Sap Bi 7 Innovation Centre: By: Ajay Uppal

 SAP BI 7 Innovation Centre

By: Ajay Uppal

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SAP Netweaver 2004S / BI 7 

BI7 = SAP Business Intelligence 

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Upgrade product from SAP BW 3.x

Purpose   

What’s New What’s Changed Opportunities to build more value

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SAP Netweaver 2004S / BI 7 

Business Intelligence Tools (front-end)    

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Data management (back-end)    

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BEx Report Designer Information Broadcasting (see Reporting Agent) BEx Web (Web Application Designer & Web Analyzer) PDF Printing Remodelling and Re-Partitioning InfoProviders Write-optimised Data Store Objects (DSOs) Infosets enhanced Content Browser & Content Analyser

Data movement (back-end)    

Transformations Data Load Process Process Chains enhanced / improved Persistent Storage Area (PSA) – changed role 3

SAP Netweaver 2004S / BI 7 

Integrated Planning Tool Designed as alternative to SEM BPS & BW BPS  “Real-Time” InfoCube to enable write-back (previously named “Transactional” InfoCube)  Integrated with BEx tools including “write-back”  BPS can continue to be used 

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Performance – BI Accelerator New hardware  Sharable 

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Security – Analysis Authorisations

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Visual Composer (Netweaver)

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Other new features Web integration of the Open Hub destination  Real-time data acquisition – uses daemon “push” technology  Limited support for changeover of front-end from BW 3.x 

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© Steria Limited

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Potential Areas of Benefit 

Information Broadcasting    

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BEx reports with graphs (new chart types)  

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Cockpits, dashboards possible No added cost for graphics server

Integrated Planning  

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Replace Crystal Reduce work collating report-packs Distribution of precalcs / reduce system load in online day SDPR opportunities (email distribution)

Modelling might replace OROS Might provide close fit with Group Property requirements

Non-SAP sources 

Better facilities to upload data 6

Business Explorer Tools (front-end) 

Query Designer and Analyzer – major changes/updates SDS – changeover of queries / workbooks  Revenue Management – Change/update queries 

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Improved features Integrates graphical presentation/charts  “Print” button on the output 

Note: ad hoc Query designer removed (but ad hoc web item now provided, needs Java) Benefits possible:

Dashboards, cockpits and better use of charts.

Quick Wins?

Yes

Major Projects?

Yes

Return on Investment:

High 7

Report Designer (front-end) 

Report Designer: able to produce formatted reports (regulator, statutory, etc) Pixel-placement  Use instead of Crystal 

Benefits possible:

Statutory reporting is driven from SDS (Company reports etc)

Quick Wins?

No contenders

Major Projects?

No requirement

Return on Investment:

Low

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Information Broadcasting (front-end)

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Information Broadcasting (IB) meets key RMG needs allows Web publishing and emailing of information  Bursting (depends on user ids)  Emailing reports or link into portal precalc  Generate PDF reports 

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Limited IB (email HTML only) if no Java stack Able to build Web applications based around BI information 

can include Integrated Planning as source

Benefits possible:

Precalcs for some users, reducing concurrency. Reduce effort in collating report packs. BI accessed only when data is ready (URL link)

Quick Wins?

Yes

Major Projects?

Yes

Return on Investment:

Medium - High

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Other front-end features   

Able to generate reports straight to Web applications Business Explorer tools also used with new Integrated Planning Most new features require Java stack

Benefits possible:

Web applications may offer some longer-term value

Quick Wins?

No

Major Projects?

Yes

Return on Investment:

Low – Medium 10

Data Management (back-end)  

Introducing physical re-partitioning will probably be more straightforward in future Some InfoProvider changes can be made with automated reload of data 

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New write-optimised Data Store Objects 

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more flexible changes (automated) but data volumes may preclude Specialized use, may not be relevant for RMG

Infosets can contain up to two InfoCubes Improved user interface for designing/creating/maintaining Infoproviders Content Analyzer & Content Browser

Benefits possible:

Improved efficiencies

Quick Wins?

No

Major Projects?

Possible

Return on Investment:

Low (Medium if performance/efficiency is a current issue) 11

Data Movement (back-end)  

Simplifies creation of InfoProviders Transformations: one-step replacement for Update Rules & Transfer Rules 

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Error stack could mean more rapid arrival of data in some cases

Data Transfer Process partly replaces InfoPackage Able to derive more than one InfoProvider from same Data Source in PSA Uses separate delta queues for the same data source  Makes more functional-oriented overall designs possible (EDW)  Could lead to hardware savings 

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Improved process chains 

Better management, better exception handling, reduced overnight support

Benefits possible:

Increased reporting scope by adding non-SAP sources

Quick Wins?

No

Major Projects?

Yes

Return on Investment:

Medium 12

Integrated Planning Tools 

RMG interest in Planning for Finance, Group Property, Traffic

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New features make Integrated Planning closer to the main BI

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BEx tools used for analysis, reporting and planning

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Charts and graphics in reports improve usability

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New Data Warehousing Workbench (graphical design of scenarios)

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Able to continue using BPS for existing scenarios (till next BI version)

Benefits possible:

More flexibility for users to do modelling If able to replace OROS, reduces complexity & cost

Quick Wins?

No

Major Projects?

Yes

Return on Investment:

Medium 13

Performance – BI Accelerator    

Significantly faster queries Administration / creation effort not excessive More than one BI system “could” use same Accelerator Stopgap approach – buys time to improve performance via design & tuning

Benefits possible:

Demonstrate business value from RM queries

Quick Wins?

Yes (at a cost)

Major Projects?

Yes

Return on Investment:

Low (would depend on current bottlenecks) 14

Security – Authorisations 

Report Designer: able to produce formatted reports (regulator, statutory, etc) Pixel-placement  Use instead of Crystal 

Benefits possible:

Statutory reporting is driven from SDS (Company reports etc)

Quick Wins?

No contenders

Major Projects?

No requirement

Return on Investment:

Low 15

Visual Composer (Netweaver 2004s)

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Stand-alone tool for developing applications Integrates with BI 7

Benefits possible:

None unless new applications feature in RMG strategy

Quick Wins?

No

Major Projects?

No

Return on Investment:

None in RMG environment

© Steria Limited

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Other new features    

Data can be delivered to Open Hub (Web integration) Where real-time data sources exist, more frequent update and reporting becomes possible Conditions Wizard & Exceptions Wizard Reports and web templates can be opened in the new BI front-end and saved as a BI7 version

Benefits possible:

Not expected RMG would use real-time sources

Quick Wins?

No

Major Projects?

No

Return on Investment:

Needs analysis of opportunities / requirements 17

Keep it coming – a way forward for BI 7 innovation   

Active research into current practices & patterns Virtual team - regular ideas-based meetings Strong evaluation against feasibility and benefit 

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Understand time-scales, costs, volumes, impact on running system

Select and prioritise key areas to investigate, eg:        

Information Broadcasting (to portal, email or Web page) Integrated Planning BI Accelerator Web Application Designer Report Designer & PDF Reporting Data distribution within BI (using the new Data Transfer Process) Roadmap for conversion of all 3.x objects (including BPS) to BI 7 by 2010 Authorisations 18