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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    Ingo Hilgefort

    Solution Management, SAP

    Leveraging the SAP BusinessObjects BI Portfolioto

    Get the Best out of the Toolset

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    Disclaimer

    The information in this document is confidential and proprietary to SAP and may not be disclosedwithout the permission of SAP. This presentation is not subject to your license agreement or anyother service or subscription agreement with SAP. SAP has no obligation to pursue any courseof business outlined in this document or any related presentation, or to develop or release anyfunctionality mentioned therein. This document, or any related presentation and SAP's strategyand possible future developments, products and or platforms directions and functionality are all

    subject to change and may be changed by SAP at any time for any reason without notice. Theinformation on this document is not a commitment, promise or legal obligation to deliver anymaterial, code or functionality. This document is provided without a warranty of any kind, eitherexpress or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitnessfor a particular purpose, or non-infringement. This document is for informational purposes andmay not be incorporated into a contract. SAP assumes no responsibility for errors or omissionsin this document, except if such damages were caused by SAP intentionally or grossly negligent.All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could causeactual results to differ materially from expectations. Readers are cautioned not to place unduereliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates, and theyshould not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions.

    SAP 2009 / Page 3

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    Agenda

    Selecting the Right Tool for the Job

    Best Practices for Crystal Reports

    Best Practices for Web Intelligence

    Best Practices for Xcelsius Best Practices for SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

    ... all of them combined with an SAP Landscape

    Best Practices for BW Query Design Summary

    Further Material

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    Selecting the Right BI Client tool

    The first integration improvements between SAPand SAP BusinessObjects products are realizedwith the release of NetWeaver 7.0 EhP1.

    NetWeaver 7.0 EhP1 is the prerequisite for thefollowing SAP BI Solutions:

    o Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC) based onNetWeaver 7.0 EhP1,

    o SAP BusinessObjects Explorer version 1.0 and 2.0,o Native access of SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius via

    BICS,o Better Support for Web Intelligence via OLAP

    Universes,o Improved MDX Interface,o Direct Access to BW 7.01 via SAP BusinessObjects

    Data Federator.

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    Agenda

    Selecting the Right Tool for the Job

    Best Practices for Crystal Reports

    Best Practices for Web Intelligence

    Best Practices for Xcelsius Best Practices for SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

    ... all of them combined with an SAP Landscape

    Best Practices for BW Query Design Summary

    Further Material

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    Selecting the Right BI Client tool

    Executives & Managers

    Business Analysts

    InformationConsumers

    Manage by metrics. Ina hurry to get answers

    Access and interpret

    data for executives andmanagers, using BItools

    Day to dayoperational needsunderserved by

    traditional BI due tocomplexity

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    Selecting the Right BI Client tool

    Voyager /Business

    Explorer(BEx) /Pioneer

    WebIntelligence

    SBOPExplorer

    CrystalReports

    Limited

    Xcelsius

    EXPLORATIONOLAP

    ANALYSISAD-HOC

    QRA DASHBOARDSPRODUCTIONREPORTING

    Interactive Experience, ResponsivenessFull

    ProfessionallyInformed

    TechnicallyCapable

    InformationConsumers

    Executives,Managers

    BusinessAnalysts

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    Selecting the Right BI Client tool

    SAPBusinessObjects

    Explorer

    Search and exploredata

    Common Google style user experience

    Limited analysisfunctionality

    Crystal

    Reports

    Pre-built report fromstatic toparameterizedlayouts

    Operational reporting

    Xcelsius

    Easy to use datavisualizations

    Compellinginteractivedashboarding type of analytics

    Web

    Intelligence

    Online and offlinereporting capabilities

    Powerful ad hocreporting capabilities

    Limited advancedanalysis capabilities

    Advanced Analysis(Pioneer)

    Advanced analysiscapabilities

    Full hierarchyawareness

    Information consumer

    Executive / Management

    Business Analyst

    User skill set (Consumer)

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    Selecting the Right BI Client tool

    Sales Is the workforce mobile? What drives them?

    Finance Can we expect them to be good with numbers?

    HR

    How sophisticated are these users with new technology?IT

    Can we expect them to be more technical than the regular user population?

    Marketing Might market segmentation and data mining be likely scenarios for even unsophisticated users?

    Customer Support Would a KPI dashboard not be most appropriate for all users/engineers?

    Is an Information Consumer, Business Analyst, or Manager & Executiveprofile always the same for all these departments? Are there more

    types of users?

    What are the typical requirements from your customers ?

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    Selecting the Right BI Client tool

    o Allow the consumer of the reports to describe the use caseo Talk to the business as well as IT

    Business: What is the level of sophistication How is the information used and how does the user interact with it What is it that were trying to achieve or support

    IT: constraints, practical limits Current IT landscape and roadmap Existing Infrastructure / Existing data models

    o Consider improvements to current business processo How is the data structured? Do we need to make back-end changes to support the

    requirements?

    One Use Case is one type of user, one type of usage, one department, one industry

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    Selecting the Right BI Client toolFinancial Reporting and AnalysisRequirements

    o Reports and Analytics need to be available in abrowser and Microsoft Office

    o Users need to be able to create new calculations onthe fly

    o Users need to be able to leverage hierarchieso Users need to be able to leverage custom BW query

    structures

    Sales Reporting and Analysiso Reports and Analytics need to be accessible online

    and offlineo Reports and Analytics need to be distributed via

    eMailo Users need to be able to change the view of the

    data (example: weekly to monthly to quarterly)

    o Users should be able to customize existing reports orcreate their own reportso Users need the capability to drill down or navigate

    into more detailed datao Users need the option to leverage scenario based

    content such as a what if scenario

    Human Resource Reporting and AnalysisReports and Analytics need to present highly textual information

    Reports and Analytics need to follow strict layout and will be used asofficial documents

    Reports and Analytics need to support date specific aggregation, forexample the Headcount for the date 31.12.2009

    Executive / Management Reporting and AnalysisRequirementsReports and Analytics need to present highly aggregated information

    Reports and Analytics need to present highly visualized information

    Reports and Analytics need to allow for further navigation into moredetailed oriented data

    Reports and Analytics need to be delivered in a response time below

    5 seconds

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    Selecting the Right BI Client toolCrystal ReportsFinancial Reporting and AnalysisRequirements

    o Reports and Analytics need to be available in abrowser and Microsoft Office

    o Users need to be able to create new calculations onthe fly

    o Users need to be able to leverage hierarchieso Users need to be able to leverage custom BW query

    structures

    Sales Reporting and Analysiso Reports and Analytics need to be accessible online

    and offlineo Reports and Analytics need to be distributed via

    eMailo Users need to be able to change the view of the

    data (example: weekly to monthly to quarterly)

    o Users should be able to customize existing reports orcreate their own reportso Users need the capability to drill down or navigate

    into more detailed datao Users need the option to leverage scenario based

    content such as a what if scenario

    Human Resource Reporting and AnalysisReports and Analytics need to present highly textual information

    Reports and Analytics need to follow strict layout and will be used asofficial documents

    Reports and Analytics need to support date specific aggregation, forexample the Headcount for the date 31.12.2009

    Executive / Management Reporting and AnalysisRequirementsReports and Analytics need to present highly aggregated information

    Reports and Analytics need to present highly visualized information

    Reports and Analytics need to allow for further navigation into moredetailed oriented data

    Reports and Analytics need to be delivered in a response time below

    5 seconds

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    Selecting the Right BI Client toolCrystal Reports

    Crystal Reports does not provide the functionality to createcalculations on the fly when viewing reports; such functionality isavailable only in the actual Crystal Reports Designer but not in theCrystal Reports Viewer.

    Better suited : Pioneer, Web Intelligence

    Crystal Reports is offering such capability only via prompting andit requires the actual design of the report to be prepared for theworkflow.

    Better suited in case this is a frequent requirement: Web Intelligence or Pioneer

    Crystal Reports is not offering actual design capabilities as part of the viewing experience.

    Better suited : Web Intelligence or Pioneer

    Crystal Reports is able to integrate Xcelsius models, but those arecreated with Xcelsius and not Crystal Reports.

    Better suited: Xcelsius

    Crystal Reports is - compared to the other tools lacking in termsof visualization capabilities and the ease of consumption of those.

    Better suited: Xcelsius

    Financial Reporting and AnalysisRequirements

    o Users need to be able to create new calculations onthe fly

    Sales Reporting and Analysiso Users need to be able to change the view of the

    data (example: weekly to monthly to quarterly)

    o Users should be able to customize existing reports orcreate their own reports

    o Users need the option to leverage scenario basedcontent such as a what if scenario

    Executive / Management Reporting and Analysis Requirements

    o Reports and Analytics need to present highlyvisualized information

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    Selecting the Right BI Client toolWeb IntelligenceFinancial Reporting and AnalysisRequirements

    o Reports and Analytics need to be available in abrowser and Microsoft Office

    o Users need to be able to create new calculations onthe fly

    o Users need to be able to leverage hierarchies (!)o Users need to be able to leverage custom BW query

    structures

    Sales Reporting and Analysiso Reports and Analytics need to be accessible online

    and offlineo Reports and Analytics need to be distributed via

    eMailo Users need to be able to change the view of the

    data (example: weekly to monthly to quarterly)

    o Users should be able to customize existing reports orcreate their own reportso Users need the capability to drill down or navigate

    into more detailed datao Users need the option to leverage scenario based

    content such as a what if scenario

    Human Resource Reporting and AnalysisReports and Analytics need to present highly textual information

    Reports and Analytics need to follow strict layout and will be used asofficial documents

    Reports and Analytics need to support date specific aggregation, forexample the Headcount for the date 31.12.2009

    Executive / Management Reporting and AnalysisRequirementsReports and Analytics need to present highly aggregated information

    Reports and Analytics need to present highly visualized information

    Reports and Analytics need to allow for further navigation into moredetailed oriented data

    Reports and Analytics need to be delivered in a response time below5 seconds

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    Selecting the Right BI Client toolWeb IntelligenceFinancial Reporting and Analysis

    Requirementso Users need to be able to leverage hierarchies (!)

    Sales Reporting and Analysiso Users need the option to leverage scenario based

    content such as a what if scenario

    Human Resource Reporting and Analysiso Reports and Analytics need to present highly textual

    informationo Reports and Analytics need to follow strict layout and

    will be used as official documents

    Executive / Management Reporting and Analysis Requirements

    o Reports and Analytics need to present highlyvisualized information

    Users can leverage hierarchies in a limited fashion, but in case thisbecomes a strong requirement other tools might be a better choice

    Better suited : Pioneer

    Web Intelligence is not able to provide What if Scenarios.Better suited: Xcelsius

    Printing or detailed layout focused reporting is not a strength of Web Intelligence.

    Better suited: Crystal Reports

    For sure Web Intelligence is able to present data in a visual mannerand in an ease of use style, but this requirement is based on theexecutive and leadership team and therefore other tools might be abetter choice

    Better suited: Xcelsius

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    Agenda

    Selecting the Right Tool for the Job

    Best Practices for Crystal Reports

    Best Practices for Web Intelligence

    Best Practices for Xcelsius

    Best Practices for SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

    ... all of them combined with an SAP Landscape

    Best Practices for BW Query Design Summary

    Further Material

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    SAP ERP SAP NetWeaver BW

    BEx Query

    InfoSetMultiProvider InfoCube

    ClassicInfoSets

    SAPQueries

    ABAPFunctions

    Tableand

    Cluster

    DSO

    BW MDX ODS

    BI Client

    BEx Query

    TransientProvider

    SAP Table, Clusterand FunctionSAP InfoSet

    Crystal Reports and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    SAP Toolbar When reporting from BEx queries Uses SAP BW Query or SAP BW MDX

    driver

    >> If you dont use the SAP Toolbarwhen reporting off BEx queries youmiss list of values from variables

    Crystal Reports and SAP NetWeaver BW

    Menu File > New

    When reporting from InfoSet,Table, Cluster, Function, ODS orInfoCube.

    You can select the specific driverto use

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    Crystal Reports and Publishing to SAP NW BW When you save your Crystal Reports you can choose to save it to

    BusinessObjects Enterprise or you can save it to SAP NetWeaver BW andpublish to BusinessObjects Enterprise

    It is not mandatory to save to SAP NetWeaver BW and publish toBusinessObjects Enterprise but some functionality is missed if you just save to

    BusinessObjects Enterprise: Online list of values for prompts Hierarchical display for hierarchical node prompts SAP variable personalization Life cycle management of Crystal Reports (from DEV to QA to PROD) with

    SAP transports

    Crystal Reports and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    Hierarchical Reporting

    Leveraging parent-child relationship from SAP NW BW Hierarchical Group has to be created to navigate trough the hierarchy

    Crystal Reports and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    SAP Variables

    List of Values for Variables are always static in Crystal Reports Designer(please dont change to dynamic), they are dynamic/online in InfoView

    Hierarchy node variables always flat in Crystal Reports, hierarchical displayin InfoView

    Crystal Reports and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    Agenda

    Selecting the Right Tool for the Job

    Best Practices for Crystal Reports

    Best Practices for Web Intelligence

    Best Practices for Xcelsius

    Best Practices for SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

    ... all of them combined with an SAP Landscape

    Best Practices for BW Query Design Summary

    Further Material

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    SAP ERP SAP NetWeaver BW

    BEx Query

    InfoSetMultiProvider InfoCube

    ClassicInfoSets

    DSO

    OLAP universe (MDX) Relational Universe (SQL)

    Data Federator

    BI Client

    BEx Query

    TransientProvider

    Web Intelligence and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    Key FiguresHierarchiesHierarchy support in Web Intelligence for SAPNetWeaver BW is limitedUse of hierarchy variable is recommendedThe Use Query Drill option in Web Intelligencesignificantly improves drill down performance

    A large number of Key Figures in the BEx querywill incur a significant performance penalty whenrunning queries, regardless of whether the KeyFigures are included in the Universe or used in theWebi query.For large sets of key figures, use option - UseSelection of Structure Members

    Navigational Attributes and Key DatesRestricted and Calculated Key FiguresRestricted and Calculated Key figures should bebuilt as part of the underlying BEx query to use theBW back-end processing for better performance

    Queries with a larger set of such Key Figuresshould use the Use Selection of StructureMembers option in the Query Monitor (transactionRSRT) to leverage the OLAP engine

    A large number of navigational attributes defined inthe underlying InfoProvider negatively impactsoverall performance

    A single universe can only support a single KeyDate variable

    Web Intelligence and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    Overall recommendation

    BI Queries are recommended as data sources for generating universeso BI Queries offer a flexible extension to the data modeling environment and require less

    effort to change than InfoCubeso BI Queries offer significant functionality to create customized data sources that meet end-

    user requirements, such as Calculated Key figures, Restricted Key figures and SAP Variables.

    You do NOT need a BI Query for every report and you do NOT need a universefor every BI Query

    o Focus the implementation strategy on limiting the number of BI Queries and universesthat share common elements

    o

    Build a small set of BEx queries focusing on sharing common elements in a small numberof Universeso The Web Intelligence Query Panel definition is the primary influence factor on how much

    data is being retrieve from SAP NetWeaver BWo In some situations extremely large queries and universes can adversely affect

    performance

    Web Intelligence and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    Web Intelligence and SAP NetWeaver BW

    The Query Panel Definition iswhat defines the Microcubeand thus the MDX Query whichis executed on SAP BW

    When refreshing the data inthe Web Intelligence report, theentire Microcube is refreshed

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    Web Intelligence and SAP NetWeaver BW

    SAP Variables in Web Intelligenceo Mandatory variables will always load a list of values (try to leverage more

    optional variables)o Leverage the Delegated Search feature for List of values

    Web Intelligence filterso Prefer the inclusive filter over the exclusive member to increase the

    performanceo Ensure the reference objects are indexed to avoid unnecessary steps to resolve

    the value to the member unique nameo Ensure the user can only select values from the actual LOV (List of values)

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    Web Intelligence and SAP NetWeaver BW

    Index Awarenesso Navigate to the tab Keys in the Universe Designero Add a primary keyo Type Charactero Key Type Primary Keyo Syntax [].[TECH_NAME], or

    [].[LEVEL].[TECH_NAME]

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    Web Intelligence and SAP NetWeaver BW

    Delegated search for List of Values (LOV)o Navigate to the tab Properties in the Universe Designer of the LOV itemso Activate the Delegate Search o No values will be loaded automaticallyo User is forced to leverage search to receive memberso Search is being delegated to the SAP BI system

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010= fully supported= limited support / workaround SAP 2009 / Page 31

    BW Server Feature MDX SQL

    BW Hierarchies

    Restricted and Calculated Key Figures (calculated)

    BEx Queries

    BW Variables

    Currency and Unit Conversion

    Exceptions, Conditions

    Security

    AVG, COUNT, SUM, MIN, MAX Aggregations

    Navigational Attributes

    Mass Data Enabled

    Ad-hoc Reporting

    Federation (e.g. BW RDBMS)

    Data Federator and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    BW Server Feature Workaround

    Calculated Key Figures, Formulas Define calculated measures in Universes / WebI

    BW Variables Define @prompt in Universes or WebI Query Panel; does notwork for exit variables or variables filled through authorizations

    Currency and Unit Conversion Simulate via joins in Data Federator

    Exception Aggregations SQL standard aggregations (AVG, COUNT DISTINCT) availablevia Data Federator processing

    Display Attributes Define joins (in DF) from InfoProvider to master dataInfoProvider tables

    Conditions Use filters on measures

    BW Hierarchies No workaround

    Non-Cumulative Key Figures No workaround

    SAP 2009 / Page 32

    Data Federator and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    OLAP universes for customers who:Invested in cube design and elements such as hierarchies, variables,calculated/restricted keyfigures, Defined a lot of BEX QueriesRequires advanced analyticsRequires Single-Sign On (SSO)

    Relational universes for customers who: Are not familiar with OLAP concepts (cube design, MDX query and objectdefinition)Want to combine SAP BW with other sources (SAP or non SAP)Want to access DSO (fined grained reporting)Can wait for Single-Sign On (SSO). Planed for 2H 2010

    Web Intelligence and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    o Query stripping will streamline report consumption and interactivity:

    Each refresh automatically reduces queries i.e. removes objects to matchthose required for the users report content

    All Web Intelligence interactive features are available inside reports structureo Query stripping should not be used for all user workflows:

    Users can add content (objects) that are additive to report content however,

    those who continuously add/remove objects from report will require executionof query can turn feature off and retrieve all objects in query

    Currently planned for SP3 of XI 3.1

    Web Intelligence and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    Agenda

    Selecting the Right Tool for the Job

    Best Practices for Crystal Reports

    Best Practices for Web Intelligence

    Best Practices for Xcelsius

    Best Practices for SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

    ... all of them combined with an SAP Landscape

    Best Practices for BW Query Design

    Summary

    Further Material

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    SAP NetWeaver BW

    BW MDXODS OLAP Universe

    Xcelsius

    Data Federator

    Crystal Reports Web Intelligence

    Live Office

    Query as a Web Service

    SAP ERP

    BEx Query

    InfoSetClassicInfoSets

    SAPQueries

    ABAPFunctions

    Tableand

    ClusterDSO

    BI Client

    BEx Query

    TransientProvider

    SAP Table,Cluster and

    FunctionSAP InfoSet

    InfoProvider

    MultiProvider

    InfoCube

    Xcelsius 2008 and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    Xcelsius 2008 and SAP NetWeaver BW

    Performances and InteractivityUse Live Office based on scheduled CrystalReports where live data is not neededLimit result sets to 2,000 rows maximumHighly aggregated dataExecute cascaded prompts and queriesReduce number of key figures in the universeAvoid aggregating in flash, aggregate in BW

    Xcelcius Direct ConnectivityConsider if all data reside in SAP NetWeaver BWBusiness needs highly visual and interactivedashboard interfaceOther reporting tools are used , but integration withother SAP BusinessObjects products is notneeded

    Design considerationsStart from the business needs. What decisionshould this support? What KPIs should it display?What visual components best represent the data?How will the user interact with the data?Keep it simple!

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    Xcelsius 2008 and SAP NetWeaver BW

    Connecting to SAP NW BW using Live Office and Query as a Web Service OLAP Universe is primary source for Xcelsius dashboards via the Query as a Web

    Service technology (QaaWS) or Live Office For performance:

    o Keep datasets to 500 rows - 5,000 rows maximumo Use cascaded prompt / queries

    o Reduced # of Key Figures in Universeo Execute queries when needed, not all at onceo Avoid aggregation in Flash push back to BW

    Recommend approach is to use Live Officeo Consider using instances via Live Office when real-time query is not possible

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    Direct connector to SAP NetWeaver BEx querieso Consume BEx Queries and Viewso Support of all variable type (incl. personalization)o No limitations in queries features usedo BW authorization enforcedo Free characteristics list of values for filtering

    NetWeaver platform integrationo Dashboard authorizationo Favorites and Roleso Transport capability (integrated into DW workbench)o Translation of textso Access through NW Portal using BEx iViewo Does not require BOE

    PrerequisiteXcelsius Designer 2008 SP2BEx Frontend Patch 901SAP NetWeaver BW 7.01 SP Stack 5SAP NetWeaver BI ABAP & BI Java

    BEx Queries & Views

    Xcelsius Enterprise

    Xcelsius 2008 and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    Xcelsius 2008 and SAP NetWeaver BW

    When to use the new direct SAP NW BI Connectivity ?

    When data resides in SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse When the business requirements are about

    o Highly visual and interactive dashboard interfaceo Intuitive guided navigation for casual business users

    When NOT to use the new direct SAP NW BI Connectivity ? Do not consider, if business requires to access dashboard from BusinessObjects

    Infoview or Dashboard Builder

    In that case, continue to host Xcelsius within Business Objects Enterprise and connect Xcelsius to data via Live Office or Query as a Web Service

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    Agenda

    Selecting the Right Tool for the Job

    Best Practices for Crystal Reports

    Best Practices for Web Intelligence

    Best Practices for Xcelsius

    Best Practices for SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

    ... all of them combined with an SAP Landscape

    Best Practices for BW Query Design

    Summary

    Further Material

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    OLAP Universe

    Data Federator

    SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

    Relational Universe(SQL)

    SAP NetWeaver BWA

    BW Accelerator

    SAP ERP

    ClassicInfoSets

    BI Client

    BEx Query

    TransientProvider

    SAP NetWeaver BW

    BEx Query

    InfoSet

    DSO

    InfoProvider

    MultiProvider

    InfoCube

    SAP BusinessObjects Explorer and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator Index for SAP BusinessObjects Explorer Contains standard SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator index Provides additional information: texts, conversion factors, security An SAP BusinessObjects Explorer-enabled index can also be used

    to accelerate BW queries Converting a standard index to an SAP BusinessObjects Explorer-enabled

    index requires re-indexing (due to new layout and additional fields)

    SAP BusinessObjects Explorer and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    Multi-provider indexing and exploration: Natively index common MultiProviders

    Index once for SAP BusinessObjects Explorer and SAP NetWeaver BW use cases Delta-loading capability

    Snapshot indexing of complex MultiProviders Such as those that refer to DataStore Objects and InfoObjects

    Support for MultiProviders with compounded characteristics across InfoCubes Query indexing and exploration

    SAP BusinessObjects Explorer can now be used to explore existing (or new)queries

    Quickly index your existing queries for SAP BusinessObjects Explorer and have yourusers exploring them almost immediately

    Snapshot indexing of queries Ability to leverage query features such as complex unit conversions

    SAP BusinessObjects Explorer and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    Mastering SAP BusinessObjects 2010

    Texts Text support in one language (one language for all SAP BusinessObjects

    Explorer-enabled BWA indexes) One text type per InfoObject (e.g. short text, according to InfoObject/RSD1

    setting) For time-dependent texts, we assume the current time of initial(!) indexing time

    is chosen for all time-dependent texts Re-indexing is required after new text loads into SAP NetWeaver BW

    Unit/Currency Conversion Conversion factor is defined before indexing Support for simple unit conversions (e.g., g > kg)

    Support of one key date for currency conversion

    SAP BusinessObjects Explorer and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    Security Support of one single SAP NetWeaver BI analysis authorization per user (user

    does not need to be an SAP NetWeaver BW user) Indexing of authorizations must be scheduled SAP BusinessObjects Explorer authorizations automatically filter to the

    authorized values

    Characteristics/Dimensions Time-dependent master data is always displayed for the current date (query

    keydate = current day) Display attributes are not supported

    Support for simple conversion/format routines for external keys at design time E.g. standard conversions (e.g. date format) Complex conversions (e.g. user-specific date formats) are not supported

    SAP BusinessObjects Explorer and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    Accelerate ANY data now: SAP BusinessObjects Data Services XI

    Access all types of structured and unstructured data from virtually any source,from databases to Web forums

    Integrate and deliver data in real-time or batch using flexible approachesthrough extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL)

    SAP BusinessObjects Rapid Marts Add-on content to SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Ready to use packaged data integration for SAP ERP with support of SAP,

    PeopleSoft, Oracle, and Siebel will accelerate your data warehouse / datamart

    projects Combine application knowledge with data integration best practices to deliver

    prebuilt data models, transformation logic, and data extraction

    SAP BusinessObjects Explorer and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    Use the index designer to model accelerated indexes Index designer ships with SAP BusinessObjects Data Services and

    can be launched from within SAP BusinessObjects Data ServicesDesigner

    Index designer generates the XML spec needed to create theaccelerated indexes, SAP BusinessObjects Data Services executesthis and the indexes are created during run-time

    Use SAP BusinessObjects Data Services to extract data from multiplesources, transform, cleanse and load it into SAP NetWeaver BW

    Accelerator SAP BusinessObjects Data Services uses SAP NetWeaver BW

    Accelerators bulk -load library (TREX thin-client) to load the data Index designer can also be used to create the initial SAP

    BusinessObjects Data Services data flows needed to populate theaccelerated indexes

    SAP BusinessObjects Explorer and SAP NetWeaver BW

    Databases

    Applications

    Legacy

    Data Services

    index designer

    Data Services

    Use SAP BusinessObjects Data Services to bring data from a wide variety of sources into SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator

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    Accelerate ANY data now:

    Current limitation: Star schema format with a single fact table

    SAP BusinessObjects Explorer and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    SAP BusinessObjects Explorer and SAP NetWeaver BW

    SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator 7.20

    SAPBusinessObjectsExplorer

    SAPNetWeaver BW

    SAPBusinessObjectsData Services

    Any corporate data

    SAP NetWeaver 7.01 SP05

    SAP BusinessObjectsData Services XI 3.2 SP1SAP BusinessObjectsindex designer plug-in

    SAP NetWeaverBW Accelerator 7.20

    SBOP Explorer (blade) 2.0SBOP Explorer XI 3.2SBOP Enterprise XI 3.1 SP2SBOP Integration XI 3.1 SP2 for SAPSBOP Client Tools XI 3.1 SP2

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    SAP BusinessObjects Explorer and SAP NetWeaver BW

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    Agenda

    Selecting the Right Tool for the Job

    Best Practices for Crystal Reports

    Best Practices for Web Intelligence

    Best Practices for Xcelsius

    Best Practices for SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

    ... all of them combined with an SAP Landscape

    Best Practices for BW Query Design

    Summary

    Further Material

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    Placement of Characteristics / Key Figures - no direct impact on generation of

    OLAP Universe or other reports Allow External Access option should be set in the properties of the BEx query Items not supported via InfoCube data access:

    Variables Restricted or Calculated Key Figures Filters

    Custom Structures Restricted Key and Calculated Key Figures

    For large sets of key figures, use option - Use Selection of Structure Members Leverage the capabilities of the Restricted Key and Calculated Key Figures where possible As part of the underlying BI query, they will be processed by the BW back end Can be shared across queries, minimizing development downstream

    Data Level Security & BW Use BW authorizations for data level security

    SAP NetWeaver BW Query Design

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    Leverage Restricted and Calculated Key Figures as part of the BW Query Can be shared across queries, minimizing development downstream As part of the underlying BI query, they will be processed by the BW back end

    Leverage SAP Variables as part of the BW Query Can be shared across queries, minimizing development downstream List of Values are being generated automatically

    Time based structures / calculations Leverage EXIT Variables as part of the BW query

    SAP NetWeaver BW Query Design

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    BI metadata feature SAP OLAP BAPI support level

    Characteristics (incl. Time and Unit) InfoCube/BI Query

    Hierarchies InfoCube/BI Query

    Basic Key Figures InfoCube/BI Query

    Navigational Attributes BI Query only

    Display Attributes InfoCube/BI Query

    Calculated Key Figures / Formulas BI Query only

    Restricted Key Figures BI Query only

    Custom Structures BI Query only

    Variables BI Query only

    SAP NetWeaver BW Query Design

    SAP N W BW Q D i

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    This simple property

    change helps improveperformance insituations where thereare a lot of RestrictedKey Figures and othercalculations in the QueryDefinition(>>Transaction RSRT)This ensures thatstructure elements aresent to the database forprocessing

    SAP NetWeaver BW Query Design

    SAP N W BW Q D i

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    Check the Query Technical Information via transaction RSRT to review thestatistics on the design

    BEFORE AFTER

    SAP NetWeaver BW Query Design

    A d

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    Agenda

    Selecting the Right Tool for the Job

    Best Practices for Crystal Reports

    Best Practices for Web Intelligence

    Best Practices for Xcelsius

    Best Practices for SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

    ... all of them combined with an SAP Landscape

    Best Practices for BW Query Design

    Summary

    Further Material

    S

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    Start with the consumer in mind .... (not with the data model) Leverage the sweet spot of each BI Client tool Leverage the BW Query as much as possible

    ...leverage the community .. (you are not alone !)

    Summary

    A d

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    Agenda

    Selecting the Right Tool for the Job

    Best Practices for Crystal Reports

    Best Practices for Web Intelligence

    Best Practices for Xcelsius

    Best Practices for SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

    ... all of them combined with an SAP Landscape

    Best Practices for BW Query Design

    Summary

    Further Material

    F th M t i l

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    SAP BusinessObjects Community

    SAP BusinessObjects BI Solution Architecture

    http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/boc/bi-solution-architecture

    Further Material

    Q ti

    http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/boc/bi-solution-architecturehttp://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/boc/bi-solution-architecturehttp://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/boc/bi-solution-architecturehttp://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/boc/bi-solution-architecturehttp://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/boc/bi-solution-architecturehttp://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/boc/bi-solution-architecture
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    How to contact me

    Ingo HilgeforteMail: [email protected]

    Twitter: ihilgefortBlog: www.mastering-sap-and-businessobjects.com

    Questions

    mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]
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