Download - 06 sap hana_reporting
Welcome to today’s training on the data analysis and reporting options within SAP HANA.
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After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
Describe the various SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence solutions that may be
used to report on data from within SAP HANA
Explain how to connect the various SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
solutions to an SAP HANA data model
There are three primary steps to using HANA. The first step is to load data into HANA
from an existing content source. We covered that in the Data Provisioning and Data
Replication lessons in this curriculum. The second step is to model the data in SAP
HANA Studio to facilitate data analysis. We covered that in the Information Modeling
lesson in this curriculum. The third step is to connect the SAP HANA data model to the
appropriate SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence solution, based on the
reporting requirements. We’ll discuss the third step in this lesson.
You may consider the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence suite of products to
be the “face” of SAP HANA. The SAP BusinessObjects BI suite is optimized to access
data within SAP HANA and to leverge the power of HANA to provide end users with
instant access to information and split-second response time to queries on massive
volumes of data, in a reporting environment that makes sense to them. The SAP
BusinessObjects philosophy has always been to give each user the right BI tool for the
way they work. Power users who want to analyze data need a different experience then
an executive who wants to track and monitor key metrics.
The table on this slide defines the key business users in a typical organization and
places them along a spectrum of technology experience, then matches the most
applicable SAP BusinessObjects BI solution based on various reporting needs and
desired interactivity (from a highly guided experience to one free of any assistance). For
example, SAP BusinessObjects Explorer software offers a new BI paradigm where
users, no matter what skill-set, can explore their business data and find answers even
when they don’t known which question to ask. This tool is for information workers who
are seeking an easier self-service environment or users who are involved in making
day-to-day operational decisions.
In this lesson we will look more closely at some of the key features of each solution
shown in the diagram.
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As noted in the previous slide, there is a SAP BusinessObject Business Intelligence
solution to suit the specific reporting needs each business user across a wide spectrum
within an organization. This slide provides a high-level viewpoint of the various SAP
BusinessObject Business Intelligence that can be used with SAP HANA, and how each
solution addresses a business need.
Take a few moments to review the information on this page, then we’ll proceed to look
at formatted reporting capabilities using SAP BusinessObject Business Intelligence
solutions with SAP HANA.
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SAP Crystal Reports 2008 and SAP Crystal Reports 2011 can connect directly to tables
in SAP HANA to create user-friendly and dynamic reports from virtually any data
source. A robust production reporting tool, SAP Crystal Reports turns transactional and
relational data into actionable information.
Crystal Reports are often utilized by IT professionals, report authors, and developers to
gain fast insight into current business conditions. End users can explore data and make
informed decisions with visual what-if scenarios created in SAP Crystal Dashboard
Design and embedded in a report. Sliders, gauges, and dials enable users to visualize
the potential outcome of decisions dynamically, without leaving the report file and
without any coding.
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Smart guidelines help you insert, move, and align objects with ease by automatically
adjusting the layout of the report. You can insert summaries, variances, and other
custom calculations into a cross-tabulated row or a column – especially useful for
financial reports – without the need for any programming. Built-in bar-code support lets
you convert fields to Code 39 bar codes. Just point and click, and you’re done.
Business users have great flexibility in creating and formatting reports, right down to
details like the size of a report page. You’re not limited by the standard page sizes set
by printers. Instead, you can customize page sizes and page breaks, and can combine
portrait- and landscape-oriented pages within the same report, to create an optimal
viewing environment.
With SAP Crystal Server software, users can create multiple reports based on different
data sources, load the reports with data, and personalize the reports for each recipient.
You can also combine the reports into a single file (such as PDF) and then distribute the
reports to a dynamic list of recipients – all with a single action.
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SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards provide drag-and-drop visualization designed to
create interactive analytics for powerful, personalized dashboards with live connections
to the SAP BusinessObjects BI platform, SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse and
other data sources.
Dashboards are now widely recognized as essential tools for monitoring business
performance and empowering decision makers to make informed decisions more
quickly. Traditionally reserved for upper
management, these data visualization tools are now making their way across all levels
of organizations. Leading businesses understand that to ensure ongoing competitive
advantage, they need to unlock the power of essential data for employees at all levels –
because taken collectively, every decision helps or hurts the business.
Armed with the right dashboards, users can see trends and relevant key performance
indicators, interact with data, test out scenarios, and more – right from their desktops.
For example, executives can perform what-if analysis to understand changes in the
business under different conditions, assess key metrics related to performance, and drill
down to more detailed reporting when needed. And business users can access time-
sensitive information using a self-service model and receive visual or audible cues or
alerts for exception management and dynamic situations.
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Using the Information Design tool, you can build universes (UNX) that are stored in the
SAP BusinessObjects BI platform repository. Universes are a semantic layer that
facilitates analysis of important data by hiding unnecessary technical complexities in the
underlying data from the end-users. Relational universes can be built directly on tables
in HANA, but the universes do not store data themselves.
Relational universes are a good starting point because BI clients build queries from the
Query Panel against this universe. Alternatively, you can build relational universes on
views in HANA instead of directly against the tables. To report off HANA 1.0, a relational
universe is built to allow SQL-like access to tables and views stored in the HANA
system. This allows you to leverage modeling work already done in the SAP HANA
Studio.
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The semantic layer enables the business users to freely and securely access, analyze,
enrich and share information using familiar business terms. The semantic layer offers a
consistent user experience, as well as a single language that is used by all kinds of
client tools to speak about data and metadata. BI clients, as well as metadata
management or data quality applications will use the Common Semantic Layer to
exchange information about data and metadata they need to manipulate. The semantic
layer is open to third party applications so that the whole enterprise data can be
covered by the same concepts and mechanism.
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Web intelligence is one of the most advanced ad-hoc reporting solutions on the market.
It lets end-users design and analyze their own reports and queries. This tool is the one
to use for Reporting & Analysis, especially for the casual business users.
Business users need answers to new and evolving business questions – without having
to rely on IT help. SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence offers business users self-
service access, ad hoc reporting, and intuitive analysis across heterogeneous sources,
so they can turn data into actionable insights. Web Intelligence reports may be served
up on the Web, a desktop, or a mobile device.
SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence offers a powerful, intuitive interface that enables
business analysts and non-technical information consumers to ask spontaneous and
iterative business questions about their data. Business users can use simple drag-and-
drop techniques to access data sources and create interactive reports to answer
business questions. Cutting edge visualization functionality allows end users to view
two- and three-dimensional charts and hone in on specific areas of focus and share
those results with colleagues, customers and partners.
SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence delivers self-service information access to your
business users wherever they are, providing full flexibility and control of data analysis
and interactivity. Your business users have decision-quality information at their fingertips
to investigate issues, identify the root causes of problems, and explore new
opportunities – without relying on IT to create reports. And because your users have
autonomy, your IT department is no longer burdened with a backlog of reports and
doesn't need to build and maintain multiple variations of numerous queries and reports.
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All businesses require multidimensional analysis to fundamentally understand where the
company has been, where it stands today, and, most critically, where it must go in the
future. This is why it makes
sense to provide analysts with the tools and data they need to give the business insight
necessary to make informed business decisions. But when it comes to traditional
multidimensional online analytical processing (OLAP) solutions, getting timely, effective
business insight can be a very resource-intensive, manual process.
SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, edition for OLAP, is a next-generation business
intelligence solution that provides self-service multidimensional analysis workspaces for
personal or shared use over the Web. You can immediately use your existing SAP
NetWeaver® Business Warehouse (SAP NetWeaver BW) component cubes, queries
from SAP Business Explorer (SAP BEx) tools, and Microsoft SQL Server cubes to
uncover deep business insights.
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With SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, users enjoy a highly visual look and feel that lets
them run analyses across multiple dimensional and hierarchical data sets following
intuitive drag-and-drop steps. Business users have full autonomy without reliance on IT
or power users, encouraging broad adoption of BI for more effective decision making
across the organization.
By fully leveraging the deployed BI infrastructure, including the SAP BusinessObjects BI
platform, the software delivers a fast return on investment while lowering ownership
costs.
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In order to make everyday business decisions, business users need intuitive access to
corporate information. Unfortunately, traditional business intelligence (BI) tools, which
often require significant
training and an understanding of analytical methods, sometimes do not meet the needs
of business users. Recent surveys show that these users often rely on “gut-feel”
decision making.
These same business users have no problem, however, searching for information online
or browsing for books on Amazon.com. SAP BusinessObjects Explorer software brings
together the simplicity
and speed of Internet search with the trust and analytical power of BI to provide
immediate answers to business questions. Business users can employ familiar keyword
searches to find information hidden in data sources. They can then navigate to and
explore the data directly; no existing reports or metrics are necessary.
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SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, part of the SAP BusinessObjects BI suite of solutions,
leverages the metadata layer to enable user friendly reporting. In addition, it takes
advantage of the security, trust, and administration services provided by the SAP
BusinessObjects BI platform – thereby speeding its deployment and reducing IT
backlog.
SAP BusinessObjects Explorer presents the most relevant keyword search results first
and complements the results with additional contextually relevant details. In addition,
SAP BusinessObjects Explorer automatically generates the type of chart that best
represents the information. For example, when displaying the percentage breakdowns
of a multi-entry data set, it generates a pie chart; when comparing revenue and profit for
multiple entities, it displays a bar chart.
All in all, SAP BusinessObjects Explorer is designed for ease of use, allowing you to
start by entering a few search keywords to get at the results that are most relevant to
you. Explorer then generates charts or diagrams to be shared via e-mail or a format of
your choice.
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We’ve covered a great deal of information regarding the various types of data analysis
and reporting methods that you may leverage to work with your SAP HANA data. We’ve
defined each solution, descibed the business users who typically interact with each
reporting solution, and explained why these reporting solutions are so important to the
organization.
Please take a moment to review this summary slide to further solidify what you’ve
learned.
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The following videos provide more information on some of the key concepts that have
been introduced in this training.
The first link launches a 5 minute, high level overview of data modeling and reporting steps.
The second link launches a 75 minute recorded webinar on SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 and
SAP HANA
Pause this course to allow yourself time to view the videos.
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You can learn more about the concepts covered in this lesson by accessing existing
training and other enablement tools and assets on the partner portal. Explore the links
provided on this slide.
Solution Consultant Training:
https://service.sap.com/~form/sapnet?_SHORTKEY=01200252310000087332&_SCENARI
O=01100035870000000183&_ADDINC=011000358700001192682007E&
SAP BI Workbook:
http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-24342
Product Tutorials:
http://sap.com/LearnBI
SAP Resource Libraries:
https://service.sap.com/~form/sapnet?_SHORTKEY=01100035870000723867&_SCENARI
O=01100035870000000183&_ADDINC=&
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Correct!
SAP Crystal Report and SAP BusinessObject Analysis (OLAP edition) software offer the
technology for executing formatted reports and uncovering historical trends to make
improved forecast decisions based on data sourced from within SAP HANA.
Sorry, that is incorrect. The correct answers are:
SAP BusinessObject Analysis, OLAP edition
SAP Crystal Reports software
SAP Crystal Report and SAP BusinessObject Analysis (OLAP edition) software offer the
technology for executing formatted reports and uncovering historical trends to make
improved forecast decisions based on data sourced from within SAP HANA.
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Correct!
With SAP BusinessObjects Explorer users are able to enter a few keywords to search
for the most relevant information for them, with the results organized in order of
relevance.
Sorry, that is incorrect. The correct answers are:
Ability to run a simple key word search
Ability to view results in relevant order
With SAP BusinessObjects Explorer users are able to enter a few keywords to search
for the most relevant information for them, with the results organized in order of
relevance.
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Correct!
SAP Crystal Reports functionality enables business users to connect to information
sources spread across the organization, and deliver personalized reports to the
business users’ preferred destination in their preferred language and format.
Sorry, that is incorrect. The correct answers are:
Ability to connect to various information sources
Ability to specify a customized language and format
SAP Crystal Reports functionality enables business users to connect to information
sources spread across the organization, and deliver personalized reports to the
business users’ preferred destination in their preferred language and format.
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Correct!
SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence enables users to ask questions, analyze data,
and identify trends whether in the office or on the road, while eliminating the need for IT
to build and maintain multiple variations of numerous queries and reports.
Sorry, that is incorrect. The correct answers are:
Ability to create and view reports both offline and online
Ability to create multi-dimensional and interactive reports without IT assistance
SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence enables users to ask questions, analyze data,
and identify trends whether in the office or on the road, while eliminating the need for IT
to build and maintain multiple variations of numerous queries and reports.
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You should now be able to:
Describe the various SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence solutions that may be
used to report on data from within SAP HANA
Explain how to connect the various SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
solutions to an SAP HANA data model
For more information on topics discussed in this course, see the references listed here.
Thank you for completing this training.
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