SAP BI 4.0 release (codenamed Aurora) has been the first major release of the BI platform since SAP acquired BusinessObjects. In this release, the semantic layer (universe layer for the uninitiated) has been re-worked completely to expose all business data under a single umbrella. The self-service BI portal (aka Infoview) has been revamped with a new AJAX based design and providing quicker and easier access to content. Publishing and distribution of BI content to mass audience has been made easier.
SAP finally announced on September 14, 2010 that it was getting onto the pre-packaged analytics bandwagon. SAP announced ten applications in this first release for six industries (Consumer Products, Healthcare, Financial Services, Public Sector, Retail and Telecommunications) in its BusinessObjects offering.
Building on the rapid-marts offering that the then BOBJ used to have and leveraging SAP’s industry and line of business expertise, these new applications are based on the SAP Business Objects XI platform – WebIntelligence, Crystal Reports and Dashboards (formerly Xcelsius).
With BO XI 3.1 SP2 out in July this year, it is probably time to make a trip down the years to find out how the XI platform has evolved and matured.
The timeline:
XI R2 SP2 - service pack release in March 2007 with productivity pack - QaaWS and LiveOffice connectors XI 3.0 - new major release in February 2008 - the first release after SAP acquired BOBJ in October 2007 XI 3.
While developing a Business Objects security model, you need to focus on the different types of security:
Functional Security - this would govern access to specific application features, e.g. editing reports, drilling down, ability to schedule reports etc. Data Security - this governs access to specific data - rows or columns or cells as per authorization Infrastructure Security - governs physical and electronic access to systems The infrastructure security is the first to be designed.
Having relocated from the Silicon Valley to Bangalore a year back, I’m now working in an MIS – strategic reporting role. In my role to evangelize the use of BI best practices and tools, one of the foremost is that of universe design. As a matter of fact, I’m currently being involved in formalizing a BI policy around the tools we use most – Oracle, Informatica and SAP Business Objects (along with migration from our legacy BO to the XI platform!
Recently I worked on an assignment where the Business Objects universe was designed by a business analyst. Nothing wrong with that, as long as we get the correct results in reports or queries on the universe. But it was not to be. We encountered incorrect results primarily due to two reasons:
Mixing of grains in fact tables by not using proper contexts or the aggregate navigator
Unresolved chasm traps
Accessing data in Xcelsius is pretty easy. You can have static data loaded from Excel, or dynamic data loaded through Web Services, Excel XML Maps, QaaWS (Query as a Web Service), Crystal Reports, Web Intelligence Reports or queries using Live Office.
There are however only a few ways to export data from Xcelsius. Either we could use Flash variables or use the XML Data Button to export data out of the compiled .
In what seems to be a speedy decision to clean up an overlapping product line, following its acquisition of Business Objects (BOBJ), SAP has decided to retire the Business Objects Performance Management product.
Taking its place would be SAP Strategy Management (a product biguru is SAP certified). SAP Strategy Management is the new name for what used to be Pilot Software’s flagship product PilotWorks product, which SAP acquired in February 2007.
Business Objects has just released the updated Xcelsius 2008 after a long beta program. What are the top new features of this exciting data visualization and dashboard tool? Let’s find out the top 10:
Copy-Paste- Productivity is bound to increase through collaborative development now as it is possible to copy-paste components between XLF files.
Filtered Rows - Selector components like List box and combo-box now include a new option in the insert-options list.
