The Future of Planning in Excel: The SAP Analytics Cloud Add-in as a Strategic Frontend – Part 1: Introduction

For many business users in finance and controlling, Microsoft Excel is more than just software — it’s the daily tool for analysis, reporting, and, above all, corporate planning. Its flexibility and familiar environment are unbeatable. But how do you combine this flexibility with the power, security, and scalability of a central planning platform like the SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC)?

The answer is the SAP Analytics Cloud Add-in for Microsoft Office. This modern add-in is positioned as the strategic successor to the proven SAP Analysis for Office, bridging the gap between the familiar world of Excel and the powerful in-memory planning engine of SAC.

A Quick Comparison: Analysis for Office vs. SAC Add-in

For anyone who has worked with SAP data in Excel for years, SAP Analysis for Office (AfO) is an old friend. It’s a robust and feature-rich tool, primarily designed for analyzing data from SAP BW and S/4HANA. It is based on traditional COM add-in technology and is heavily focused on querying BEx Queries or CDS Views.

The new SAC Add-in, on the other hand, was built from the ground up as a native frontend for the SAP Analytics Cloud. Here are the key differences and advantages at a glance:

  • Architecture: The SAC add-in is a modern Microsoft Office 365 add-in (based on WebView2). This allows for centralized, cloud-based deployment and management directly from the Microsoft Admin Center—without cumbersome client installations.
  • Connectivity: While AfO connects directly to backend systems like SAP BW, the primary and sole anchor point for the SAC add-in is your SAC tenant. All data, models, and permissions are sourced centrally from SAC.
  • Focus on Planning: The add-in is optimized for SAC planning models. Features like data entry, running data actions, version management, and using planning features are seamlessly integrated. You work in Excel but leverage the full power of the SAC planning engine in the background.
  • Future Strategy: SAP is clearly positioning the SAC add-in as the strategic tool for Excel integration in the cloud world.

The Architecture: Native Planning and „Seamless Integration“ into Datasphere

The true strength of the new approach lies in its seamless architecture. Instead of keeping planning data in separate silos, SAC allows for direct integration with SAP Datasphere.

This concept ensures that planning data entered in Excel via the SAC add-in can be written directly into the underlying structures of SAP Datasphere. The data flow remains consistent and is always controlled by SAC.

Architecture Diagram: Planning with the SAC Add-in

Building an Interactive Planning Sheet

A simple data table is just the beginning, but the true strength of the add-in lies in the combination of SAC data and the flexibility of Excel. Our goal is not just to display data, but to design an interactive planning input screen.

1. Define a Clear Layout:

Using the „Builder“ panel, drag the required dimensions into the rows and columns.

2. Use Excel Formulas for Ad-Hoc Analysis:

This is the key advantage: you can use native Excel formulas right next to the data loaded from SAC. For example, add a sum column and calculate it with a simple formula like =SUM (C7:E7). This cell updates dynamically as soon as new plan data is entered or changed.

3. Add Data Action Triggers:

Currently the excel add in supports triggering Data Actions directly (Multi Actions are planned for Q4 2025).

That’s it for the first part of this blog series, stay tuned for more advanced/technical content in the next blog post.

Author: Alexander Maislinger

Alexander is a experienced Business Intelligence Consultant renowned for architecting and delivering native SAP Analytics Cloud planning and reporting solutions, as well as pioneering SAP Datasphere and Seamless Planning implementations. He has led cross-functional BI teams and driven end-to-end planning and reporting programs, shaping BI strategy, defining technical architectures, and enforcing coding best practices while overseeing resource allocation, budget control, and service ownership. A specialist in requirements engineering, stakeholder engagement, data governance, and process optimization, Alexander combines exceptional analytical acumen with deep technical insight to deliver robust, scalable BI solutions.

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