The strategic role of data storytelling with SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC)
Nowadays, data storytelling plays an increasingly crucial role in influencing executive decisions at a time when the speed and growing amount of data is a new reality. But how can we use storytelling techniques to highlight valuable insights for our business?
In this article, we explore how SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) functionalities and storytelling techniques can support business leaders, justify investments and facilitate decision-making.
What is SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC)?
SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) is a Business Intelligence (BI) Software as a Service (SaaS) that combines crucial factors for successful executive decisions: data analysis, planning and predictive analysis with Artificial Intelligence (AI). Designed to revolutionize how organizations consume data and make decisions, it offers a variety of features and functionalities – exclusive integration with SAP applications, BI for reports, dashboards, data discovery, and predictive analysis for planning, governance and compliance – enabling it to cover diverse business needs.
SAC offers decision-makers the use of data from various sources, including real-time information, internally generated data and even data formatted in Excel tables. It stands out for its speed thanks to its cloud nature, intuitive interface and advanced features that simplify complex data analysis. These features make SAC a valuable choice for professionals looking for accurate, strategic and actionable insights.
What is storytelling?
An effective storytelling uses data and analytical functions to capture the audience's interest
In the context of SAC, storytelling refers to the ability to build engaging and meaningful data narratives to emotionally connect decision-makers to the data, facilitate understanding and influence decisions. This way, organizations achieve a deeper data understanding through standard or more personalized analysis storytelling, considering their strategic objectives.
The importance of storytelling in BI
The ability of storytelling to consume complex data in an intuitive, appealing and helpful way to solve business challenges is crucial, especially in Business Intelligence (BI), for making informed decisions.
The effective use of storytelling with customer service can provide:
- Greater understanding and engagement: allows insights and data analysis communication more understandably and engagingly.
- Informed and strategic decision making: provides context to data, allowing users to understand its implications and meanings.
- Highlighting patterns, trends and specific insights: provides a clearer view of data and relevant business opportunities identification.
- Better communication between teams and hierarchical levels: data accessibility allows a unified story, facilitating the effective dissemination of information within the organization.
- Persuasion and results presentation: the narrative can emphasize key points and highlight the relevance of data, making presentations more convincing.
- Non-technical stakeholders accessibility: simplifying complex concepts makes data accessible to a greater audience.
What is a story?
A Story in SAC simplifies complex information in web dashboards, whether for self-service BI or standardized analysis. An effective storytelling uses data and analytical functions to capture the audience's interest, convey a clear message and influence subsequent action.
How to storytell in a SAC story?
Each data story must include three elements:
- Data: the basis of storytelling consists of clean and complete data. Data management solutions are essential for dealing with the dispersion of data across different locations, business units and departments, and the increasing volume of data from new sources, such as IoT. These solutions collect data from all sources and provide practical and reliable insights.
- Narrative: the story follows a classic narrative structure, with a beginning, middle and end. It reveals the context of data and suggests possible actions. Data storytelling software operates on ERP platforms and integrates descriptive, diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive analysis to highlight the most relevant data.
- Visuals: graphs and diagrams are essential to illustrate data connections, allowing for quick understanding. Combining visualizations with narrative gives context and meaning to the data presented.
Optimized design experience with SAP Analytics Cloud Stories
Izertis, with SAP Recognized Expertise in Business Intelligence and Data Management, offers complete SAC implementation services
SAP Analytics Cloud Stories stands out for its streamlined approach, offering seamless data analysis and an optimized design experience. Its intuitive interface crafts dynamic visual narratives, while seamless data integration empowers users to uncover insights and convey discoveries efficiently. With inherent flexibility and customization, narratives can precisely meet specific needs, driving business success.
Izertis success story with SAC
An exemplary success story for Izertis was the successful implementation of the potential of SAP Analytics Cloud for a company in the road sector. By creating a customized dashboard for monitoring traffic, Izertis provided the company with a valuable tool for analyzing and optimizing the management of its road infrastructure. This dashboard both allows them to visualize traffic patterns and identify areas of congestion, and facilitates strategic decision-making to improve operational efficiency.
SAP Analytics Cloud's advanced features, such as data modeling, planning, predictive analytics and AI enrichment, provide an innovative and solid foundation for complete and comprehensive analysis. With SAC, companies can integrate financial and operational data, create customized dashboards and develop tailored data narratives, maximizing the value of data, addressing business challenges and objectives and guiding strategic decisions.
Izertis, with SAP Recognized Expertise in Business Intelligence and Data Management, offers complete SAC implementation services, including maintenance, data integration, application development and user training, combined with our vast experience and know-how in advanced functionalities. In addition, we complement with expertise in other BI platforms, such as Tableau and Power BI, ensuring that our clients have access to the solutions best suited to their specific needs and challenges.