From March 20-23, data and analytics leaders from around the world came together in Orlando, Florida, for the Gartner Data & Analytics Summit. SAP was proud to be a premier plus sponsor at this event, and I was honored to attend.
The summit featured the most recent trends, technologies, and strategies in the world of data and analytics. It offered a unique opportunity for attendees to learn from industry experts and gain insights into how businesses are using data and analytics to foster innovation.
While a wide variety of topics were addressed, data fabric stood out as a recurring theme. Data fabric is an approach to data management, deployment, and automation, and it took center stage during the sessions, workshops, and even the booth conversations.
The prominence of data fabric at the event underscores its growing importance in the field of data and analytics technology, which was exciting to see. Let’s dive into the key highlights.
1. Taking an Integrated Approach to Data and Analytics at the SAP Booth
SAP’s booth presence was a major highlight at the summit, showcasing our suite of data and analytics solutions. Many attendees were interested in learning more about the launch of SAP Datasphere, as well as our recently announced open data partnerships with Databricks, Collibra, Confluent, and DataRobot.
SAP Datasphere was launched last month and is our comprehensive data service that enables users to easily distribute mission-critical business data across their data landscapes. Together with our partnerships, SAP Datasphere is the foundation that can enable a business data fabric.
More than ever before, organizations need accurate, easily accessible data that’s available in business-friendly terms. A business data fabric architecture delivers an integrated, semantically rich data layer over underlying data landscapes and provides seamless and scalable access to data without duplication. By leveraging a business data fabric, organizations can deliver meaningful data to every user – with the business context and logic intact – and position themselves for long-term success.
It was inspiring to see so much interest in the business data fabric topic, not only in the sessions at the conference but also in the conversations at the SAP booth. This level of enthusiasm demonstrates the growing recognition of data fabric’s potential to revolutionize data and analytics strategy, further validating its importance in the evolving digital landscape.
2. Leveraging a Business Data Fabric with Glanbia
Tom Harrington, senior business intelligence analyst at Glanbia, led the session “SAP: How Glanbia Drives Better Financial Decisions with Trusted, Authoritative Data.” Harrington shared how Glanbia, a world leader in performance and lifestyle nutrition, gained a complete overview of its business by connecting data across cloud, on-premise, and flat files.
Glanbia leveraged SAP Datasphere and SAP Analytics Cloud to federate data from different sources using a business data fabric. Now, Glanbia business users create their own dashboards using SAP Analytics Cloud and their own models in SAP Datasphere, without assistance from IT users. They’ve generated more meaningful financial insights to maximize the impact of decisions on their bottom line.
“We’ve been able to transform into a data-driven organization in a quick amount of time,” Harrington said. “SAP Datasphere and SAP Analytics Cloud have enabled us to do that.”
Glanbia is an example of how companies can use a business data fabric to better manage, access, and analyze their data, leading to more informed decision-making, improved efficiency, and increased competitiveness in the market.
Harrington ended the session by saying, “We’re excited about the future.”
3. Showcasing Advanced Analytics at the Show Floor Showdown
SAP Analytics Cloud was featured as part of the “Show Floor Showdown: Analytics and Business Intelligence Vendors II.” SAP competed against two other vendors to analyze and interpret a data set from Gartner.
Robert Thibodeaux, senior solution engineer, leveraged SAP Analytics Cloud and SAP Datasphere to combine data from disparate sources, define calculations and measures, and create hierarchies and dimensions. He then presented a visualization of his findings and demonstrated the interactive storytelling features of SAP Analytics Cloud. Thibodeaux ended his presentation by emphasizing the ease of use for business users.
“If the user knows the data, they can trust data,” he said. “All that insight is in one place.”
The show floor showdown was a great illustration of the practical applications of advanced analytics, and it highlighted SAP Analytics Cloud as a standout solution. Advanced analytics play a crucial role in helping businesses transform raw data into actionable insights, enabling them to make better decisions, improve performance, and maintain a competitive edge in today’s rapidly evolving marketplace.
Coming Up Next
Don’t miss the “End-to-end Data Governance with SAP and Collibra” webinar on April 18, 2023. Tune in to learn how SAP and Collibra can deliver a simplified way to govern your data estate. Sign up for the webinar to find out more.
Join us at SAP Sapphire to learn more about SAP’s latest innovations and connect with industry experts. Attend the event online or in Orlando from May 16-17, in Barcelona from May 24-25, and in São Paulo from June 1-2. Register for SAP Sapphire today.
Unleash the Power of Your Business Data
SAP data and analytics solutions can maximize the value of your SAP data for the most impactful decisions by retaining its full business meaning and context. With SAP data and analytics solutions, you can deliver trusted insights on a modern data stack and extend planning and analysis across the enterprise for better outcomes.
Read more about the recently launched SAP Datasphere and its capabilities. To experience the power of SAP Datasphere firsthand, try the guided experience.
Daniel Yu is senior vice president of Solution Management and Product Marketing for SAP Data and Analytics.