solution brief sap analysis for microsoft office or...

SAP® Analysis for Microsoft Office or Excel4apps Wands?

SOLUTION BRIEF

SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office is promised as a Business Intelligence and multi-dimensional data analysis software that makes it easy to filter and manipulate data in Excel, but the offering has a few shortcomings you should consider.

If you currently use SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office for SAP reporting — or are considering it — here are some things to keep in mind. We’ve also provided a comparison chart on page 2 that shows you how it stacks up against the Excel4apps solutions.

The Solution: Excel4apps Wands for SAP

Excel4apps Wands for SAP are a robust alternative to SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office. It provides real-time data in a business user’s preferred interface while empowering the user to own the reporting process — from report creation to consumption to iteration.

Benefits of Excel4apps Wands

• Real-time FICO data: Access your SAP data live in Excel.

• Powerful drilldowns without programming: Drill down to line items, documents and attachments for advanced analysis.

• Business user easy build and customization: Create or modify reports with intuitive formula-based functions and Excel skills.

• Report creation and distribution: Mass create and distribute reports in multiple file formats via email or post to shared drive.

The Challenge with SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office

• Data Source is typically Business Warehouse (BW), so data is staged and not real-time.

• Report Writing is inflexible and intended for use in a way that outputs your data as a table object rather than a cell-by-cell mechanism like Excel4apps.

• It’s not truly Excel. Basic Excel functions have been re-written for use within SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office, meaning it lacks the familiarity of native Excel. This seriously impedes user adoption.

• It’s inherently not a business user’s tool. IT resources are needed to create and maintain the underlying structure for providing data.

• Report layouts and data combinations are restricted so data can’t be presented in the way you want, which delays analysis.

• Dependency on IT leads to delayed analysis and no true ownership of the tool, creating the risk that it becomes shelfware.

SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office

Excel4apps Wands

excel4apps.com/sap

COMPARISON Analysis for Microsoft Office

Chart: Excel4apps Wands vs. SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office

Currently Using SAP Analysis For Microsoft Office?

Excel4apps can serve as a complement to SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office that expedites your period-end close, empowers you to perform ad hoc inquiries, and provides drill downs into live SAP data from Excel for deeper analysis.

©2018. Excel4apps.

Evaluating SAP Analysis For Microsoft Office?

Excel4apps can serve as an alternative to SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office that enables real-time financial and management reporting in Excel.

Excel4apps enables business users to easily report, analyze, plan and post their SAP data real-time in Excel. Our self-service solutions install quickly and integrate seamlessly with SAP, reducing user reliance on IT resources and streamlining Excel-based processes. We help you get more out of the platforms you already own – Microsoft Excel and SAP.

Excel Interface a aPreservation of Native Excel Functionality a X

Real-Time Data from ECC6 a X

Real-Time Data from S/4HANA a a

Flexible Cell - by - Cell Report Design a Not Recommended Approach

Excel Formula-Based Approach to Report Design a Not Recommended Approach

Native Drilldown to FICO Line Items, Documents, and Attachments a X

Reports Designed and Modified by Business Users a X

Upload Plan Data to ECC6 a X

Execute SAP Queries and T- Codes a X

No Dependency on IT to Maintain/Modify Data Sources a X

Version Upgrades Easy and Painless (no tentacles) a X

Leverage Reporting Hierarchies from ECC a X

Easy Report Distribution / Bursting a X