{"id":3799,"date":"2025-08-12T19:13:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T18:13:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/?p=3799"},"modified":"2025-08-28T21:47:31","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T20:47:31","slug":"sap-analytics-cloud-qrc-3-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/sap-analytics-cloud-qrc-3-preview","title":{"rendered":"SAP Analytics Cloud 2025 QRC 3 Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s mid-summer 2025, and that can only mean one thing: the new SAP Analytics Cloud quarterly release is coming! To get in the mood, I\u2019ve gone through the recent release notes from the bi-weekly tenant updates and picked out some interesting new features.<\/p>\n

AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n

AI has finally truly<\/em> landed in SAP Analytics Cloud. We\u2019ve had the clunky Just Ask<\/strong> (formerly \u201cSearch to Insight\u201d) for some time, but with the QRC3 release, we\u2019re making some serious progress. <\/p>\n

You can now have SAC generate a formula in a Data Action based on a prompt, and it can also explain a formula to you in script comments. The Data Analyzer has a similar new feature called the AI Formula Assistant<\/strong> that can generate formulas based on some text. In the PowerPoint add-in (yes, it’s little-known but you can link SAC objects to PPT!), SAC can write a summary of a chart. Lastly, SAC can now summarize and translate (data point) comments.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

All very interesting developments, and I was eager to see how such LLM integrations would work in SAC, especially in Data Actions and the Data Analyzer. Unfortunately, apparently you need to purchase an AI units<\/strong> license before you can use any of this. Sigh.<\/em> So I haven\u2019t been able to try any of it yet and am still stuck copy-pasting between SAC and ChatGPT for now. It\u2019s a shame SAP doesn\u2019t offer a model where you can run a small number of prompts for free and only pay for heavier use, like most major LLM providers do. I fear very few customers will be willing to pay for such a limited set of features.<\/p>\n

For more information on how to enable the AI-Assisted Features in SAC, check this link<\/a>. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Homescreen<\/strong> <\/h2>\n

Luckily, there\u2019s more than AI in this release. The Homescreen, specifically the Today<\/strong> tab, has had a major update and now looks fresh but VERY<\/em> busy. Fortunately, you can hide and rearrange sections. In practice, I rarely use this myself and usually direct users to stories via the Catalog. I always set the Catalog tab as the default homepage, and ideally, I\u2019d remove Today entirely to avoid confusing users but that’s not possible at the moment. Still, if someone accidentally clicks Today, at least it looks more cheerful than before.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Add Multiple Dimension Members At Once<\/strong> <\/h2>\n

You can now add multiple new dimension members at once from within a story instead of one at a time. A new screen, similar to editing dimensions from the model, lets you also enter and adjust properties. Handy!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Data Analyzer<\/strong> <\/h2>\n

The Data Analyzer (DA) is probably the most underrated feature in SAC. Many users don\u2019t even know it exists! A damn shame, because it\u2019s essentially a built-in Analysis for Office in SAC, without needing Excel. SAP has steadily expanded the DA into a rich tool, increasingly integrated with other SAC features.<\/p>\n

It was already possible to jump from a widget to the DA, but now we can make a jump via a hyperlink to an Insight (a saved Data Analyzer state), including the selected dimension member(s) as a filter! Hyperlinks are often used in scenarios where you want to go from a high-level view to a (very) detailed table that shows all kinds of dimensions and measures. I often use hidden pages for this as I don’t want users to go to these detailed pages without applying some filters first. With this new “Hyperlink to Insight” this is not necessary anymore and we could use the DA instead and move all these details outside of the story.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Another nice update on DA is that you can now schedule a publication and distribute these insights as a PDF, XLS, or CSV, just as was already possible in the stories. <\/p>\n

Few know the DA exists, fewer know you can create charts in it (depending on the data source!), and even fewer know it has its own Custom Calculation editor! For these fanatics three new functions are being added: TONUMBER<\/strong>, FINDINDEX<\/strong>, ENDSWITCH<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Stories<\/strong> <\/h2>\n

At last, we arrive at the stories: the part of SAC that most of us spend the majority of our time working with. First, a big change: from this release onward, you can NO LONGER create stories in the Classic Story experience. I\u2019m not sure why anyone would still want to, as all serious SAC features have long been available in Optimized Mode. But now it\u2019s officially not an option when creating new stories. Existing classic stories can still be viewed, edited, and copied, but this will likely end with the 2026 QRC2 release. Time to migrate those old stories!<\/p>\n

Now for the new features. First, a few small styling updates: widgets now have inside margins; positive\/negative values can be shown with arrows; and the bulky conditional formatting popup can be disabled. There are also more options for fine-tuning chart axis lines and labels.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

A major addition is the Performance Recommendations<\/strong> tab, found in the same menu as Errors and Reference List (mainly used for scripting). It provides per-widget suggestions to improve story performance. Very useful!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

Then there\u2019s the New Table Build Experience<\/strong>. Apparently, we haven\u2019t migrated enough from classic to optimized things in SAC over the past few years, so now we have to decide per story whether to switch to this new table experience or not. There\u2019s a short list of restrictions<\/a>, the most annoying being that Edit Member Order<\/strong> is not yet available, along with some missing popular script APIs.<\/p>\n

\n

UPDATE 28 AUGUST 2025:<\/strong> I was informed by SAC Product Management that Edit Member Order is replaced by Custom Order Sorting on the Measures! This is actually a much better solution than the Edit Member Order ever was: you are able to create multiple custom orders, show only visible measures and show measure IDs! This is very very useful in stories with lots of measures. Check the below screenshot. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

So what\u2019s new here? Not much, it seems… The menu looks slightly different, and some options have moved to more logical places. The big news is that BLENDING IS BACK!<\/strong> WHAT?!<\/strong> This feature disappeared in Optimized Story mode (and honestly never worked that well), but it\u2019s now returned! It works not only in tables but also in charts (no migration needed for charts). <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

For now, I\u2019d only use this new table experience if you really<\/em> want blending (which I wouldn’t recommend to use at all) until the restrictions are gone. Just note that ALL tables in a story must be converted to the new experience if you want to use this.<\/p>\n

SAP Analytics Cloud 2025 QRC 3 is expected to arrive Sunday morning 17 August 2025. Have fun!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s mid-summer 2025, and that can only mean one thing: the new SAP Analytics Cloud quarterly release is coming! To get in the mood, I\u2019ve gone through the recent release notes from the bi-weekly tenant updates and picked out some interesting new features. AI AI has finally truly landed in SAP Analytics Cloud. We\u2019ve had the clunky […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[299],"tags":[357,342],"class_list":["post-3799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sap-analytics-cloud","tag-ai","tag-data-analyzer"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pKaa2-Zh","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3577,"url":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/video-sap-analytics-cloud-explorer-data-analyzer-update-2021-1","url_meta":{"origin":3799,"position":0},"title":"Video: SAP Analytics Cloud Explorer & Data Analyzer Update [2021.1]","author":"Xavier Hacking","date":"December 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"SAP Analytics Cloud is kicking 2021 off with some very useful updates regarding its self-service features! In release 2021.1 the Explorer gets a much more prominent position in the SAC stories. For the Data Analyzer it is now finally possible to store your analysis. Check the video for a quick\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "SAP Analytics Cloud"","block_context":{"text":"SAP Analytics Cloud","link":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/category\/sap-analytics-cloud"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/HG6v4qGqOdA\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3604,"url":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/video-sap-analytics-cloud-data-analyzer-update-2021-22","url_meta":{"origin":3799,"position":1},"title":"Video: SAP Analytics Cloud Data Analyzer Update [2021.22]","author":"Xavier Hacking","date":"November 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The SAC Data Analyzer is an ad-hoc analysis tool built-in the SAP Analytics Cloud platform, which works in a similar way as the classic BEx Web or the Analysis for Office plugin for Excel. For some unknown reason you could only access the Data Analyzer via a specific URL; not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "SAP Analytics Cloud"","block_context":{"text":"SAP Analytics Cloud","link":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/category\/sap-analytics-cloud"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/G-cWgRaFm2A\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3616,"url":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/sap-analytics-cloud-fast-track-release-notes-2021-21-2022-1","url_meta":{"origin":3799,"position":2},"title":"SAP Analytics Cloud Fast Track Release Notes (2021.21 – 2022.1)","author":"Xavier Hacking","date":"December 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"As SAP decided to stop publicly sharing the SAP Analytics Cloud Fast Track release notes with Quarterly Release Cycle customers, I'll just share them on my blog for those of you who are interested on what's coming up. You can check your SAC version via System > About in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "SAP Analytics Cloud"","block_context":{"text":"SAP Analytics Cloud","link":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/category\/sap-analytics-cloud"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sac_about_ft.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3794,"url":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/de-nederlandse-bi-podcast-business-data-cloud-is-here-is-het-echt-zo-revolutionair","url_meta":{"origin":3799,"position":3},"title":"De Nederlandse BI Podcast: Business Data Cloud is here! Is het echt zo revolutionair?","author":"Xavier Hacking","date":"February 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"English summary (AI generated): In the latest episode of the DNBIP podcast, several key updates and developments within the SAP world were discussed. From technological improvements in SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) to the announcement of the Business Data Cloud (BDC), there is plenty to explore. Here\u2019s a summary of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "De Nederlandse BI Podcast"","block_context":{"text":"De Nederlandse BI Podcast","link":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/category\/podcast"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3521,"url":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/sap-analytics-cloud-2019-roundup-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly","url_meta":{"origin":3799,"position":4},"title":"SAP Analytics Cloud 2019 Roundup: the good, the bad and the ugly","author":"Xavier Hacking","date":"December 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"2019 is almost over, so just like last year\u00a0this is a good moment to look back at what happened in the SAP Analytics Cloud universe over the past 12 months. This year we got an astonishing 24 wave releases for the SAC tenants that are on the fast track schedule,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "SAP Analytics Cloud"","block_context":{"text":"SAP Analytics Cloud","link":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/category\/sap-analytics-cloud"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3508,"url":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/video-sap-analytics-cloud-data-analyzer-2019-14","url_meta":{"origin":3799,"position":5},"title":"Video: SAP Analytics Cloud Data Analyzer [2019.14]","author":"Xavier Hacking","date":"July 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"SAP Analytics Cloud version 2019.14 introduces a new cool feature: the Data\u00a0Analyzer. With the Data Analyzer we can instantly report on BEx Queries in SAP Analytics Cloud, without having to create a model first (don't panic, HANA views are also on the roadmap). For those who have used the Lumira\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "SAP Analytics Cloud"","block_context":{"text":"SAP Analytics Cloud","link":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/category\/sap-analytics-cloud"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/q_UtfZYqqhg\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3799"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3824,"href":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3799\/revisions\/3824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hackingsap.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}