Category: SAP BusinessObjects

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SAP BusinessObjects Explorer (aka Polestar)

SAP BusinessObjects Explorer is an exciting Business Intelligence data discovery tool. We’ve created a short live demo video entitled Fast Executive Data with SAP BusinessObjects Explorer. The Explorer tool is excellent for non-technical business managers that want to gain insight into their data. The data made available for analysis is provided via a SAP BusinessObjects universe.  The universe can be based on SAP BW or relational data platforms such as MS SQLServer. Features include Google style key word searches on your BI data and data slicing.

SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

SAP BusinessObjects Explorer is currently available in two flavours. The first is as an add-on to SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise and the second is packaged with BWA on a blade.

The pre-requisite for analysis is for a Space Creator to set up an Information Space based on a SAP BusinessObjects universe and then index the data.  This is not a complex task.  Once this is done the business user can immediately find data insights. We made a live demo video demo which you can watch on the BI System Builders YouTube channel.

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Web Intelligence

SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence makes Self-service BI a reality by providing access to data in an intuitive information analysis product. By simply dragging and dropping objects into their reports users can gain business insights and turn these into true Business Intelligence for effective decision making. A business user can quickly create a query from scratch with a few mouse clicks. This is frequently termed ad hoc analysis or creating queries on the fly. Users can then format the retrieved information and analyze it to understand underlying data trends and root causes. The Web Intelligence interface is intuitive in design allowing business analysts and non-technical information consumers to ask spontaneous and iterative business questions of their data using their everyday business language. For example, users could easily create a query that allowed them to compare the performance of their top customers this year over last year. The user could then create their own variables, for example a forecast algorithm and add this to their report. Web Intelligence allows trends to be quickly identified along with sub-optimal areas. Users can drill down and drill across on their data. Web Intelligence access to the data is via a robust semantic layer known as the SAP BusinessObjects universe. The universe objects make query building easy and shields business users from needing to understand database technicalities. Multiple universes from different data sources can be combined in a single report.

The earliest versions of Web Intelligence were only available in thin client. In other words Web Intelligence had to be accessed via InfoView and a web browser. Web Intelligence is now available in the Rich Client version. This is loaded on to the users local machine. A report can now be viewed or developed on the local machine and then published to the BI Platform and shared and viewed as thin client via InfoView. This is great news for people working from home or on a train etc. They can now make changes to their Web Intelligence document off-line and then publish their changes next time they connect.

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SAP BusinessObjects Sizing, Hardware & Licensing Models (Legacy)

This article concerns the sizing of SAP BusinessObjects software and how it relates to the choice of hardware to support it and licensing models.

In terms of SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.1 it is important to make an informed decision on licensing and hardware based on a SAP BusinessObjects sizing exercise. The sizing exercise involves considerations for the specific Business Intelligence software products chosen to be implemented on Business Objects Enterprise and an analysis of the quantity and type of user that will be active on the BI System. A series of calculations are then performed based on the findings.

As an example consider Web Intelligence. One single Web Intelligence Report Server (service) running on Business Objects Enterprise can support between twenty five and forty users making simultaneous requests depending upon the report complexity. The Web Intelligence Report Server requires one CPU to support it. If more than forty users stress the Web Intelligence Report Server simultaneously there will be deterioration in performance. This can be rectified by configuring more Web Intelligence Report Servers and adding CPU or limiting the number of users. This principle holds true for several of the SAP BusinessObjects Servers running on SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise.

Whilst we can scale the system retrospectively in this way it is better to carry out the sizing upfront. The benefits are that it will provide an indication to number of SAP BusinessObjects Servers to configure, the number of CPUs required to support them, and the disk space that your BI System will require.

So sizing can be a useful guide to hardware procurement. However, it is also a guide to the most effective type of licensing to procure i.e. CPU based, Named User, or a combination of both. If sufficient licensing is not procured the BI System performance will suffer, but conversely no one wants to procure more costly software licensing than is necessary.