Online Learning - Useful links

You might find the following sites useful  for online learning :

Information Design Tool :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6iBntoYGOQ&feature=channel

MultiSource Universe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esN0vP2JdI0&feature=channel

SAP HANA Modelling:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hM83qw9tYs&feature=channel

Web Intelligence 4.0 :
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VruGK1HYVuI&feature=channel
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XF99_Ylljc&feature=channel

I will add some more as and when i find some .

Business Objects Training : Topics Covered

Hi All.. I provide training on SAP Business Objects. Following are the topics I cover. Please contact me if you would like to attend the course.


1)    Basic Business Objects course

Products covered:

BOXI 3.1 - Webinteligence, Desktop Intelligence, Universe Designer, CMC, Xcelcius, Live Office

BOXI 4.0 – Webintelligence, Information Design Tool, CMC, Dashboard, Live Office

Strategy and Architecture – an overview

1)      Core concepts of reporting.

2)      Business Objects architecture.

3)      Accessing information with Web Intelligence

4)      Viewing a Web Intelligence document in InfoView

5)      Understanding Web Intelligence core functionalities

Universe

6)      Understanding how universes allow you to query databases using everyday business terms

7)      How to develop a simple universe

Web Intelligence Report Design XI 3.1

Creating Web Intelligence Documents with Queries

8)      Building a simple query

9)      Modifying a document query

10)   Working with query properties

Restricting Data Returned by a Query

11)   Restricting data with query filters

12)   Modifying a query with a predefined query filter

13)   Applying a single-value query filter

14)   Using prompts to restrict data

15)   Using complex filters

Report Design

16)   Working in the Report Panel

17)   Displaying data in tables and charts

18)   Presenting data in free-standing cells

Enhancing the Presentation of Data in Reports

19)   Using breaks, calculations, and report filters

20)   Formatting breaks and crosstabs

21)   Using default and custom sorts

22)   Ranking data to see top or bottom values

23)   Tracking data changes

24)   Using alerter to highlight information

25)   Organising a report into sections

26)   Copying data to other applications

Formatting Reports

27)   Preparing documents for PDF and print

28)   Document formatting

29)   Formatting charts

Calculating Data with Formulas and Variables

30)   Understanding formulas and variables

31)   Creating formulas and variables to calculate data

Using Multiple Data Sources

32)   Creating a document in the Web Intelligence Rich Client

33)   Adding a new query using a personal data provider

34)   Creating multiple queries in a document

35)   Synchronising data with merged dimensions

Analyzing Data

36)   Analysing the data cube

37)   Drilling into the data

38)   Setting Web Intelligence drill options

Managing and Sharing Web Intelligence Documents

39)   Exporting documents from the Rich Client

40)   Accessing InfoView

41)   Managing documents in InfoView

42)   Sharing documents in InfoView

43)   Scheduling a Web Intelligence document

44)   Setting InfoView preferences

CMC :

45)   How to administer security in Business Objects

46)   Concepts of designing a security structure in Business Objects enterprise

BO 4.0

47)   What’s New in Business Objects 4.0 (live demo of the product and comparing the same with BOXI 3.1)

Xcelsius

48)   Core concepts

49)   Develop a dashboard using Xcelsius

Live Office

50)   Core Concepts

51)   How to develop a simple Live Office report

Questions and Answers after each session.

2)     Advanced Business Objects course

Anything you would like to cover from the Basic Business Objects course PLUS

Strategy and Architecture

1)      Business Objects architecture

2)      Business Objects infrastructure requirements and costing

3)      Business Objects installation (both 3.1 and 4.0)


Universe / Information Design Tool

4)      How to develop a simple universe using BOXI 3.1 and BO 4.0

5)      Highlight the differences between the Universe and Information Design Tool

6)      Setting up of security through universe

Note: Universe has undergone the biggest change in the last 15 years. I will discuss on the concepts and advantages of using the new tool i.e. Information design Tool.

Webintelligence

7)      Advanced Webitelligence features like linking reports and hands on experience on the new features in BO 4.0

8)      Webintelligence on SAP BW

CMC :

9)      Concepts of designing a security structure in Business Objects enterprise

10)    Design a Enterprise Security Model through CMC

11)   Monitoring performance through CMC (in BO 4.0)

BO 4.0

12)   What’s New in Business Objects 4.0 (detailed review and hands on training on Webi, CMC, Information Design Tool, Live Office)

Integration of SAP BW with BO

13)   Integration of SAP BW with BO 3.1. Pros and Cons

14)   Integration of SAP BW with BO 4.0

Questions and Answers after each session.

SAP BO Vs Non SAP BO - Clashes within Organisation

Coming Soon !!!!
SAP Practice thinks BO should be a part of their deliverable as it is a SAP product while BI practice (non SAP) thinks BO should be a part of their deliverable. This leads to conflicts in an Organisation between SAP and BI practice. Where do YOU think SAP BO should be ? Both the practice ?

BI Roadmap for SAP

There are so many products that SAP has now-a days that i even forget the name of some of the tools. So here is a list of Business Objects portfolio and the 'probable' BI tools to be used in future.

BI portfolio is divided into four main pillars :

Enterprise Performance Management - For better control of performance and better decision making. Tools that help you close the gap between strategy and operation.

• Strategy and Management (SSM)
• Planning Budgeting & Forecasting
• Consolidation
• Portfolio & Cost Management
• Spend & Supply Chain

Governance Risk and Compliance - Focuses on solution that helps you manage the risks and opportunities within your business.

• Risk Management
• Access Control
• Process Control
• Global Trade Services
• Environment health & Safety Management
• Sustainability Performance Management

Enterprise Information Management - This is the back backbone i.e. data, ETL, quality etc

• Data Integration
• Data Quality Management
• Master Data Management
• Metadata Management
• Text Analysis

Business Intelligence - Tools helps you in decision making based on data and analysis

• Reporting
• Analysis
• Dashboard and Visulization
• Data Exploration
• Predictive Analysis

Tools used in Business Intelligence :


Main Tools (These are the main reporting tool for BO landscape):
1) Crystal Reports
2) Crystal Reports for Enterprise
3) Web Intelligence
4) Dashboard
5) Analysis
6) BO Explorer

Other Tools :
7) Live Office
8) Information Design Tool (Designer)
9) Upgrade Management Tool (Migration Wizard)
10) Central Configuration Manager
11) Business View Manager
13) Data Federation Administration Tool
14) Report Conversion Tool
15) Web Intelligence Rich Client
16) Widgets
17) Remote Support Control (Monitoring tool) can you Solution Manager if you have a bigger SAP footprint in your organization.
18) Desktop Intelligence (decommissioned in BO 4.0)

I will write a separate article on each of these tools and their uses in future.

Product to Use if i am a Small BOBJ Customer

Note: All the costs are indicative costs and need to be discussed between the client and SAP to get an exact price quote.

Scenario:

• There will be approximately 5-10 users for the system. Most of the users will have report viewer/ refresher rights however some users can create adhoc reports and one or two user can administer the system.
• Instead of a tactical solution (like installing software’s on users machine) the project is looking for a more enterprise solution deployed over the internet and can be ramped up if required in future.
• Project would like to utilize the existing infrastructure available if possible and maintenance cost should be lower on the long run.
• Cost is an important factor for deciding the product selection (reporting tool) for this project.

Following are the options available if you use Business Objects:

Option 1:

Buy an enterprise ‘Edge’ license for Business Objects product suite.

Cost :

·         £10000 for license approx (NOTE this is not a SAP quoted price)

·         Extra cost for infrastructure

·         Installation and configuration cost

·         Software maintenance cost (over the lifecycle of the project)

Pros :

·         This is an fully flexible enterprise solution and is one of the best solution available in the market.

·         Most of the products in SAP BO product suite will be available if you buy this license (like Webi, crystal report, CMC, universe, dashboard etc)

Cons :

·         Cost of software procurement, infrastructure procurement, maintenance and support is high.

Option 2:

Buy “BI Ondemand” solution for SAP.

Cost (before discount): (NOTE this is not a SAP quoted price)

·         20-50 euro per month per report user

·         60-100 euro per month per developer

·         1000-2000 euro per month per administrator

Approx : 1500-3000 euro for a month based on a minimum 10 licence purchase.

Pros:

·         No need to have any infrastructure as this will be hosted on the cloud

·         No need to buy software (webi, crystal report, BO explorer etc)

·         No need to maintain software upgrades, patches etc

·         Report is available securely from anywhere if you have internet access.

·         Is scalable

·         Can be used as ‘pay per user’ basis if extra users are added in future 

BI On demand gives all the flexibility of Business Objects enterprise solution and is considered as a opex and not a capex spend.

Cons:

·         Data will be hosted in a datacentre supported by SAP. This is done by transferring data from the client system to the SAP supported data centre through secured connection.

Option 3:

Buy crystal report client product for developers. Crystal report viewer can be downloaded to view these report. Crystal report viewer is available free on SAP website.

Cost :

·         About £300 pounds per user (NOTE this is not a SAP quoted price)

·         Some software maintenance and support cost.

Pros :

·         Cheapest option available in the market

·         Can be deployed and configured on developer machines quite quickly

·         No extra infrastructure cost

Cons:

·         This is a tactical solution and not an enterprise solution

·         Adhoc report generation and report refresh is not possible.

·         Cost of development is usually higher (if Crystal report development knowledge is not already there in the Organisation)

Option 4:

Buy crystal report server product.

Cost :

·         Not sure about the exact cost but as per the rate chart it can be much higher than crystal report client product.

·         Extra cost for infrastructure

·         Installation and configuration cost

·         Software maintenance cost (over the lifecycle of the project)

Pros :

·         This is an fully flexible enterprise solution

Cons :

·         Cost of software procurement, infrastructure procurement, maintenance and support is high.

Migration from BO5.X & BO6.X to BOXI 3.1 SP3 - Tips & Tricks

A typical Migration from BO 5.X or BO 6.X to BOXI 3.1 SP X can be broken down into the following steps in order of priority:

1)      Requirement gathering and documentation.

2)      Hardware and software procurement.

3)      Software installation

4)      Implementing security in CMC.

5)      Objects migration (e.g. Universe, reports, users, agnostic documents)

6)      Unit testing.

7)      Migrating to UAT

8)      String testing

9)      Migration to Production.

10)   Production testing and signoff.

Note: Points 1 to 5 has been described in the article below.  Points 6 to 10 has not been discussed as testing procedure varies from client to client.

1)      Requirement gathering and documentation.

In the initial period (approx 20-25 working days) you should be able to analyse the existing BO system and complete the following documentations:

a)      BO – Server Migration                   - Describes the existing BO architecture and the new BO architecture along with the infrastructure requirements.

b)      BO - Security Migration                - Describes the new security structure.

Tips : Get this document signed by client as in many instances the client might like to change the requirements or ask for new things (in future) once the client understands the security structure better . It is usually good practice to develop security from scratch especially if you are migrating from BO 5.X and BO 6.X.

c)       BO – Inventory Migration             - Gives a full list of report documents (webi , Deski, crystal , xcelcius) , universe and users.

d)      BO – Migration process                 - Steps involved in migration and backup strategy.

e)      BO Migration test plan                   - What we are going to test (e.g. no of reports, any stress testing of environment) and identify users from client side who will assist us on the same.

2)      Hardware and software procurement.

Infrastructure procurement is a big problem to some clients specially in a short notice. You should make the client aware of this issue at the beginning of the project. Ask them to make a decision on whether you should start migration after you have provided them the documentation or whether they want you to come back in 6-8 weeks time once they have sorted out the infrastructure required for the project (unless you want to sit and bill them while they run around like headless chickens to sort the infrastructure issues).

Even before you go to the client side ask for some decent computers where you can install all versions of BO that you are migrating from and migrating to.

3)      Software installation

After all the infrastructure is in place install Business Objects on the servers and test the same. If you have any issues during installations have a look at the BOBJ website.  I will explain the security model in a different article in my blog .  www.botalkshop.blogspot.com

4)      Implementing security in CMC.

After completing the installation procedure implement the security structure in BOXI 3.1. I will explain the security model in a different article in my blog .  www.botalkshop.blogspot.com

5)      Objects migration

After completing the security structure migrate the reports, universe and users to the new system. Usually you will be able to migrate webi reports and users quite easily. Put the users in the respective groups in the security model and test the same. Try to convert all deski report to Webi (BO has announced that there will be no support of Deski after BOXi 3.X) . I have described a few common issues you might face while converting reports from Deski to Webi at the end of this section. Remember all the row level security and object level security is now in the universe instead of the repository.

Careful: The old BO repository in BO 5.0 and 6.0 repositories can be in Oracle 8i. BOXI 3.1 cannot talk to Oracle 8i. So you have to copy the old BO repository to an Oracle database in 11g and create a key file from BO 5 and 6 (please note that BO 5 and 6 can talk to some specific version/pack of oracle and not any latest version . So you might need to do an intermediate upgrade to 11g so that both BO 5 and BOXI 3.1 can talk to the same Oracle server). You should be able to generate the key from BO 5 to Oracle 11g and use the key in BOXI 3.3 to talk to the old BO repository.

Tip : Do remember that when you add a new row level security and hit the OK button it will automatically update the repository even though you might not have exported the universe to the repository. Also be very careful with the ‘Priorities’ in row level and object level security in the universe. If you put the wrong priorities you might see more data that you want. Thumb rule is set the highest priority to the lowest group in the group structure so that others cannot overwrite it (E.g. where you can go wrong is if you have Group Level 1 -> Group Level 2 -> Group Level 3 in a hierarchy, GP 1 being the highest level in the group, and you set the highest priority of Group Level 1 then Group Level 2 will automatically take the security rights assigned in GP 1 even if have forced some other security on GP 2)

Errors while converting Deski Reports to webi :

1)      Partially Converted : XXX report - Objects cannot be hidden in Web Intelligence documents

2)      Object No Longer Exists in Universe

3)      Partially Converted : XXX report - Block filters on measures do not have the same behaviour in Web Intelligence

4)      Partially Converted : XXX report - Page setup options are not implemented in Web Intelligence (First page number, page order, scale, Fit to N pages)

5)      Not Converted : XXX report - Document cannot be read

6)      Partially Converted : XXX report - Conditional or permanent Hide Header not available in Web Intelligence

7)      Partially Converted : XXX report - Function not available in Web Intelligence

8)      Partially Converted : XXX report - Blocks cannot be folded in Web Intelligence

9)      Not Converted : XXX report - .wid document could not be generated due to unknown reason

10)   Partially Converted : XXX report - Unsupported 'Do not regenerate SQL' option

11)   Partially Converted : XXX report - Breaks in Web Intelligence can only be set on one dimension

12)   Partially Converted : XXX report - Keyword not available in Web Intelligence

13)   Partially Converted :XXX report - A formula from a Desktop Intelligence block filter cannot be migrated into a Web Intelligence block filter

14)   Partially Converted : XXX report - Blocks cannot be folded in Web Intelligence

15)   Partially Converted : XXX report - Block filters on measures do not have the same behavior in Web Intelligence

There is a bug in the software so if SIA crashes users are able to see all data instead of No data. This is a bug in SAP. SAP recommended us a workaround.

Tip : Always have a ‘NULL’ connection or a ‘Wrong’ connection as a default connection . Assign the right connections at the group level. Only issue with this is Administrators  will not be able to create reports as it will default to a NULL connection. However if you add the users in the right group you will be able to view the right data.

Designer (Information Design Tool) in BO 4.0

Following changes has been made in designer :

1) Designer is called ''Information Design Tool now"
2) The file extension has been changed to .unx from .unv
3) There are 4 modules in designer -
a) Project   , b) Connections   ,  c) Data Foundation  ,  d) Business Layer.

a) Project is where you create a universe.
b) Connection is where you create a connection to the BO universe. You can also use a connection from data federation.
c) Data foundation is where you set up the tables and joins (much like the right hand place of the existing designer module).
d) Where you create folder (what we know as classes) and objects (dimensions and measures).

How it will help ? -- One example will be a user can create a data foundation layer (with all tables and joins) and different users can create different folders and objects structure for their part of business. Previously you could have done part of it in linked universe but this looks like a much better way to do it. Also object level security helps a user to see , let's say, one business layer out of many created on the same data foundation.

When you export a universe the data foundation layer, connections and business layer gets embedded in the unx file and you export only one file in the repository.  Just wanted to mention (as someone has it pointed out in BOBJ) that Universe designer will still be there. Webi reports and crystal reports will be able to work on both .unx and .unv file in the next release.

What's New in Business Objects 4.0

Some notable changes in the new product:

1.      Universe design has changed a lot (really needed a uplift for the last 10 years :)

2.      Xcelsius can report from universe.

3.      A few new options in CMC (like Monitoring tool, auditing as separate options) .

4.      Deski (oh my good old deski) is not there anymore.

5.      You can use a universe directly over a BO Dashboard Designer (i.e. our very dear xcelsius.. Good they have change the name..i could never spell it correctly !!! ). However you have to use .unx version of universe and not the old .unv version. There is a tool to change the .unv 's to .unx.

6.      You can directly create a webi report on Bex query . There is no need of designer to directly report on bex in BO 4.0.

7.      The menu option has changed a lot in Webi . Now it is a "Menu Ribbon". i.e. it's structured. Initially i had a lot of difficulty finding the options from the menu ribbon. However with time i think we will be comfortable.

8.      In the universe you have an option of a "query panel" by which you can quickly create a report . It’s much better than the previous versions.

9.      The "crow feet" to show one to many relation is not there anymore. I loved the crow feet. Similarly the detailed object has a weird picture and not the old green triangle we are accustomed to.

10.  Server is 64-bit mode in 4.0. So you might need to upgrade from a 32 bit OS to 64 bit OS.

11.  "BI Launch Pad" aka Infoview looks a bit different. It has a home tab and a document tab. Home tab has 4 sections i) Recently viewed docs, ii) Recently run docs, iii) Unread messages and iv) Unread alerts . You can directly create a webi report , BI Workspace etc from the home page through a few icons readily available on home page. However these are just cosmetic things . A good thing they have done is you can open more than one report in a tabbed manner in "BI Launch Pad" aka infoview. So you can flick from one report to another by simply clicking the report tab. You can also dock a report. So next time you login to BI Launch Pad (infoview) you will see the report open in the tab on top .

12.  Universe is multidimensional – I.e. we will be able to keep the hierarchies and not the flattened structure we used to see in the previous versions.

13.  The auditing data model has been redeveloped from scratch for use of reporting. (So they claim)

14.  CMC has a “Monitoring dashboard” feature in auditing option. This will monitor the servers and the services running on the servers.

15.  Crystal Report has two 2 versions now – i) Crystal Report Enterprise version and ii) Crystal Report normal version . The Enterprise version will ONLY connect to the universe. The normal version will connect to all other data sources.

16.  Webi has an option to access the data provides like in deski. This will help us to see sample data and the length of time a query runs etc.

17.  Webi will have a capability to look into a hierarchy from the universe .

18.  BO Dashboard (i.e. Xcelcius) has been integrated to the BI platform.

19.  If used through the BI platform BO dashboards (i.e. Xcelcius) can be audited.

20.  SAP integration kit is part of the core product.

21.  New drilling feature of charts and graphs.

22.  Minimum version from which you can upgrade to BO 4.0 is BOXI Rel 2 SP 2. If an organization is on BO 5 or BO 6 they will have to upgrade to BOXI Rel 2 SP 2 or higher and then upgrade to BO 4.0.

23.  There is still no scheduling feature in BO Dashboard (i.e. Xcelcius).

24.  There is no change to explorer.

25.  Connection of BW cubes to universe has been removed. You have to use data federator to connect to a BW cube.

26.  As a mentioned before you can use universe to create a BO Dashboard report. However you cannot merge queries like in Webi.

27.  A new feature has been added in Data Services called Text Analysis. This will help in sourcing data from online feeds.

28.  They have enhanced the conversion tool. So you should get less issues while converting deski reports (so they claim).