innovative Solution Partners and schedule a free consultation by visiting Isolationpartners.com. Never miss a podcast by subscribing to our YouTube channel. Information is in the show notes.