Product Management · Product Design · SAP Analytics

SAP Lumira & SAP Analytics Cloud — from concept to five releases and the cloud

Defining and delivering SAP Lumira, SAP’s first self-service analytics product — owning product vision, feature scope, design system and release delivery from concept to five releases and the evolution into SAP Analytics Cloud.

Client: SAP
Industry: Enterprise software · Analytics
My role: Product Manager (product, design & release)
Scope: Product vision · 48-feature MVP · design system · desktop-to-cloud roadmap · 5 releases — 23-person design team, 170-person programme

€7M+revenue in the first year after release

250+downloads in the first week of Release to Customer

89%positive customer feedback

55%faster development through the design system

Business Challenge

SAP had three analytics products — SAP BusinessObjects, SAP Predictive Analysis and SAP Data Server — that were powerful but too complex for business users. There was no self-service tool for easy data analysis and real-time dashboard creation: a major gap in SAP’s portfolio, and a competitive risk in a fast-moving BI market.

Transformation Context

The mission was to conceive and deliver SAP Lumira, SAP’s first self-service analytics product: launched first as a desktop application and then evolved into SAP’s cloud analytics offering, SAP Analytics Cloud. I was accountable for the product from concept to five successful releases — spanning product management, design, technology decisions and delivery.

Enterprise Landscape

SAP Lumira desktop, and later the cloud-based SAP Analytics Cloud
Integration with SAP Predictive Analytics for advanced, guided analysis
Data sources across SAP and non-SAP systems
A global programme of 170 people across product management, engineering and leadership
A 23-person design team across Bangalore, Walldorf, Shanghai and Vancouver

Business Process / Operating Model

I set up how a global team would take a new product from idea to market:

Market analysis of competing analytics products to identify gaps and define the feature list
Embedded human-centred design in every phase — 360° user research, prototyping and validation with SAP customers before development
Agile design sprints running ahead of engineering, with streamlined design-to-development handoffs
Structured delivery process with design quality gates, aligned with DevOps

Lumira strategy and design process — 360° research → vision concept → product design → test and validate → develop.

Architecture & Solution Decisions

Product decisions balanced ease of use for business users with the depth enterprise customers expected. I defined the product vision and a 48-feature MVP, then shaped how it would scale across releases and platforms.

Product management

Market analysis of analytics products and gap identification
Product vision, feature list and 48-feature MVP scope
Roadmap from desktop to cloud across five releases

Technology

Desktop-to-cloud evolution into SAP Analytics Cloud
Integration of SAP Predictive Analytics into Lumira
Component-based UI framework for desktop and web

Design

Product design vision and experience strategy
Human-centred design with SAP customers
Atomic design system across the analytics suite

Feature & release management

Agile design sprints ahead of engineering
Quality gates and DevOps-aligned delivery
Release to Customer and five successful releases

SAP S/4HANA / BTP Role

Lumira sat alongside SAP’s enterprise applications and data platforms, bringing self-service analytics to business users on SAP and non-SAP data. The move from desktop to cloud, and the integration of SAP Predictive Analytics, positioned it as the foundation of SAP’s cloud analytics direction.

Lumira analytics story — Analytics story built in SAP Lumira.

AI Opportunity

Lumira brought predictive capability to business users. I led the successful integration of SAP Predictive Analytics into SAP Lumira — making advanced predictive insight accessible without data-science skills — and I am named inventor on related patents, including Guided Predictive Analysis with Templates and Dynamic Input Control Creation for SAP Analytics Cloud.

Experience Strategy

A key contribution was the Lumira Design System: a scalable, component-based framework for SAP’s analytics suite, following the atomic design pattern — pages, layouts, UI controls, icons and themes — that worked across desktop and web. Built with product management, solution architects and development teams, it improved consistency, streamlined development and accelerated delivery timelines by 55%.

Lumira design system control specifications — UI control specifications.

UX strategy, design ops and UX delivery — Strategy, design ops and delivery — the operating model I ran.

My Leadership & Responsibilities

Owned product vision, experience strategy and the 48-feature MVP scope
Ran market analysis and defined the feature list and roadmap
Led a 23-person design team across four global locations within a 170-person programme
Owned strategy, DevOps alignment and design delivery through five releases
Engaged SAP analytics leadership to align strategy while advocating for user needs

Sujit presenting at an SAP analytics innovation event — Presenting the Lumira experience strategy at SAP.

Key Decisions and Trade-offs

DecisionSelf-service first: design for business users, not analysts

Trade-offSome expert depth deferred to later releases, in exchange for broad adoption.

DecisionShip a focused 48-feature MVP, then iterate

Trade-offA leaner first release, in exchange for faster time to market and real customer feedback.

DecisionInvest early in a shared design system and UI framework

Trade-offUp-front effort across teams, repaid by 55% faster development and consistency across desktop and cloud.

DecisionEvolve from desktop to cloud

Trade-offRe-platforming effort, in exchange for SAP’s long-term cloud analytics direction.

Business Outcome / Transformation Roadmap

Lumira made an immediate impact at Release to Customer and grew into SAP’s cloud analytics offering:

Concept & MVPMarket gap analysis, product vision and a 48-feature MVP.

Release to Customer250+ downloads in week one; listed in Gartner’s innovative analytics apps.

Scale to the cloudFive releases, predictive integration and evolution into SAP Analytics Cloud.

€7M+revenue in the first year