What's New in MDG for SAP S/4HANA 2023 Feature Pack Stack 2 (FPS2)?

Enhanced Data Quality Analytics

The new Data Quality Analytics 2.0 introduces improved dashboards through SAP Analytics Cloud, offering real-time insights into data quality with enhanced drill-down capabilities across various segments like Business Partner Core Data and Product Master Data. This allows organizations to gain deeper insights into data quality issues, making it a valuable addition for new installations or upgrades.

• Analytics CDS Views: There are now 14 Analytics CDS views and 2 pre-built dashboards in SAP Analytics Cloud, enabling users to quickly analyze and act on data quality metrics.
• During new installations or upgrades consider introducing this feature.
• For more details, check out the blog of Kefang Wang from SAP here.

SAP Business Workflow Integration

For those operating in cloud-ready mode since S/4HANA 2023, you can now leverage with this new FSP2 use local workflows alongside BTP-based workflows. This flexibility can help streamline approval processes and change request handling in hybrid environments, providing an easier to implement workflow experience.

Central Governance Improvements

Several enhancements in central governance aim to streamline data management processes:

• Material Data Enhancements: The improved copying functionality allows for more selective copying of material data, offering greater control during data migrations and updates.
• Validation Rules for Classifications: Enhanced validation rules for classes and characteristics during change requests enable better data governance. (Interestingly, someone in Alluvion asked about this recently!)
• Business Partner Data Enhancements: Improvements include better content display for partner functions and relationship categories, as well as enhanced search options, making it easier to manage and navigate partner data.

Generative AI Integration

While the real world use case of this feature might be up for debate 😊, the Generative AI Integration introduces some AI capabilities to MDG:

• Assisted and Summary of Changes: AI helps summarize changes in natural language for easier verification and review, aiding in more efficient processing of change requests in both classic and cloud-ready modes.

What's Up Next? Key Highlights

Looking ahead, SAP's roadmap for MDG here's an overview of what is waiting for us in 2025:

• Enhanced Field Extensibility (Q1 2025): New options for customizing fields in customer and supplier views within the cloud-ready mode, offering more flexibility to tailor MDG to specific business needs and adapt to unique data requirements.

• SAP HANA-Based Search (Q1 2025): The default implementation of SAP HANA-based search for central governance will enhance data retrieval speeds, making it easier for users to find and manage the data they need.

• Central Governance for Business Partner Data (Q3 2025): A major focus on strengthening centralized control, enabling streamlined management of business partner data across the organization for better consistency and compliance.

• Automation of Cloud-Ready Processes (Q4 2025): Enhanced automation capabilities in cloud-ready mode, specifically for business partner data, aim to reduce manual effort and improve operational efficiency, allowing teams to focus on more strategic tasks.

• Federation with SAP MDG (Q4 2025): This feature will enable seamless integration with federated governance across multiple SAP S/4HANA instances, supporting complex, multi-entity organizations in maintaining a unified data strategy.

• Revamped User Experience (Q1 2025): A focus on improving the user experience for cloud-ready processes, making interactions more intuitive and aligning the UI with modern user expectations.

• Application-Agnostic Legal Hierarchies (Q4 2025): The introduction of application-agnostic legal hierarchies for business partner data will allow companies to manage legal structures more flexibly, supporting diverse business setups.