sbop part ii best practices bi

II. SAP BusinessObjects BI Solutions XI 3.1 and SAP NetWeaver BW 7Current risks, approach, and mitigating strategies for Client Partners, License Sales, and Consulting Delivery Managers

Partner Enablement SeminarJuly 2009

© SAP 2008 /

1. SAP Integration Risks

2. Design Considerations

3. Project Approach Considerations

4. Best Practices Web Intelligence and SAP NetWeaver BW

5. Best Practices Xcelsius and SAP NetWeaver BW

6. Additional References

Agenda

© SAP 2008 /

SAP BusinessObjects BI Solutions XI 3.1 and SAP NetWeaver BW 7 – Integration Risks

Key Risks to Successful Integration Under estimating BI project complexity Implementations skills often left to JIT (Just In Time) Un-realistic Expectation setting with project teams as well as with Clients Planning for some SAP/SBO Field Services assistance/knowledge transfer where project

teams have little experience on latest Integration practices Historical or pre-acquisition integration issues may still be seen by client as a roadblock Rapid product updates/fixes require regular review/adjustment of best practices

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Risk of Failure Where SAP/SBO Field Services or Partner Services Not Involved

Increased project risk where neither Partner nor Field services involved with project Increasing risk severity where neither Partner nor Field Services involved in actual

escalation Success primarily determined by Partner/Field Services involvement and ability to adjust

processes

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Business Intelligence Green FieldsCommon Risks

No common terminology, will only know SAP terms

What is the meaning of “report”, “BI”, “dashboards”

Dimension vs. Characteristic Measure vs. Key Figure

No prior experience with BI tools Hard to get beyond operational/regulatory

reporting Lots of customer education required, lack of

product knowledge Clarification of key business intelligence

concepts are likely to be necessary Putting the data source central, rather than

the end user report

Expectation that Web Intelligence should replace BEx Analyzer

Lack of product knowledge Misunderstanding of product portfolio and

roadmap SAP doesn’t dictate moving all your analysts

off BEx Analyzer at all Web Intelligence is not an OLAP interface Confusion of intended audience

Assumption we just connect up to existing BEx Queries

Product may not support all elements of the existing BEx queries well

Violates the BI principle of working backwards from report requirements

BEx queries need to be purpose-built, tuned, and potentially aggregation added

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1. SAP Integration Risks






Agenda

© SAP 2008 /

Right tool for the right job(General Guidance)

BEx AnalyzerWeb Intelligence (via OLAP Universes)

Reporting & Analysis General interactive reporting BW in place Target audience: casual business user

OLAP Cube navigation BW in place Target audience: analysts

XcelsiusCrystal Reports

Operational or pixel-perfect reporting ERP (ECC)/Business Suite or BW as data source Target audience: IT for report authoring / most

business users for report consumption

Dashboards and visualization BW in place Architecture: Query as a Web Service (QaaWS)

with OLAP universes and/or LiveOffice Target audience: most business users

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Current State Assessment Recommendedespecially where Field Service not included

Assessment Objectives

Perform a high-level review of the BW implementation High level review of any existing BOE environment Determine the appropriate BOE and/or BW deployment track Identify Key Business Initiatives driving the BOE implementation Develop initial high-level business requirements Develop high-level project and technology implementation roadmaps

Act

ivit

ies

Is the BW environment ready to integrate and support the BOE platform? What should the BOE environment look like? What are the short- and long-term Business Initiatives? What are the dependencies? What design consideration must be addressed for BOE in the BW environment? What is the implementation roadmap? What are the skills and resources required to develop, maintain and support the full solution?

To

An

swer

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OLAP Universes DesignModification of Established Best Practices

BOE XI R2 + SAP IK BOE XI 3.1 + SAP IK

Many BEx queries and OLAP Universes per subject area/InfoCube

Keep BEx queries small to maintain acceptable performance levels

“Keep number of data elements low” Full BEx query MDX run when

refreshing any query

One or very few BEx queries and OLAP Universes per subject area/InfoCube

Add additional universe only if performance unacceptable

Watch out for number of Key Figures, Hierarchies, and how you deal with Restricted and Calculated Key Figures, and Navigational Attributes

MDX statement now modified by selection of objects in the report query definition

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Performance Considerations for OLAP Universes in Web Intelligence

Key FiguresHierarchies

Hierarchy support in Web Intelligence for BW is limited

Use of hierarchy variable is recommended The Use Query Drill option in the WebI

significantly improves drill down performance

A large number of Key Figures in the BEx query will incur a significant performance penalty when running queries, regardless of whether the Key Figures are included in the Universe or used in the Webi query. Only include Key Figures used for reporting in the BEx Query. This performance impact is due to time spent loading metadata for units, executed for all measures in the query

Navigational Attributes and Key DatesRestricted and Calculated Key Figures

Restricted and Calculated Key figures should be built as part of the underlying BEx query to use the BW back-end processing for better performance

Queries with a larger set of such Key Figures should use the “Use Selection of Structure Members” option in the Query Monitor (transaction RSRT) to leverage the OLAP engine

A large number of navigational attributes defined in the underlying InfoProvider negatively impacts overall performance

A single universe can only support a single Key Date variable

Performance should be comparable to BEx queries, although the following can dramatically increase response times

NOTE: From BOE XI 3.1 FP 1.1 the impact of large number of key figures has been reduced, by retrieving metadata information only when the unit/currency metadata info is selected in the Web Intelligence Query

Fix to assist a customer using over 200 key figures in their BEx query

We do not recommend you do the same, but the impact is significantly less, and comparable to R2

© SAP 2008 /

1. SAP Integration Risks2. Design Considerations





Agenda

© SAP 2008 /

OLAP Universe Refresh Structure Issue

Problem Description Consequences

Universe Designer has a button that is intended to pick up changes from a modified BEx query

Clicking this button re-generates the universe from scratch (as if it was a new one), generating new object IDs

Reports built on the universe prior to clicking the button contain objects with now invalid object IDs

All such reports will lose their query definitions and leave an empty query panel

Multiple individual support cases logged by various customers can be reduced to this issue

Partial fixes included with FixPack 1.4, available now. More to follow in SP2

Existing dashboards have to be rebuilt, or at least query definitions redeveloped

Existing reports have to be rebuilt, or at least query definitions redeveloped

Increased and unforeseen addition project work Where clients do report development

themselves, we’ve encountered resistance, and refusal to continue development work

Any project approach based on an iterative & incremental model will cripple the project

Until the issue is fixed, a strict formal project approach and tight change management is required

© SAP 2008 /

Project Approach and “Universe Refresh”

More formal project approach allows for better change management after impact analysis

“Waterfall”-like approach reduces assumption of continuously required changes

SAP’s ASAP Methodology follows “waterfall” and enables such a formal structure

Incremental approach: assumes continuous changes during implementation

Continuous refinement after review, continuously changing requirements

Each change to back-end will invalidate previously built reports

© SAP 2008 /

The “Business Intelligence” Approach(with SAP IK and OLAP Universes)

Identify data elements needed for universe in BEx

Purpose-build the BEx query, bearing in mind BOE supported product features

Consider adding aggregation

Tune the query

If data for a query is not yet in the cube, change the cube to support the required query, universe and reports

Consider whether going directly against an InfoCube or MultiProvider is desirable

requirements gathering

end User interviews

vision, strategy and purpose

visual layout mockups navigation folder structure Access rights

identify subject areas

define required data elements

evaluate ad-hoc requirements

Prioritize ease-of-use/ maintenance or performance

Develop the BEx query

Test the BEx query

Generate the OLAP universe

Hide inappropriate objects

Test universe

Develop required reports

Develop required dashboards

Test reports Test

dashboards

ReportsDashboards

Universes BEx Queries InfoCubeBEx Queries

UniversesReports

Dashboards

Universe Design

BEx Query Design

© SAP 2008 /

Tight Change ManagementStricter, to avoid Universe Refresh Problems

Test all reports associated with the same universe together

Test all reports on the basis of report requirements, and capture suggested changes

Test reports on: Data quality Data elements Filters and/or

conditions Performance Visualization

and representation

Determine whether defect or genuine change

If it is a change, add the change request to a Change Management Log

Collect all change requests

Determine whether the change requires a change to the back-end or underlying BEx query, or is only a formatting or report change

Analyze each change request and consider the amount of work/cost implementing a change would take

Include all rework and redevelopment of reports potentially impacted by the change, if the change requires a change to the back-end and the BEx query for the universe

Weigh the implementation costs against the business need for the change in requirements

Select the changes accepted for implementation

Document other changes for implementation at a later date

Adjust project cost and/or duration

Implement accepted changes

Return to the test cycle

Test/Review Reports

EvaluateChange Requests

Perform Impact Analysis

PrioritizeImplement (any)

changes

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Agenda

© SAP 2008 /



4. Best Practices Web Intelligence and SAP NetWeaver BW1. Options for Universe-Based Access to BW


3. Performance Considerations



Agenda

Overview: Options for Universe-Based Access to BW 7.00

BW

Data Federator

RDBMS Analytic Engine

OLAP BAPI ODBOXMLA

UniversesQT ODA

SQL Access MDX Access

WebICrystalReports

XcelsiusQaaWS

BIA


BWDF Fascade

Data Federator


OLAP BAPI ODBOXMLA

UniversesQT ODA


WebICrystalReports

XcelsiusQaaWS

BIA

changes and additions in red


BWDF Fascade

Data Federator


OLAP BAPI ODBOXMLA

UniversesQT ODA


WebICrystalReports

XcelsiusQaaWS

cells

rows

rows

rows

cells

BIA rowsrows

https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/13566https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/13566

https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/13448https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/13448

Comparison

BW Server Feature MDX SQL

BW Hierarchies

Restricted and Calculated Key Figures

Security

BW Variables

Currency and Unit Conversion

Exceptions, Conditions

SUM, MIN, MAX Aggregations

AVG, COUNT, COUNT DISTINCT, … Aggregations

OLAP Cache

Navigational Attributes

Mass Data Enabled

Federation (e.g. BW – RDBMS, BW – BW)

= fully supported = limited support / workaround

WebI – BW Interoperability via ODA (MDX)Details

Improvements1. Avoid unnecessary sorting

MDX standard imposes results to be sorted However, those sorts are typically ignored or not required by WebI sorting can be avoided by using a new UNORDER() function in SAP's MDX

2. Leaner memory consumption during flattening optimized flattening algorithm non-standard result structure

3. Leaner communication ODA – OLAP BAPI use compressed data exchange via binary XML

Availability SAP NetWeaver BW 7.01 SP 3 Business Objects Enterprise XI3.0

Fix Pack 2 w/ LAFix2.1 SAP Integration Kit Fix Pack 2 w/LAFix2.1

backback

WebI – BW Interoperability via Data FederatorAvailability

SAP NetWeaver 7.01 (Enhancement Package 01) Support Package Stack 03 Delivered with the BW Data Federator facade

BOE XI 3.1 Fix Pack 1 or BOE XI 3.0 Fix Pack 2 (+ LaFix 2.1 and 2.3) Include the BW Universe strategies Include Universe Designer strategy bug fix

Data Federator XI 3.1 Include the BW SQL connector Include specific BW SQL compensation techniques Updated optimizations for BW Support for BW authentication mode

SAP Integration Kit XI 3.1 For Single-Sign On (SSO) – Available in Q2 09

backback

WebI – BW InteroperabilityDecision Help

WebI / BWImplementation

Project

WebI / BWImplementation

Project

YesYes

NoNo

YesYes

NoNo

YesYes

NoNo

Question 1:Are BEx queries already in place and should be used as basis for Universes?

Question 1:Are BEx queries already in place and should be used as basis for Universes?

Question 2:Does the customer require specific BW OLAP features not covered today in the WebI Query Panel or Universe Designer?

Question 2:Does the customer require specific BW OLAP features not covered today in the WebI Query Panel or Universe Designer?

Implement connectivity through Data FederatorImplement connectivity through Data Federator

Check BEx query and WebI query design + implement fixes and improvements

Check BEx query and WebI query design + implement fixes and improvements

Implement well designed BEx and WebI queries for performance + fixes and improvements

Implement well designed BEx and WebI queries for performance + fixes and improvements

Evaluate effort / risk to replace BEx queries by Data Federator. If feasible, do so. If not, see A.

Evaluate effort / risk to replace BEx queries by Data Federator. If feasible, do so. If not, see A.

AA

BB

CC

DD

Please refer to https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/elearn?rid=/library/uuid/50d85927-4b07-2c10-d797-bb10917eae1d for more details.Please refer to https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/elearn?rid=/library/uuid/50d85927-4b07-2c10-d797-bb10917eae1d for more details.

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Agenda

Architecture of Layers – WebI Connectivity to SAP BW

The Query Panel Definition is what defines the “Microcube” and thus the MDX Query which is executed on SAP BW

When refreshing the data in the WebI report, the entire Microcube is refreshed

OLAP UniversesRecommendations & Considerations

The recommended approach is to create a query (or set of queries) on InfoCubes or MultiProviders that are in scope for Ad-Hoc Analysis, and then create an OLAP Universe on each of them Utilizing a BEx Query as the basis for the Universe allows for functionality such as

Navigational Attributes, Calculated Key Figures, Restricted Key Figures, Variables, etc to be leveraged

This setup also allows for performance optimizations to be made by hard-coding characteristic restrictions (thus limiting data), or reducing the characteristics and key figures which can be displayed in WebI or other frontend tools utilizing Universes (i.e. to prevent Line Item data from being displayed)

Understand the BEx Query definition and even the Universe Design does not directly impact the performance of a WebI Report* Rather, the design of the WebI Report and the InfoObjects (Dimension or Measure)

included in the report will impact performance *However, limiting the InfoObjects (Dimension or Measure) available in the Query or

Universe will influence performance (by virtue of the fields not being available in the WebI Report)

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Maybe we could illustrate this with a query design example:1) Typical query for OLAP analysis in BW (showing a lot of free characteristics)2) Typical query for WebI / Universe integration (with restricted use of free characteristics and OLAP features) and a lof of filtersWouldn't it be a good idea to more clearly (but still politically correct :-)) state todays difference in architecture on query navigation (read everything once to Microcube vs. read at navigation in BW).

© SAP 2008 / Page 31

BEx Query Design and Best Practices

Some general things to be aware of: Placement of Characteristics / Key Figures - no direct impact on generation of OLAP Universe “Allow External Access” option should be set 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

Filters & Prompts Greater end-user flexibility through predefined filter objects as part of the Universe

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

Recommendations for BEx Query & Universe Design

Consider splitting up the large Queries & Universes into smaller ones Depending on # of objects (Dimensions & Measures) utilized per report, it might make

sense to find common groupings of objects to service particular WebI Reports For example…

Grouped by Commonality

Group A Group B

Group C Group D

Mea

sure

s

Dimensions

= WebI Report

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BW

OLAP BAPI ODBOXMLA

UniversesODA

MDX Access

WebI

cells

rows

cells

BIA rows

WebI Query Panel

WebI Query Panel

Universe DesignerUniverse Designer

BEx QueryDesigner

BEx QueryDesigner

AnalyticEngineAnalyticEngine

GOOD BAD

60 WebI Queries

60 WebI Queries

12 Universes

1 Universes

12 Queries

1 Query

Total number of Objects

Total number of Objects

GOOD BAD

5 5

10 10

10 30

Number of Chararacterics in single objects

Number of Chararacterics in single objects

Example!Example!

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Agenda

Performance Considerations

SAP Business WarehouseBusinessObjects Enterprise

Service Load Distribution and Resource Allocation

Tuning Web Tier

Network Bandwidth

WebI Connectivity Options OLAP vs Relational

Xcelsius Connectivity Options QaaWS vs Live Office

Support Package / FixPack Level

Product Positioning

SAP Notes

RSADMIN Parameters

SAP Profile/Kernel Settings

BEx Query Settings

Data Manager Runtime Tuning

OLAP Engine Runtime

Support Package Level

Enhancement Package Level

Architecture of Layers – WebI Connectivity to SAP BW

BW Accelerator

SAPNetWeaver BW 7.0x BOE XI 3.1Physical Virtual Semantic 1 Semantic 2 Semantic 3 Report

Aggregation Engine

MultiProviders, HybridProviders

BEx QueriesInfoProviders

Uni1

Uni2

Uni3

Uni4

Universes WebI Query, QaaWS

WebI Report

It is important to understand where time is spent in the

runtime and how it influences the overall performance

Layers of Performance Analysis:Web Intelligence to BW

Web Intelligence

BOE / Semantic Layer

MDX

Query

AnalyzePerformance

Network

Network

Analyze SAP

NetWeaver BI

Performance

Key Message: Start performance analysis on Query layer. If performance is not sufficienton this layer, continue with general analysis of SAP NetWeaver BI.

Overview

Check the Query performance on SAP NetWeaver BW as benchmark

Perform BOBJ‘s MDX directly on SAP NetWeaver BW

Compare runtime of Query with the overall time it takes to Refresh the report

Optimizations

1. Optimize Query definition

2. Optimize MDX execution on SAP NetWeaver BW (notes)

3. Optimize Universe definition and generation of MDX on BOE (WebI, QaaWS)

4. Optimize Report definition and generation of MDX on WebI, Crystal

Dashboarding and data visualizationEnhanced integration with SAP NetWeaver BW

Today - Flexible options for accessing both SAP

and non-SAP data Leverage existing Crystal and/or Web Intelligence reports Leverage existing Universes Built upon Web Services

Tomorrow - Integration to BI Consumer Services ** Direct data access to SAP NetWeaver BW Consume SAP BEx/Pioneer Queries and Views Deliver high performance data access Enable low TCO with simple architecture

**Currently planned availability later in 2009

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Xcelsius Connectivity to SAP NetWeaver BW

SAP NetWeaver BWSAP NetWeaver BW

BEx Query

Live OfficeLive Office

Web IntelligenceWeb Intelligence

OLAP UniverseOLAP UniverseCrystal ReportCrystal Report

Query as a WebServiceQuery as a WebService

XcelsiusXcelsius

BICS Web ServiceBICS Data Access BICS Web ServiceBICS Data Access

MDXMDX

BW InfoProvidersBW InfoProviders

Data FederatorData Federator

SQLSQL

BEx Query

New New

Deploying Xcelsius with SAP NetWeaver BWNew Xcelsius / BW Integration - Overview

General facts about Xcelsius and BW Xcelsius is a design tool for building Dashboards At runtime the dashboard is delivery as an interactive SWF (flash file) Excel Spreadsheet area acts as “clipboard”

1. Data source (e.g. BEx Query) > 2. Spreadsheet > 3. Xcelsius visualization controls

Main aspect of new integration Connect Xcelsius to BW through the BI consumer services (BICS - on BI-JAVA)

Provide to the Xcelsius Designer query metadata for easy implementation Provide to the resulting SWF the query result set and value helps Use existing BI Java Runtime for launching the dashboard via the Browser

Integrate Xcelsius to BW lifecycle management through introduction of an own object type (TLOGO) Support translation support and internationalized texts (multi-language) Integrates with the BW transport connection

Prerequisite Xcelsius Designer 2008 SP2 BEx Frontend Patch 901 SAP NetWeaver BW 7.01 SP Stack 5 (planned for late September 2009)

Documentation: http://help.sap.com/businessobject/product_guides/xcelsius2008/en/Xcelsius2008_user_guide_en.pdf

Page 226

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Deploying Xcelsius with SAP NetWeaver BWNew Xcelsius / BW Integration – User Interface

11

22

33

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© SAP 2008 / Page 44

Deploying Xcelsius with SAP NetWeaver BWCurrent Xcelsius / BW Integration

Remember: OLAP Universe is primary source for Xcelsius dashboards via the QaaWS

For performance: Keep datasets to 500 rows - 5,000 rows maximum Beware of Flash engine overload Use cascaded prompt / queries Reduced # of Key Figures in Universe Execute queries when needed, not all at once Avoid aggregation in Flash – push back to BW

Consider LiveOffice when real-time query is not possible Optimize underlying Live Office document objects

Ensure Updated Xcelsius Fixpacks are used

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Additional References

Available from http://help.sap.com, SAP BusinessObjects area:Using SAP BW in universe DesignerDesigner’s GuideBusinessObjects XI Integration for SAP User's Guide

Available from http://service.sap.com/releasenotes, SAP BO area (login required):BusinessObjects XI 3 Release Notes

Available from http://service.sap.com/bosap-support (login required):BusinessObjects XI 3 for SAP - Supported Platforms

Available from http://service.sap.com/bosap-instguides (login required):BusinessObjects XI Integration for SAP Solutions Installation and Administration Guide A

Best Practices for XI3 deployment on NW - “Web_Intelligence_XI3_On_NetWeaver_BW.pdf”

– Contact Partner Director

© SAP 2008 / Page 47

Additional References

Available from SDN: “OLAP Universes Best Practices.”

SAP NetWeaver BW and BusinessObjects Web Intelligence Performance Best Practices SQL Access to BW via Data Federator Faster Universe-Based Access To BW via MDX

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