How to use Power BI with SAP

In this video Wessel Verheijen explains how to start building Power BI reports on your SAP source systems and shares three best practices when using Power BI on SAP.
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⏲️ Timestamps
00:00 - In this episode
00:16 - Introduction
00:44 - Flatten queries
01:07 - Import vs DirectQuery connection
02:48 - Demo: Connecting data to report
04:22 - Summary
05:00 - Outro
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McCoy TV mission is to give practical insights into SAP and all of their products, both on a technical and business level. We offer quality SAP content-driven videos that are based on our expertise as SAP Consultants. On this channel, you can expect an explanation of SAP functionality combined with practical examples and demos.
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❓ Question
Have a question about Power BI reporting on SAP, other SAP Products, or Anything Else? Post in the comments section of this video!

[@shubhamchawla4860]

Hi I have a couple of questions: 1. How do I connect SAP S/4 HANA directly with Power BI? 2. Comparison of connectivity with Power BI between SAP HANA, SAP BW and SAP S/4HANA

[@wesverheijen]

hi! Seems like your comment got lost in the stack, better late than never :) 1 - Use the SAP Business Warehouse Application Connector. You'll connect to the BW component in ECC where you'll find Analytical Queries that are flagged for odata. Other option is OData connector, but you'll have to expose our data through OData API in ECC 2 - Complex question for this space :) for power BI, barely any difference. Most difference will be in your data preparation and master data. S/4 direct limits data preparation, BW is optimal for complex data structures and SAP HANA exposes bare tables, which requires full modeling in Power BI

[@osamaabd-elmohsen6427]

could you explain how can I connect sap with ODBC, I have installed it but it can not display in my drivers@@wesverheijen

[@virenpatel2573]

Hi Wessel- Thanks for the video. I had couple of questions : 1. Can we get data for a multiprovider using direct query and Import method. 2. Can get data from Master Data Infoobjects.

[@wesverheijen]

hi Viren, thanks for your question! When you use the SAP Business Warehouse Application Layer connector you get access to all infoproviders in the $INFOCUBE catalog for both DirectQuery and Import. You can also find Master Data InfoObjects and Multiproviders in this list. However, you optimise this by building a BEx query and connecting to that in Power BI using the same connector. good luck!

[@franksimms8358]

Great video. Looking for directions on building operation and financial using SAP and power bi. Thanks

[@wesverheijen]

hi Frank, you can use ABAP CDS Views in SAP to collect your data, and then extend them as Analytical View for other tools. The Analytical Views can be consumed as shown in the video. There are also a wide variety of standard CDS views available in SAP S/4HANA that you can consume as query. Does this help you along?

[@kennedylekoko9971]

How do I connect directly to SAP ECC DB2 from Power BI I tried IBM Db2 connector but it fails.

[@dominik6731]

Hi Wessel, thank you for the video. In this case you are connecting directly to the HANA database. Is there also a way to connect to CDS Views or Queries or BPC for example? Or do you just do the same and connect to HANA and the CDS views will be shown there? Best, Dominik

[@wesverheijen]

hi Dominik, thanks for your question! The process is the same. Cool thing is that Power BI approaches CDS (analyical) views, HANA Calculation Views, etc. just like regular BEx queries. I chose this example, because of the different behavior in BEx compared to Power BI is more apparent. Best, Wessel

[@egbertdejong6377]

Hi wessel - usefull thanks! 2 questions though 1) why not use HANA views instead of BEX queries 2) you know how to show in PowerBI go-to-links into SAP ECC e.g. directly opening a workorder in SAP in a new screen SSO?

[@wesverheijen]

Hi Egbert, thanks for your questions! 1) The process is the same. Cool thing is that Power BI approaches CDS (analyical) views, HANA Calculation Views, etc. just like regular BEx queries. I chose this example, because of the different behavior in BEx compared to Power BI is more apparent. 2) Oof, great question! In theory, you could generate a URL based on an ID in the query, but I'm not sure how these go-to links work under the hood of ECC. Also, I assume that Power BI reports will be consumed in the browser, so the URL would need to trigger opening the SAP GUI application and I haven't seen that before. I'm guessing that it would be more accessible if you're on S/4HANA Cloud, because you would remain in the browser window. Hope that helps you along! Regards, Wessel

[@fabianpassmann5610]

Hello, thank you for this video! Not sure if the SAP connections work in both directions or if its just a oneway. Is it possible to upload data from Power BI to SAP? (so the other way arround) What I am thinking of: Create a button in Power BI which when clicked uploads a certain data field (for instance a date) to the corresponding data field in SAP.

[@wesverheijen]

hi! sorry for the late response, my previous comment apparently didn't get saved. These connections only work one way. If you want to write back data, you would build a custom PowerApp that embeds into the report. Tricky thing here is that you'd need a write-API in SAP and I'm not sure these exists... if they do, then you'll need expert knowledge to build the PowerApp.

[@ARUN-kq2dt]

Hey Good Afternoon , In our Hana DB have more then 2 crores data Do you have any on this how to connect this much of data into Powerbi Please provide any solution on this

[@marnellej]

Hello Wessel, I was able to install the HANA ODBC, but when connecting via POWERBI, being asked for username/password as well as server certificate, I have asked our BASIS and they don't know what rights to assign to the user account that will connect to HANA DB. Just need read-only access right? What can I tell my BASIS ?

[@wesverheijen]

Hi Marnelle, thanks for watching the video and leaving a question! When connecting via Power BI to HANA, you are approaching HANA from a query perspective. You will find the "CV" prefix for your datasources after connecting. For this, you will need SELECT rights on the schema and object(s) that you're trying to connect. Hope this helps you! Kind regards, Wessel

[@amirbagali8414]

Hi Wessel, on 3:30, the characteristics are not expandable and hence unable to pull them on screen for development, when we are using PBI service, as against the pbi desktop where they are expandable . Anybody any idea how that can be fixed?

[@wesverheijen]

Hi! Interesting, i've never run into that problem before. Wouldn't know how to fix it, but I suggest to put it on the PBI forum.

[@vinaypeyala1010]

Thanks, Wessel for Providing excellent information Concerning connecting SAP BW data to Power BI. Is it possible to show flattening Bex query and how we can perform calculations? There is no such videos in You tube.

[@wesverheijen]

hi! It's on my list :) I'll link a video or blogpost when it's ready

[@franksimms8358]

Hello, For financial reporting, do you have a demo of doing this with powerbi? No other tools but powerbi pulling the data from sap for: Financials - cash flow, income statement and balance sheet? Thanks

[@wesverheijen]

Hi, not a full demo, but we've just published this video based on profit center accounting: Does this help? kzbin.info/www/bejne/qWquap1qg9GfrqM

[@texmexdragon2160]

Great video. Our company is about to migrate to S4 Hana. With the Fiori apps (which seem great), as a Power Bi developer I am a bit worried about my job security since we've always used Power Bi with our current ERP system. Is there a solid use case to continue using Power Bi with S4 Hana given that the Fiori applications seem very powerful?

[@wesverheijen]

hi TexMexDragon (lovely username by the way), thanks for your question. I do think there is still a need for custom reporting in Power BI (or other tools like SAP Analytics Cloud). Fiori apps are indeed powerful when you stick to the standard views and processes. When it comes to customized reports and processes, it quickly get difficult to adapt the fiori Apps since editing functionality is limited. It might still be necessary to create a custom report when the standard apps and views simply don't cover the process correctly. costs may also be a reason to keep Power BI alive, since a Power BI Licence may be much cheaper than an S/4 licence. In this case, you can create and share reports to users who have no access to S/4. Hope this answers your question and reliefs a little of your worries. Kind regards, Wessel

[@texmexdragon2160]

@@wesverheijen Thank you Wessel! Just what I was hoping to hear and perfect timing as well.

[@bnomar6182]

Hi, can I import data from sap (ERP) directly to power bi ? If so should i need to modify data with Query?

[@wesverheijen]

@@bnomar6182 hi! You can do so using ABAP CDS Views. You would create a View as 'analytical cube' and 'analytical view'. The Analytical View can be consumed as shown in the video. Does this answer your question?

[@bnomar6182]

@@wesverheijen I haven’t heard of ABAP views, is it a program that i can create a link with power BI?

[@adetayoodumade5248]

Thanks for this video. Please I am having a challenge configuring auto refresh of sap data on power bi

[@wesverheijen]

hi, please what is your challenge

[@edwinaragon8469]

​@@wesverheijen I think what he is saying is how can you auto refresh sap and have it reflect on power bi with the new data

[@wesverheijen]

Important here is to setup a On Premise Gateway on a server in the same network as your SAP system. This can be achieved by a minimal VM for example.

[@krishnadwivedi8705]

does power BI or tableau is useful for fico consultant in projects i am fico consultant

[@wesverheijen]

hi! Thanks for your question. I would suggest you to collaborate with a BI specialist in your organization to build a usable model and report. Power BI could be a great tool for financial analysis, but it might be very technical for you to get it setup properly for SAP FICO.

[@chetanchauhan5500]

Please explain in detail I didnt understood at all

[@wesverheijen]

Thank you for your feedback. I'll do my best to provide a more detailed explanation in the future to make the content more accessible and understandable to a wider audience

[@wesverheijen]

Do you have any questions about this video? Leave them here and I will respond to them personally!

[@wesverheijen]

or If you would like to learn more about creating reports in Power BI, then check out this McAdemy @home replay (NL) kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGisg6h9lrOsj9k&ab_channel=McCoy%26Partners

[@Nooon-zb3pj]

How can i link power bi to SAP for staffing

[@samueldavis2092]

My company is transitioning to managing work orders in SAP Fiori. I need to be able to pull work order data from SAP Fiori and display visuals, graphs, tables, etc. How would I be able to do this best with Power BI?

[@wesverheijen]

@@Nooon-zb3pj I have no specific experience with that use case, but if you can create views and queries with this data, the steps in the video are possibly still valid.

[@wesverheijen]

@@samueldavis2092 hi Samuel, look into the answer on Sreehari's comment. I've shared some instructions and a SAP-help link to get you started. good luck!

[@edwinaragon8469]

Why don't you show an example as to why bringing in key figures is bad and how it will be wrong. Then show the calculation in power bi

[@wesverheijen]

Does this help? kzbin.info/www/bejne/qWquap1qg9GfrqM

[@user-tz5xn4di6d]

improve sound quality

[@McCoy-TV]

Hi! Thanks for the feedback, we've improved sound quite a lot actually. Please check out kzbin.info/www/bejne/qWquap1qg9GfrqM for example!