How to Select the Right SAP BI Tool

8/13/2019 How to Select the Right SAP BI Tool

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Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client ProductBased on Your Business Requirements for SAP BW CustomersIngo HilgefortDirector Solution Management



© 2011 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 2

Disclaimer

This presentation outlines our general product direction and should not berelied on in making a purchase decision. This presentation is not subject toyour license agreement or any other agreement with SAP. SAP has noobligation to pursue any course of business outlined in this presentation orto develop or release any functionality mentioned in this presentation. This

presentation and SAP's strategy and possible future developments aresubject to change and may be changed by SAP at any time for any reasonwithout notice. This document is provided without a warranty of any kind,either express or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warrantiesof merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. SAPassumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in this document, except ifsuch damages were caused by SAP intentionally or grossly negligent.




Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client… one part of your overall BI Strategy

WHY is using the RIGHT client so important?.. It helps to address the business needs and requirements.. It can help to increase the adoption of your overall BI implementation.. It can help to increase overall business self service

… and using the WRONG client so detrimental? .. will lead to user dissatisfaction.. will lead to the “usual behavior”: exporting data, duct tape BI (Excel), untrusted information .. will slow down the overall adoption of your BI strategy



Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client

… based on your audience




BI Platform

Dashboards &Visualization

Reporting

InteractiveReporting

Analysis

Search &Exploration

Trusted Data

SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.x




SAP BusinessObjects BI solutions provide business users with access to unifiedinformation through a broad suite of BI tools for confident decision making andalignment across people and teams on a single, scalable BI platform

Dashboards andVisualization

How do I visualizedata for better

decision making?

How do I answerad hoc questionsand interact with

information?

InteractiveReporting

Data Exploration

How do I findimmediateanswers tobusiness

questions?

How do Idetermine trends

from complexhistorical data and

possibly makebetter forecasts?

Analysis

How do I accessand transformcorporate data

into highlyformatted reports

for greaterinsight?

Reporting

SAP BusinessObjects BI Client Portfolio

BI ApplicationDesign

How can IT createcentrally from

simple to complexBI applications fora larger audience

?


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Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI ClientDifferent Needs Require Different Experience

Executive

Individual Contributor

LoB / Senior Management

Business Analyst

Information

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Executive


LoB / Senior Management

Business Analyst

Information

Placeholdertext

Placeholdertext

Placeholdertext

Analyze regional goals andstrategic KPIs

Analyze information to measurethe progress toward set goals andKPIs.

Leverage actual and historical datato create detailed planning scenarios

Leverage data and tools to provideanswers ad-hoc to the managementand executive team so thatdecisions are based on solidinformation.

Oversee cross department / line ofbusiness performance and evaluatedifferent scenarios for planning andforecasting purposes.

Combine and review analytics withcompany strategies and goals tocontinuously improve companyperformance

Review regular accountstatements to control customerinvoices and vendor accounts.

Fulfill management requests forinformation as simply aspossible.



Your consumer is driving the business requirements

• We will focus on the consumer of reports and analytics in this presentation• IT will always play a role as part of your BI deployment to build the foundation


• Setting up BEx Queries• Creating pre-defined

workbooks• Building BI & Planning

Applications

• Dashboard Design

• Setting up BEx Queries• Setting up connections

• Report Design

ITCrystalReports

WebIntelligence

Dashboards

Analysis




Analysis, editionfor OLAP

Analysis, edition for

Microsoft OfficeWeb Intelligence

BusinessAnalyst

Analysis, edition forMicrosoft Office

Crystal Reports

Web Intelligence

IndividualContributor

Analysis, edition forMicrosoft Office

SAP BusinessObjects

Dashboards

Analysis, editionfor OLAP

LoB / SeniorManagement

SAP BusinessObjects DashboardsSAP BusinessObjec ts Explorer

Executive




Crystal Reports

Consume standardized reports to review operational metrics

Receive alerts from pre-built reports and leverage information for follow up

Use guided interactivity for filtering and selecting the right information

Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office

Consume and interact with information using prepared workbooks

Analyze operational metrics inside the Microsoft Office environment

Follow guided analysis using pre-built BI applications

Web Intelligence

Edit pre-built reports without the need for IT or a report designer

Use interactive reporting capabilities to access and analyze a variety of data sources

Share reports with larger audience and make use of product interoperability






Analyze corporate information to fulfill ad hoc requests from management

Review actual and historic data and use information as part of planning forecasts

Build and share Microsoft Excel based BI applications for guided analysis

Analysis, edition for OLAP

Analyze and interact with corporate data in a zero-client via the web

Build and share multi-dimensional workspace to reach a larger audience

Use Analysis as starting point and leverage product interoperability for details

Web Intelligence

Use interactive reporting capabilities to access and analyze a variety of data sources

Create and edit reports without the need for IT or a report designer

Share reports with larger audience and make use of product interoperability

Business Analyst




Senior Management


Analyze and review corporate KPIs and measure progress towards set goals

Share findings with upper management in form of presentations with live data

Use actual and historical data for detailed planning scenarios to enable realisticforecasting

Analysis, edition for OLAP

Analyze and interact with corporate data in a zero-client via the web

Share prepared or private workspace with other users

Leverage product interoperability to share findings with other BI clients

SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards

Receive an overview on corporate KPIs using easy consumable visualization

Leverage interactive dashboards to conduct own analysis

Navigate to detailed information to analyze further down to the root cause





Track and analyze company wide metrics using real-time interactive dashboards

Leverage what-if capabilities to evaluate different planning scenarios

Provide navigation for further analysis using product interoperability

SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

Answer ad-hoc questions anywhere, anytime using historic and real-time data

Search and explore information by using natural words and simple visualizations

Access large volumes of information on-premise and on device

Executive



Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI ClientHow can Analysis, edition for Application Design help you ?

IT

SeniorManagement

BusinessAnalyst

Individual

Contributor

Executive

Consume and interact with information using simplified BI templates

Use pre-built workbooks with guided steps

Create BI applications and design guided navigations

Leverage BI applications for planning and forecasting scenarios

Leverage BI applications for planning and forecasting scenarios

User product interoperability to share results with other BI clients

Consume and interact with information using simplified BI templates

Analyze information on mobile devices

C R E A T E

C O N S U M E



Multidimensional data analysis withnative Microsoft Office user experience

• Analyze and interact with data inMicrosoft Excel to discover, compare, and

forecast business drivers

• Create live data presentations withMicrosoft PowerPoint to share businessinsights

• Create predefined workbooks forsimplified data analysis

SAP BusinessObjects Analysis,edition for Microsoft Office

Senior Management Business Analyst Individual Contributor



SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, edition for OLAP

Multidimensional data analysis within aweb-based environment

• Analyze and interact with data throughdedicated web client to uncover answers

to business questions

• Create workspaces for private usage orto share business insights across theenterprise

• Run SAP BusinessObjects Analysis,edition for OLAP with other businessanalytic solutions integrated on the sameBI platform

Business Analyst




Preview: SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, edition for application design Analytical & Planning Applications

This presentation and SAP’s strategy and possible future developments are subject to change and may be changed by SAP at any time for any reason without notice. This document is provided

without a warranty of any kind either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

Rich and Intuitive design environmentfor building powerful analytical andplanning BI applications

• Leverage a large set of out-of-the-box

design components and the ability tocustomize using simple scripting language

• Create applications for on-premise andon-device using the latest technology, suchas HTML5 rendering

• Create applications optimized for SAPNetWeaver BW and SAP HANA

IT




SAP Crystal Reports

Design well-formatted, layout-focusedreports

• Create professional reports followingstrict layout presentation: legal, business,

financial, and regulatory

• Build guided interactivity into reports toenable faster decision making

• Report off any type of data source andtransform raw data into detailed dataanalysis





SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

Ad hoc interactive reporting

• Access, analyze, format, and sharebusiness insights, all in one tool.

• Create queries easily without the need toengage a report designer

• Query on any type of data source withbuilt-in features focused on easy dataanalysis

Senior Management Business Analyst Individual Contributor





Visualize complex data easily withinteractive dashboards

• Monitor key performance indicatorsthrough library of rich visualizations

• Perform “what -if” scenario -basedanalysis with interactive controls

• Drill into reports and analytics for furtherdata analysis

Middle ManagementExecutive




SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

Search relevant information and directexploration of data

• Answer investigative questions andobtain facts quickly

• Self-service access to data without theneed for predefined report or query

• Automatic generated visualizations forimmediate insight on data

Executive




… based on product capabilities




Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI ClientComparing Product Capabilities

CrystalReports 2011

CrystalReports forEnterprise

WebIntelligence SBOPDashboards

Analysis,

Edition forMicrosoftOffice

Analysis,edition for

OLAPSBOP Explorer

Highly formattedreporting

Parameterized / DynamicLayout

Self – Service reporting /Free form layout

Hierarchical capabilities

Data Visualization

Product Interoperability

Guided Navigation

Mobile Reporting




Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI ClientComparing Product Capabilities – SAP Data Sources

CrystalReports 2011



Analysis,



OLAPSBOP Explorer

SAP ECC (directly) Yes Yes * Yes * Yes * No No Yes * SAP ECC via TransientProvider ECC 6 - EhP05 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No SAP NetWeaver BW

(BI Consumer Services) No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No SAP NetWeaver BW(MDX) Yes No Yes No No No No SAP NetWeaver BW(Relational) No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes SAP NetWeaver BWA (viaSAP BW) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

SAP NetWeaver BWA(directly) No No No No No No Yes

SAP HANA (directly) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes * Yes Non-SAP Sources Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes

* - New planned capability with SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 Feature Pack 03




Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI ClientComparing Product Capabilities – Hierarchical Capabilities (1/2)

CrystalReports 2011



Analysis,



OLAPSBOP Explorer

Hierarchical memberselection Yes Yes Yes Yes * Yes Yes Yes

Level Based MemberSelection No Yes * Yes * Yes * Yes Yes No

Selection based onNodes and Leafs Yes Yes Yes Yes * Yes Yes Yes

Hierarchical parameters Yes Yes Yes Yes * Yes Yes No

Hierarchical Charting No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No

Hierarchies in crosstab

No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Hierarchical ReportDesign Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Ad-Hoc Exchange ofHierarchies No No No No Yes Yes No





Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI ClientComparing Product Capabilities – Hierarchical Capabilities (2/2)

CrystalReports 2011



Analysis,



OLAPSBOP Explorer

Expand to Level No No No Yes * Yes Yes No

Showing Leaves only(lowest member) No No No No Yes Yes No

Skipping Levels of ahierarchy No No No No Yes Yes No Ranking data alonghierarchy No No No No Yes Yes No





Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI ClientComparing Product Capabilities – Mobile

CrystalReports 2011



Analysis,



OLAPSBOP Explorer

Online Viewing

Offline Viewing *

Mobile Viewing (native)

Mobile Viewing (browser) **


* * - Only on Flash enabled devices




… based on your business requirements




Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI ClientUsing Business Requirements – Financial Area

As Financia l Manager for the West Coast Region o f Nor th Am ericaI need to be able to analyze cos t and p rof i t center ac tuals tow ardsthe a l located b ud get a long s everal d im ension s . I need to be able tosee these m easures along ou r com pany s t ruc tu res as we l l a sbeing able to com pare inform at ion f rom several sou rces . I a lsoneed to b e ab le add m y ow n ca lcu la t ion to answer on-demandreques t s f rom sen io r m anagement .

I wo uld l ike to leverage the inform at ion ins id e Micros of t Excel , bu ti t al so s hou ld be po ss ib le to us e i t in a b rows er.

Middle Management





What did we hear ?Use of hierarchies (cost center / profit center / company structures)Probably usage of BEx Query StructuresUsage of Microsoft Excel and browser based accessCreation of calculations on the fly

Accessing multiple sources

Middle Management





CrystalReports 2011



Analysis,



OLAPSBOP Explorer

Usage of Hierarchies

Using BEx QueryStructures

Microsoft Excel as client

Internet Browser as client

Creating calculations

Multiple Source in onereport





Usage of hierarchies and structures – Crystal Reports, Web Intelligence, SBOP Dashboards are able to leverage hierarchies in reports but

are lacking deep hierarchical capabilities – Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office and Analysis, edition for OLAP provide the complete bandwidth of

hierarchical capabilities

Creating Calculations on the fly – Crystal Reports and SAP BusinessObjects Dashboard would require to change the underlying report – Web Intelligence allows to create calculation but the user needs to “write formulas” – Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office and Analysis, edition for OLAP allow to create calculations in a

very simple way without the need to create formulas

Microsoft Excel as client to access the data – Live Office is able to provide the information from Crystal Reports and Web Intelligence with limited

navigation – Analysis, edition for OLAP and SBOP Explorer have no “live” integration with Microsoft Excel – Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office provides a native integration into Microsoft Excel and Microsoft

PowerPoint





SummaryBased on the combination of requirements from the Financial Area the recommendationwould be to use

– Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office – Analysis, edition for OLAP

For less hierarchical driven reports and a more consumer (less power user) type ofaudience Web Intelligence might be an alternative




Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI ClientUsing Business Requirements – Sales Area

The Sales Manager for Canada asked m e to c reate a repor tfor h is s a les representa t ives tha t wo uld a l low th em to seethei r current s a les p ipel ine . He ment ion ed that theinform at ion needs to be avai lable in the off ice , on the road,and on mo bi le dev ices .

He also s t ressed o ut th a t each sa les representat ive needs tobe able to change the report “as they wish” so that they cansee the in fo rmat ion by o ppo r tun i ty, p rodu c t , week & m onth ,and oth er ang les . Ac tual h ierarchies are only used l im i ted .

For h im as Sales Manager for Canada, he m ent ioned i t w ou ld

be a great value to be able to run so m e s imp le scenar ios tosee how ce r tain c hanges co u ld im pac t the p ipe l ine, fo rexamp le a change in the p rod uc t c os t o r p r i ce .

… and he then also mentioned that sometimes people prefer ju s t to g et an eMail w i th a PDF f i le.

Business Analyst

Middle Management

ndividual Contributor





What did we hear ?The information needs to be available on-premise (in the office), offline (onthe road), and on mobile devicesUsers need the ability to change the report and change the view on thedata.

Only limited use of hierarchiesDistribution of the reports via eMail in a PDF format is also requiredFor the Sales Management some simple what-if scenarios would be a greatasset

Business Analyst





CrystalReports 2011



Analysis,



OLAPSBOP Explorer

Offline Capabilities

Mobile Reporting

Distribution via eMail(Broadcasting)

Edit the report

Change the “view” of thedata

What-if scenarios





Using the information on-premise and on the road (offline) – Crystal Reports and Web Intelligence provide offline capabilities out of the box – For SBOP Dashboards there are partner solutions available on SAP EcoHub – Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office provides limited offline capabilities

Providing mobile access to the information – Crystal Reports and Web Intelligence provide mobile access for Blackberry and iPad / iPhone via Mobile

BI – SAP BusinessObjects Explorer is available for the iPhone / iPad – SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards is available on Flash enabled mobile devices

Distribution via eMail – Crystal Reports and Web Intelligence are integrated with the Publication capabilities from the BI Platform – SBOP Dashboards, Analysis, edition for OLAP and Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office are not

integrated yet – SAP BusinessObjects Explorer is always a online access





Changing the “view” on the information – Crystal Reports and SBOP Dashboards only provide limited capabilities to change the report for the

consumer. Such workflows have to be considered as part of the original design already – Web Intelligence, Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office and Analysis, edition for OLAP provide rich self

service functionality for the consumer – SAP BusinessObjects Explorer provides such capabilities, but the consumer might be limited to the

Information Space definition“What – if” capabilities

– A “What – if” scenario is the strength of SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards – Web Intelligence and Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office do offer limited capabilities in this area





SummaryBased on the combination of requirements from the Sales Area the recommendation wouldbe to use

– Web Intelligence – Interactive Analysis Desktop

– Mobile BI

What – if Scenarios will be created using SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards




Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI ClientUsing Business Requirements – Executive Area

As Execu t ive Manager in th i s co mp any I need cons o l ida tedin format ion , wh ich p rov ides me wi th a h igh -leve l overv iew onal l c r i t ica l corpo ra te KPIs . I need to be able to access th isinform at ion anyt ime, anyw here .

If needed I need to be able to get to the roo t cause and see

the deta iled inform at ion.

I a lso can no t always w ai t for m y bu siness analys t o f IT tosend m e the inform at ion wh en I ask them a ques t io n. Itwo uld be goo d to be ab le to s imp ly search fo r the answer byen ter ing m y ques t ion .

Executive





What did we hear ?Consume highly aggregated informationStrong data visualizations neededProvide the ability to drill down and navigate to detailed information whenneeded

Fast response timeInformation needs to be available via mobile device

Allow for search and exploration

Executive





CrystalReports 2011

Crystal

Reports forEnterprise

WebIntelligence

SBOPDashboards

Analysis,Edition forMicrosoft

Office

Analysis,

edition forOLAP

SBOP Explorer

Highly Aggregatedinformation

Strong data visualization

Drill Down / Navigate todetailed information

Mobile Reporting

Search & Exploration

This BI clients are not suitable for the intended audience.





Highly Aggregated Information – SBOP Dashboards and SBOP Explorer are capable presenting highly aggregated information

Strong Data Visualizations – SBOP Dashboards and SBOP Explorer both are offering strong visualization capabilities

Drill Down & Navigate to detailed information

– SBOP Dashboards allows to navigate to other BI clients and outside the dashboard to receive furtherdetailed information, as well as navigate to details in the dashboard. – SBOP Explorer allows to see all the detailed information in a single view but has no capability to

navigate outside to receive further details

Providing mobile access to the information – SAP BusinessObjects Explorer is available for the iPhone / iPad – SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards is available on Flash enabled mobile devices





SummaryBased on the combination of requirements from the Executive team the recommendationwould be to use

– SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards – SAP BusinessObjects Explorer – SAP BusinessObjects Explorer for mobile devices

In addition consider SAP NetWeaver BWA or SAP HANA for performance improvements

S l i h Ri h SAP B i Obj BI Cli





Phases

S e

l e c t i n g

t h e

R i g h t

S A

P B u s i n e s s O

b j e c t s

B I C

l i e n

t

Auditing

Use SAP BusinessObjects Auditing totrack the BI activity

Use SAP NetWeaver BW statistics totrack the activity on BW

Leverage the information incombination with the IT and BW teamfor performance improvements

Use Case

What are the business requirements ?

What is the audience doing with theinformation ?How are they doing this today ?

How is your audience using thesoftware right now ?

Create a use case on department level,don’t try to make one use case for allyour requirements

Audience

Who is your audience?

What are the skills of your audience ?

How is your audience using the software

right now ?Remember,

a business analyst in sales

might be different to

a business analyst in finance




Your BI Strategy should start with the business requirements, not with the DWH.

Key Points to Take Home

Start by defining your requirements and your desired outcome.

Focus on the business pain points by area. One use case after the other – not all in once

Understand your audience. Let them describe their workflow. Listen !

Remember – Your BI Strategy starts with the business requirements.. Not with the DWH




SAP Press

Repor t ing and Analys is w i th SAP B usinessObjec ts (2ndEdit ion)(SAP Press, 2012)

Ins ide SAP BusinessObjec ts Explorer(SAP Press, 2010)

Integrating SAP Bus inessOb jects BI Platform4.x w ith SA P NetWeaver(SAP Press, 2011)

Ins ide SAP BusinessObjec ts Advanced Analys is(SAP Press , 2010)




Mastering SAP and BusinessObjects

Tutorials on iTunes focusing on the integration of SAP BusinessObjects with SAPBW and SAP ERP

Link:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/mastering-sap-businessobjects/id501730901?ign-mpt=uo%3D4

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/mastering-sap-businessobjects/id501730901?ign-mpt=uo=4















Thank You!

Contact information:

Ingo Hilgefort ([email protected])Twitter: ihilgefortBlog: www.mastering-sap-and-businessobjects.com

How to Select the Right SAP BI Tool

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