To meet your business-related requirements perfectly, you must ensure that the data integration and orchestration procedure is correctly done.
But what do we mean when we utter the term ‘data’? Is it only about the technical info that you get from your SAP-based belongings? No, not really. Besides the data you get from SAP, you must integrate and orchestrate the information offered by –
- Third-party media,
- IoT,
- Media solutions,
- Cloud services, and
- Business-related processes.
Previously, SAP used to offer a not-so-perfect option, known as SAP Data Hub, to provide a solution to your data management and orchestration issues. However, its limitations prevented people from easing the proceedings a bit more.
With the launch of SAP BTP Data Intelligence, SAP has subdued these glaring problems to some extent. Let’s keep reading to know more in this context.
What is SAP Data Intelligence?
As stated before, SAP Data Intelligence is an all-inclusive data management solution that can help you efficiently orchestrate the business data flow.
As a data management and orchestration layer of SAP BTP, it can transform distributed data into elaborative data insights, offering innovative organisational scaling.
Apart from this, it can also provide –
- Data processing,
- Data flow management, and
- Data integration.
All in all, it’s a comprehensive solution that can help you keep your data securely and exploit it whenever and wherever you want.
SAP Data Intelligence follows a Bring Your Own License (BYOL) model. So, it can be deployed on a hyperscaler public (Google, AWS, etc.), in an on-premise data centre, and on the private cloud. However, the efficacy of the product will change accordingly.
For example, if the app is being hosted on AWS, it’ll have an EC2 instance running behind it. Hence, it will be scalable to your business-specific requirement.
In any case, connecting SAP Data Intelligence with an on-premise app can be done in two ways, including the following –
- By using a site-to-site VPN, and
- By deploying a cloud connector.
The Architecture of SAP Data Intelligence
The architecture of SAP Data Intelligence usually stands on four different cornerstones. Here is what you need to know about them –
1: Data Integration
Depending on your business, your organisation may have systems that require integrating complex data types. Maybe you have a data lake for the same reason too.
Hence, in that case, the data transformation will happen on the fly for you. However, these integrations may require you to use –
- An on-premise legacy processing engine,
- A cloud-processing engine or a
- An open-source engine (like TensorFlow or R. Python).
These requirements are generally supported by the capability of connecting to non-SAP and SAP-based systems, like –
- ABAP integration
- SAP cloud data integration (SAP Concur, SAP Customer Experience, SAP Fieldglass)
- Standard connectors for native and open protocols
- Cloud storage, and
- SP BTP Platform
This functionality will enable you to create, delete, update, and monitor whatever connections or changes you make to your business data.
2: Streaming
SAP Data Intelligence comes with the Kafka Consumer operator and the Kafka Producer. And it also features stream processing services alongside a storage layer. So, with it, you can quickly and efficiently establish a messaging system and start using it accordingly.
Adding a Kafka service in your system alongside the SAP Data Intelligence can enable you to set up connectivity using Connection Management.
Once the connection is created, it’ll be possible for you to employ a consumer and producer operator in SAP DI Modeler to orchestrate the data flow.
3: Governance
Using the Metadata Explorer, a user can find and profile the data consumed to identify recurring business rules and potential anomalies accordingly. These may require a lot of high-quality data passed downstream from BTP Data Intelligence.
You might also utilise a specific spreadsheet-based UI (user interface) functionality alongside metadata crawlers to –
- Classify,
- Explore, and
- Label
… the data assets available across the connected landscape.
Apart from data profiling and discovery, the data lineage-related features can also help a user by reviewing data transformation history and the relevant metadata. If it’s been altered somehow, you will also be able to review it by time and date.
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Orchestration
As an all-inclusive data management tool, SAP DI can provide a unified view of the available information to streamline the processing and integration accordingly.
The solution will also allow you to design excellent data pipelines that utilise an open-source module. Hence, they can be reused no matter how many times you want.
Finally, SAP DI can help you perform centralised distributed information management by offering visibility into different pipelines and data sources across your landscape.
SAP Data Intelligence can also help you monitor a machine-learning-based pipeline and help you decide the suitable model to use.
How to Get Started with SAP DI?
SAP DI Launchpad is the core entry point for every SAP DI-based application. But, before you get started with it, you will need to follow these prerequisites –
- Ensure you have the correct credentials and URL for the SAP DI Cloud.
- Ensure that you are associated with a module or tenant where the Launchpad is going to be deployed.
As a browser-based application, Launchpad offers a single access point to a range of different user-facing tools and apps, such as –
- SAP DI System Management,
- SAP DI Modeler, and
- SAP DI Connection Management.
The Launchpad will display applications based on the user as well as their ID credentials. Remember – you can only access the application that belongs to the associated tenant.
The Procedure
The process of getting started with SAP DI may follow the below-mentioned steps –
- Go to your browser and open the SAP DI Launchpad URL from it. It, in turn, will lead you to the welcome screen of the system.
- Now, log into the Launchpad by using the following credentials –
- Username
- Tenant name
- Password
- If you’ve entered everything correctly, the SAP DI Launchpad will open instantly and display the home page. The title header of the same will contain –
- The DI Launchpad dropdown (it can be used to launch whatever application an individual wants to use for their business requirement)
- The user details (can be found on the upper-right side of the initial home page. Choose the username to check the tenant details.
- A ‘?’ icon will also be available here that will open an application-based help page. It will guide you through how you should use it properly.
The homepage will display all the available applications within the tenant.
Note: Be sure to note down your password on a specific page or place. If you write in wrongly more than five times a minute, your account will temporarily be blocked.
Features of SAP Data Intelligence
There are four different features currently available in SAP DI. Here’s what you need to know about them –
1: Data Integration
By connecting with data assets and gaining insights, you can use data to support better decision-making and enable intelligent processes.
Here are three sub-features that can be used under it –
- Enterprise-wide data management (manage, integrate, and process all of your business data in a unified and holistic manner while supporting intelligent methods)
- Management across hybrid environment (manage complex data formation from one or more locations and automate them through a single UI)
- Data discovery in business information (augment and transform your business’s data discovery or understanding across different data types).
2: Enterprise Data Management
With it, you can transform unstructured, structured, and streaming data into valuable business insights. Hence, it will be easier for everyone to make faster and better decisions.
Apart from that, it can also help you with –
- Integrating and connecting data – from unstructured to structured information – in one location with a single click.
- Orchestrate whatever data you have on your cloud and organise them accordingly.
- Support different processing engines.
3: Machine Learning
With machine learning working by your side, you can innovate your system quickly. It’ll also maximise your overall business value and improve your work assessment.
Besides you may also use it for –
- Enhance and extend your business-related procedures using ML to optimise all the processes accordingly and reduce errors.
- Bring your data science and IT teams together by managing and operationalising ML-related learning artefacts.
- Accelerate your transition to deployment from prototype while reusing your models and operators accordingly.
4: Data Catalog
SAP BTP DI comes with a next-generation data management feature that can help you learn more about the data you’re receiving and ensure that it’s suitable to use.
Besides, it can be employed for the following points as well –
- You can create and develop a business glossary with data ratings and business rules.
- Understand your data lineage and leverage masking and anonymisation.
- Classify, discover, profile, and prepare all of your enterprise data assets.
Make Your Business… Intelligent!
When it comes to profiling your audience base and improving the agility of your business, nothing else can be more influential than SAP Data Intelligence. Hence, integrate it with your business model today and improve how you work to a massive extent.
