Insights

Andrew Fox

SAP Business Objects - observations from SAP TechEd

Like many I recently attended the SAP TechEd conference in Berlin with great expectations of learning more about the SAP BusinessObjects technology roadmap and the new innovation in SAP BusinessObjects 4.0.

I wasn’t left wanting...

SAP BusinessObjects technology roadmap

SAP BusinessObjects now has a new collective name, a BI Suite.

This suite of tools covers the spectrum of business user paradigms from core operational reporting to information exploration.

Q4 2010 has seen the release of the new tool, which is the “Premium Alternative” to BEx Analyser currently delivered in Microsoft Excel.   SAP BusinessObjects Analysis for Microsoft Office offers access to trusted SAP BW data through not only Excel, but PowerPoint also. 

To me SAP BusinessObjects Analysis appears to be the right tool to compliment BEx in the short term but should not be considered as an immediate replacement. 

One of the additional benefits of attending the TechEd conferences is the networking not only with SAP users across the globe but also interacting directly with SAP employees who are very close to the development of these new applications.  The best analogy I heard for describing why should users adopt the new SAP BusinessObjects Analysis tool was ….  ‘It's like the iPhone, do you know anyone who has read the instruction manual for it…  it's all about the usability.’

The second exciting thing to expect in Q4 2010 is the next platform release is scheduled to enter “Ramp Up”. The platform release code named Aurora is to be called SAP BusinessObjects BI4.0   (four dot zero, Twitter #BI4).  As you would expect there are lots of enhancements to the core enterprise platform with Infoview having a refresh and being renamed, BI Launch Pad, ands a unification of the GUI over all the business user applications.

A few highlights of the BI4.0 to me are:

• BOBJ BI4.0 is 64 bit only on the server tier
• Universe designer still around but a new Information builder application is available which allows for multiple data sources in a universe by using the embedding data federator functionality
• BI Launchpad can live within the NetWeaver portal using a document listing portlet
• The new monitoring capabilities in BI 4.0 CMC will integrate with Solution manager
• BI4 signals the end of life for Performance Manager and Desktop Intelligence
• A new concept of BI Workspaces will replace Dashboard builder

As you would expect lots of new features and functionalities in WebIntelligence but alas nothing revolutionary, however WebI4.0 now supports SAP BW Hierarchies for drilldown which I now feel makes it a viable option for SAP BW customers for Ad-Hoc Query and Analysis.

What does the future hold for 2011 and beyond?

The theme that come over many times at TechEd was for SAP customer to Start with SAP BusinessObjects BI now and gain immediate benefits both for today and tomorrow.  I agree with the sentiment of this but it is only now with the features, functionality and deeper integration offered by SAP BusinessObjects 4.0 do I see the true coming together of the technologies making them a credible and viable option for the SAP BW community.