SAC live connection vs import model: which one to choose (and why it matters)

Before you build anything in SAP Analytics Cloud, you make one decision that shapes everything after it: live connection or import model? Get it right and the rest is smooth. Get it wrong and you'll fight the tool for months. Here's how to choose, without the marketing gloss.

The core difference in one line

With an import (acquired) model, data is copied into SAC and stored there. With a live connection, SAC queries the source in real time and the data never leaves it. Everything else — planning, performance, governance, blending — flows from that one distinction.

Live connection: real-time, governed, no copy

A live connection points SAC straight at a supported source — SAP S/4HANA, SAP BW/4HANA, SAP HANA, SAP Datasphere, or an SAP BusinessObjects universe. Its strengths:

— Single source of truth. No data duplication, no sync lag, no "which number is right" between SAC and the source.
— Governance and security. Data stays in the source system, under its existing authorizations — a big deal for regulated industries.
— Real-time. What you see is the current state of the source, not last night's snapshot.

The trade-offs are real, though: planning is limited or unavailable on most live setups (live is analytics-first), blending multiple sources is restricted, some story features behave differently, and performance depends entirely on the source — a slow query in S/4HANA is a slow widget in SAC (if your live stories feel slow, the fix is usually source-side, not in SAC).

Import model: planning, blending, flexibility

An import model pulls data into SAC on a schedule. Because the data lives in SAC, you unlock the things live can't easily do:

— Planning. Data entry, versions (Actual / Budget / Forecast), data actions, allocations — the whole SAC Planning capability sits on import models.
— Blending data from several sources into one model.
— Full story features and predictable performance (the data is local to SAC).

The cost: the data is a snapshot that must be refreshed and scheduled, you duplicate data outside the source, and you take on the governance of that copy.

The rule of thumb

Choose a live connection when: your data already lives in a supported SAP source, you need real-time and a single source of truth, governance matters, and your use case is reporting/analytics (not planning).

Choose an import model when: you need SAC Planning (budget, forecast, data entry), you must blend several sources, your source isn't a supported live system, or you want full feature parity and self-contained performance.

A common enterprise pattern is both: live for governed operational reporting off S/4HANA, and import models for the planning and cross-source work that live can't do.

What this means for templates

Here's the honest part. If you go live, your model is defined in the source system — there's nothing to import, so a downloadable "template" doesn't apply; the value is in getting the connection and the source model right. Where ready-made structures do help is on the import / planning side — building a rolling forecast, a budget, or a regulatory model (Solvency II, IFRS 17, CSRD) from a clean skeleton rather than a blank page.

If that's your case, the template catalog has free import/planning structures, and the regulatory accelerators cover the harder standalone models. And see SAC Analytics vs Planning for the module-level version of this decision.

Sources: SAP Help Portal — SAP Analytics Cloud connections (live data vs import/acquired data), and SAC Planning modelling documentation. Supported live sources and feature availability change with each release; confirm against your version and source system.