SAP Business Objects Aims To Revolutionize The Business Intelligence

SAP has announced a new tool that will "revolutionize" Business Intelligence and therefore how to consult and work with data. Finding of SAP is that current tools may be a bit too sharp for some users and for others not enough time. With SAP BusinessObjects Explorer you can view your data at the speed of your thinking (Delivers Insight at the Speed of Thought).

On the video of the annual conference "Saphire 09" demo to explore is presented (going in the 24th minute). Navigation is really different from a normal BO. The user parameter over his pictures or graphics it just goes on Explorer and click on headings, graphic objects and updates itself. We are in a consultation tour of the data with some latitude but always within a defined framework.

The benefits highlighted are speed and ease of use (it's true that it has no complicated area) for the end user. In addition you will also have an iPhone application available for access your data anywhere.

When I see that I can not help but say that is better for the user but at the setting there must be a job. He must think the analysis and data in early to ensure optimum utilization and ensure good service. Also with this tool what about further analysis that are needed some time to study a situation and bring a new light. Unless explore really can do what I do not know (which I doubt) it would end up with users to master BO and BO Explorer and other using only BO Explorer.

SAP Market leads In Business Intelligence

The market for Business Intelligence has increased by 21.7% in 2008 compared to 2007 to reach 8.8 billion dollars. SAP's are 23.8% of this big cake way ahead of SAS and Oracle are both at 14.6%.

Decomposition of the BI market in 2008:

• SAP (23.8%)
• SAS Institute (14.6%)
• Oracle (14.6%)
• IBM (11.3%)
• Microsoft (7.7%)
• MicroStrategy (3.2%)
• Other (24.7%)

SAP BI RoadMap

Reporting solutions from Business Objects as a basis for future development (WebIntelligence, Crystal Xcelsius, Voyager). The best of Business Explorer Analyzer will be combined to create the future analysis tool, "Pioneer" for 2010.

The Enterprise Data Warehouse from BW will be developed, as well as tools such as Data Integrator, BI-Accelerator and Visual Composer. Chances to integrated planning will always be developed and integrated end to PCB, if you believe the information from informal development. Other solutions are maintained and continue to be delivered with NetWeaver for 8 years, but will no longer be developed: Business Explorer Analyzer, Web Application Designer.

Two offers now exist simultaneously: The basic package (equivalent to 7.0 BW) and the premium package includes the basic package and solutions BO.

Offer "Financial Performance Management" provides solutions that are reminiscent of the perimeter of SEM but with an ergonomic and user autonomy never reached (BPC, SSM, PCM ...). Through these ads, SAP, with its technical and functional expertise, intends to use its position as world leader in the BI offer a combination of the "best of both worlds."

Managing Permissions Roles To The SAP Users

Managing permissions in SAP NetWeaver BI can restrict user access. These limitations apply to both the possible actions (or launch a state change, etc.), functional domains available (represented by cubes), and the scope of analysis (such society, country, etc.).

In general, the assignment of permissions to users is not direct but passes through objects called "Roles". Indeed, a role for combining users, permissions and menus. It is often too complex to assign and track users directly with permissions because the number of combinations to process and lack of user-friendly graphical interface.

Thus, the role will bring together a set of users with the same need analysis, a user can belong to multiple roles. A user assigned to a role can run the state and access to performance indicators.

The Management Organization:

A solution exists yet in SAP NetWeaver BI, to assign positions and not users. This feature allows you to manage a hierarchy of positions and assign users to those positions, according to the reporting period. This management can be supported by human resources in ERP, and duplicated in all systems, or run directly into BW.

Positions are assigned to roles and not directly to users. A change in position does not require changing the allocations to authorities: the user automatically inherits the permissions associated with his position.

From a technical standpoint, the tree management positions and organizations can be achieved by the transaction PPOCW. The positions are then assigned to roles in the transaction PFCG (for extended), in the "User" button and "Organizational Mgt". The assignment of the user's position is performed by the transaction SU01.

The Security Risks Factors:

This system provides general satisfaction because it simplifies the assignment in the original draft. However, it has a major drawback: it merges the individual and the position it occupies in the organization. Maintenance requires translating the actual position of the user roles to provide the necessary permissions.

However, permission management is rarely managed by human resources, but directly between business and IT services. This produces long-term some complexity in the permissions, or a lack of visibility and gaps for authorization. A recent study moreover demonstrated that among the risks in poorly managed companies are primarily the fault of security.

Trends In The Evolution Of Business Intelligence

First, publishers trend to provide users with greater autonomy. From a DataWarehouse structured, each user must construct its statements independently. This concerns the reporting and additional applications such as budgeting. This trend is not without risk (inconsistent statements, management of entitlements, performance, no "single vision of truth" ...) but meets a real need from users.

Then, business intelligence has long been isolated from other applications because it was using specific tools. The user prefers yet have access to only one application giving everything, be it ERP, Mails, BI, etc.. These include that the proposed SOA including Visual Composer, a development tool (included in NetWeaver) that allows to build composite web applications. Thus, a user can fully analyze data from BW, place an order, read their emails and follow a work flow within a single page. Each page element is interacting with others.

Other trends include a special performance optimization of restitution by storing data from Data Warehouse (BI-Accelerator, BusinessObjects Explorer), the application of BI to non-quantitative data (social networks analysis text search on documents, etc.) and the arrival of BI solutions as SaaS (Software As A Service On-Demand, etc.).

Finally, we observe growing importance of the dimension "trade" in the draft decision. This was illustrated by the purchase of BO by SAP, and Hyperion by Oracle.

The Future Of Business Intelligence

The needs for business to know their environment and to identify opportunities and risks has given rise to practices of economic intelligence. Analyze the legal, fiscal, geopolitical, financial and especially trading is widespread. Now it combines the concept of risk management, which is a natural extension.

Business intelligence is a simplified yet vital economic intelligence. It is to monitor the performance of business processes, and compare them to the market (benchmark) and predetermined objectives (budget). For example, we wish to know the growth of a market segment and compare it to competitors.

Often there is confusion between the practices and objectives of business intelligence and tools to implement to achieve this. Indeed, monitor performance requires first to be able to collect raw data, wherever they are, and present them to users in the form that suits them to the best. The business intelligence tools fulfill this task, and there are usually three levels:

• Data collection and processing into usable information is provided by ETL (extraction, transformation, loading).
• Storage and modeling in a form compatible with the tools of recovery are provided by the DataWarehouse
• The return on the screen of the user reporting tools - dashboards, analysis in Excel or in Web reports in a list, etc.

BI solution without the need for analysis is covered by static states reporting to the ERP or by statements prepared manually in Excel, which have many disadvantages (preparation time, errors, cumbersome files, no sharing, no access self-service, etc.).

Business Intelligence is booming is because companies have realized the need to provide all the latest information and more personalized as possible. Knowledge of information is a condition of performance and survival in a complex and highly competitive.

The Integration Of SAP NetWeaver BI and Business Objects

This part is designed for SAP customers wishing to make and distribute their reporting on the data stored in SAP solutions using BusinessObjects tools. The main potential of this integration are,

Return of SAP NetWeaver BI data:

1. Crystal Report:

Crystal Reports is the tool of choice for layouts graphics. In its latest version can even embed Flash documents (.swf) which allows the integration of files built in Xcelcius.

Given the historical links between Crystal and SAP NetWeaver BI, Crystal is the best tool integrated. The integration kit gives it a toolbar similar to that of the Bex Analyzer. SAP users find the same interface for the selection of their applications (bookmarks, history, role and infoarea).

Integration is made possible by the direct use of BW queries in the body of the state.

2. Universe Designer:

The Universe Soundtrack trades are views of the database where certain filters, rules management and permissions are predefined manner transparent to end users. They use these Universe data source for analysis from other reporting tools.

The integration kit can quickly convert a query or a cube in BW Universe. The recommendation is to use queries in source so enjoy browsing capabilities (attribute, calculated ratios, variables) and performance optimization of queries.

The universe can be used by both Web Intelligence, Crystal Xcelsius, or (via a web service).

3. Web Intelligence:

Web Intelligence is the Universe Soundtrack available to users. Accessible from the Web Portal for Business Objects (called Infoview), it allows users to choose their data self-service in a friendly environment. After selecting the universe, the user can format, apply filters, add graphics, etc..

In case integration with BW through the use of the universe based on BW.

4. Xcelsius:

Xcelsius allows you to create dashboards with a good graphics rendering from a source of data imported into an Excel internal Xcelsius. This tool is based on Flash and Flex technology from Adobe. Simply place objects (tables, graphs, Selectors, Gauges, Sliders, cards ...) and associated data from the Excel sheet. It is possible to make objects interact with each other.

The feeding data through a Web Service from such a universe based on a BW query, or LiveOffice. The Web service is generated by the tool "Query as a Web Service".

Effects Of RoadMap In BI

Effects of RoadMap and Perspectives:

A relational database management system is that the Roadmap contains the promise of long stability and charge for the basic package, which tends to appeal to some CIOs who know the charge related to media packages and upgrades.

In addition, developers of Business Explorer had made a powerful solution regarding such structures queries or navigation integrated into Excel. Business One has nevertheless a clear superiority in particular for formatting or autonomy of users.

The SAP will promote solutions BO (Business One) is therefore facing a Business Explorer widely used and offering good value for money and a lack of evolution finally over perceived as a guarantee of stability.

This vision is well understood in the short term, as between a solution but kept frozen and other evolving and incorporating features requested, we can easily imagine that the second will win eventually.

The influence of the editor in search of growth and integrators looking for opportunities is obvious. But the current betting is that SAP user influence in demand for autonomy and tools easy to use (and somewhat concerned by the issues of integration, platform or upgrade), will become predominant in choice of solutions.

The Evolution Of Business Intelligence At SAP

Evolution Of Business Intelligence:

Business Intelligence has been central of discussions and studies that since the acquisition of Business Objects by SAP.

The original offer ("Business Information Warehouse" released in 1999) was a platform for the multivariate analysis included among the "new dimensions", reflecting the diversification of SAP solutions to complement of ERP (PLM , CRM, SCM, etc.).

The solution "Strategic Enterprise Management", Integrated with BW in the same year, presented an innovative vision of Planning, Consolidation, Balanced Scorecard and management indicators.

The arrival of the NetWeaver platform technology and brought a new perception of the integration of applications, people, processes and data through an approach to SOA and web portal built.

However, business intelligence has so far positioned relatively marginal compared to engines of SAP activity, primarily the ERP.

Business Intelligence in the heart of the SAP strategy:

Since the version 7.0 of BW, the decision has taken a significant extent, meet the increasing demands of customers and market outlook. The acquisition of Outlook Soft and Business Objects have confirmed the strong guidance of SAP. Proof is the number of speeches and workshops on this topic at SAP events.

SAP BI - Business Intelligence

SAP BI (Business Intelligence) is the SAP solution dedicated to reporting the decision-making built around a data warehouse tools and restitution. These tools allow both the development of multidimensional analysis that flexible dashboard complex combination of multiple functional areas and integrate seamlessly within the supply SAP Netweaver.

Functional content are pre-configured, application models, tools for extracting, processing, loading data, simulation tools and planning... are all key elements that make SAP BI solution powerful.

Main Strengths Are: a unique enterprise reporting and aligned with indicators and criteria for analysis and validates, shared by all functions production of performance indicators to high value added for faster and more reliable decision making in SAP BI solutions.