Analyzing business data for planning applications

• US 8,412,549 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2010
• Issued: 04/02/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Graeber, Astrid R., Baeck, Christian, Wilmes, Martin J., Scheiber, Christoph, Sinzig, Werner
• Primary Examiner(s): Dixon, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): VIZVARY, GERALD C
• Application Number:
  US12/981,862
• Publication Number:
  US 20110282704A1
• Time in Patent Office: 824 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7.11, 705/7.12, 705/7.13, 705/7.23, 705/7.36
• US Class Current: 705/7.11
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0637 Strategic management or analysis, e.g. setting a goal or target of an organisation; Planning actions based on goals; Analysis or evaluation of effectiveness of goals

Abstract

The present disclosure involves systems, software, and computer implemented methods for providing efficient planning through analyzing data. One process includes operations for generating a business object containing parameters and plan data of a business plan, the plan data represented by a plurality of aggregation levels. A change to a particular item in the plan data is identified, the change associated with a particular aggregation level. The change to the particular item is automatically propagated to a lowest level of granularity of the plan data, and the change to the particular item is available to each of the plurality of aggregation levels.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for analyzing business data for planning applications, comprising:

generating, by operation of at least one computer, a business object containing parameters and plan data of a business plan, wherein the plan data is represented by a hierarchical plurality of aggregation levels and logically grouped at different levels of granularity at each aggregation level;

identifying a change to a particular item in the plan data, the change associated with a particular aggregation level; and

distributing the change to the particular item to a lowest level of granularity of the plan data of at least one aggregation level above and of at least one aggregation level below the particular aggregation level.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the lowest level of granularity of the plan data is a storage layer of the business plan.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the change is identified by accessing transactional data associated with the particular item.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the transactional data is accessed from an in-memory database.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the in-memory database contains transactional data and analytical data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the change is identified by receiving a user input indicating modification of the particular item.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein each aggregation level is associated with a particular view of data in the aggregation level.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein each view associated with the particular item is updated in response to the change.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein a view associated with the storage layer of the business plan comprises a view of the plan data at the lowest level of granularity of the plan data.

10. A computer program product encoded on a non-transitory, tangible storage medium, the product comprising computer readable instructions for causing one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

generating a business object containing parameters and plan data of a business plan, wherein the plan data is represented by a hierarchical plurality of aggregation levels and logically grouped at different levels of granularity at each aggregation level;

identifying a change to a particular item in the plan data, the change associated with a particular aggregation level; and

distributing the change to the particular item to a lowest level of granularity of the plan data of at least one aggregation level above and of at least one aggregation level below the particular aggregation level.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the lowest level of granularity of the plan data is a storage layer of the business plan.

12. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the change is identified by accessing transactional data associated with the particular item.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the transactional data is accessed from an in-memory database.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the in-memory database contains transactional data and analytical data.

15. A system, comprising:

memory operable to store at least one business object containing parameters and plan data of a business plan, wherein the plan data is represented by a hierarchical plurality of aggregation levels and logically grouped at different levels of granularity at each aggregation level; and

one or more processors operable to;

identify a change to a particular item in the plan data, the change associated with a particular aggregation level; and

distribute the change to the particular item to a lowest level of granularity of the plan data of at least one aggregation level above and of at least one aggregation level below the particular aggregation level.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the change is identified by receiving a user input indicating modification of the particular item.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein each aggregation level is associated with a particular view of data in the aggregation level.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein each view associated with the particular item is updated in response to the change.