How to include SAP and SuccessFactors data in your enterprise analytics

Having all your data in one place is a critical step in making business decisions and achieving an intelligent enterprise 

We continue to learn more about the intelligent enterprise and how business leaders require accurate, real-time information, coupled with historical data and analysis to drive business decisions and ensure that the business is moving in a forward, profitable direction.

Back in the old days, this type of task was performed by extracting data, spreadsheets or text files from various systems and uploading them to a consolidated spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel or a database via Microsoft Access or even into SAP® BW in the early days. The old way of downloading and uploading files is no longer a reasonable method for transferring confidential data, including the obvious reasons noted below.

Top five concerns with downloading and uploading confidential data

1. Data that is taken out of secure, protected databases in a raw format is no longer protected by the complex security structures put in place to protect it.

2. Data is no longer live (real-time).

3. Often custom programs are required to extract data which are expensive to maintain, error-prone, require continual maintenance and always run the risk of excluding any new items added to the database structure.

4. Data merging between the data between two systems is rife with errors.

5. The multi-step process replicated the data and stored it in various places.

These days, data is often shared to a cloud-based database like Microsoft PowerBI, SAP® Analytics Cloud, Tableau via dynamic connections to ensure the data feed is secure, dynamic and continuous, and ideally not replicating the data in an additional location. So now that we know how it should be performed, let’s take a moment to understand why your Human Capital Management data should be included.

Why should you include HCM data in your analytics?

You have heard the expression that “...a company's largest asset is its employees...” and including employee data in your overall enterprise strategic planning is critical. A strong connection between HR practice, workforce capabilities, financial performance, operational efficiency and business results is required to achieve an intelligent enterprise. An easy example to think of is calculating the revenue per employee (tabulated with data from multiple systems to produce a company's total revenue divided by its current number of employees) to establish an important ratio that roughly measures how much money each employee generates for the organization.

Where is the HCM data coming from?

Data from different areas of the business is commonly stored, in its original form, in its system of origin which is often unique to each line of business. See the fictional sample below.

In this example, an organization's data exists in at least four different systems including a logistics system (NetSuite), a customer management database solution (Salesforce), and their SAP and SuccessFactors HCM systems. For this example, I’d like to share how you can easily include your critical HR and Payroll data in your analytics solution, dynamically and securely.

Accessing HR and Payroll data in SAP and SuccessFactors Hybrid

It’s no secret that accessing human capital management data in SAP and SuccessFactors hybrid is often listed as the single biggest challenge that customers face. The data is often buried in complex structures (clusters) and is replicated in two systems for hybrid or Employee Central Payroll. Accessing it requires multiple products or a trained programmer to collect and collate the data. You are probably reading this blog because you know that EPI-USE Labs solved this challenge and offers the only S/4HANA certified reporting solution for real-time HR and Payroll reporting for SAP HCM and Hybrid SAP SuccessFactors, via the Query Manager solution.

The good news is that same solution includes an extension or add-on called the Query Manager Analytics Connector Add-on, that allows for the secure, dynamic transfer of data to analytics systems including the most popular ones on the market today:

• Microsoft PowerBI
• Tableau
• SAP Analytics Cloud
• SAP Data Warehouse Cloud