What’s new in SAP Datasphere? (August 2023)

In March 2023, SAP announced that it would be renaming SAP Data Warehouse Cloud to SAP Datasphere. Since then, numerous updates have been released in SAP Datasphere which we would like to inform you about in this blog. We have focused on what we consider to be the most important and exciting innovations that have been made in the data fabric. These include data integration, data modeling and business modeling.

Data integration

The previously available data integration features have been expanded on. Since Update 2023.10, it has been possible to import entities directly from SAP S/4HANA on-premise systems. As is already used to import entities for SAP BW/4HANA, the import is initiated here, too, via the “Import entities” button in the Data Builder. This approach is particularly useful for semantically complex elements whose implementation would have to go through the typical development cycle. The feature is available for SAP S/4HANA systems with Version 1610 or higher.

Users of the Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) can now enjoy an enhanced interface configuration. Server-side encryption can be enabled to use encrypted objects in data flows. It is also possible to restrict access to S3 buckets via an IAM role since this update.

In addition, parallel branches can now also be created in task chains, in addition to linear ones. In doing so, the modeler can select whether one (ANY) or all (ALL) task branches must be completed before the subsequent tasks are processed.

Moreover, parameters can now be defined in data flows and used as projection operators. This has the advantage that the user is prompted to specify a value at runtime and can thus filter the loading at execution time, for example.

Data modeling

Modelers in the data layer can benefit from intelligent lookups in task chains since the latest update. These can be scheduled at any point in the chain workflow. This enables automated enrichments based on the intelligent lookup’s AI capabilities.

The most significant change, however, is the renaming of the system and the new use of the Analytical Dataset. From now on, the Analytical Dataset will be available as “fact” (Analytical Datasets are thus obsolete and should no longer be used).

Using facts goes hand in hand with the new recommended workflow. A single fact can thus be used in one or more analytic models, which can in turn be used in one or more SAP Analytics Cloud Stories (or other 3^rd-party BI tools). Compared to the obsolete Analytical Dataset, calculated and restricted key figures can now be defined and reused from the SAC besides the standard key figures and their aggregation. Also, any number of attributes, key figures and associations from each added dimension can be modeled in a fact and passed to the analytic model.

Finally, the new Rich Analytic Viewer of the analytic model (based on the Data Analyzer) can also display hierarchies and pivot tables.

SAP Datasphere workflow

Business modeling

A number of innovations have also been implemented in the SAP Datasphere’s business layer. As with the data layer, the analytical dataset has been renamed fact. In contrast, however, the functional scope has not fundamentally changed here.

Nevertheless, business users can now also benefit from multi-tenant landscapes because the transport of Business Builder objects has been possible since Update 2023.12. This means that, as in the data layer, created entities can be transported to other SAP Datasphere tenants via the integrated transport mechanisms. This makes it possible to separate the development and testing of the business logic from the productive usage by end users.

Other innovations

Besides the comprehensive innovations described above, we would also like to mention a few other changes.

We consider the ability to create support users particularly noteworthy. If this feature is enabled in SAP Datasphere, SAP can create a temporary user on the system in the scope of a support ticket and thus offer better and faster support. Once the ticket is closed, the temporary user is also automatically deleted.

In addition, the BW Bridge has also been improved. It is now possible, for example, to import queries as analytic models into the business layer and assign IDs to the source systems. Also, the language for importing texts can be selected directly in the SAP BW Cockpit.

Outlook

For further details of what the future holds, we recommend using SAP’s Roadmap Explorer; in that way, you’ll always be informed about changes to the SAP Datasphere schedule and the latest innovations.

With the innovations that SAP has already published for SAP Datasphere 2023, we believe that SAP is taking the right step towards a data fabric. The brimming Roadmap gives us a fascinating insight into the future.

We look forward to introducing you to the SAP Datasphere in more detail. Please feel free to contact us!