SAP BusinessObjects
Dashboard Essentials
Presented by: David Lai
Date: April 13, 2011
Introduction
 David Lai
 SAP Business Objects Consultant
 SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards Enthusiast
 Author of web blog http://www.davidlai101.com/blog and coauthor of
http://www.myxcelsius.com
 Co-author of SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards 4.0 Cookbook.
 Rebranding of Xcelsius
 Xcelsius in its original conception was a way to build visualizations and
dashboards using Excel data.
 As Xcelsius evolved, the name no longer became relevant in the SAP
product line
 Thus SAP felt it would be better for customers if Xcelsius was to be
rebranded as SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards
Agenda
 Common issues that dashboard designers are faced
with
 Data connectivity
 External 3rd party addons
 Query Browser (New BI4 feature)
 Dashboard resources
 Q&A
Common Dashboard Issues
 Architectural Issues
 Deciding on what type of data connection to use
 Dashboard Performance
 Aggregation of data within Xcelsius
 Functionality
 Hierarchical selection
 Multiple selection
 Drilling up and down hierarchies
Data Connectivity
 SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards
can connect to 12 different types of
data sources
12 Connectivity Options
BO Enterprise




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
Query as a Web Service
Live Office
SAP Netweaver BW
Connection
Crystal Report Data
Consumer
Flash Variables
FS Commands
Non-BO
BO Enterprise
Enterprise




Web Service Connection
XML Data
Portal Data
LCDS Connection
(Adobe)
 External Interface
Connections
 Excel XML Maps
Live Office and QaaWS @ Design Time
Live Office and QaaWS @ Runtime
When to use Live Office – Complex Formatting

Crosstabs with a dynamic amount of columns or formulas in the cells that
require complex formulas that can be done in the WEBI report.

With QaaWS we can use ETL but that would require extra data
maintenance and universes/universe objects which some organizations are
not okay with.
Great for rapid development as we don’t have to wait for ETL resources to
complete the ETL work

When to use Live Office
Scheduling
 We can make use of WEBI report scheduling on queries that take
long to run.
 The dataset needs to be small enough (less than 500 rows) so that
we can just grab the entire set without having to query.
Crystal Reports
 Crystal Reports can be utilized when there is no Universe
When to use Query as a Web Service
Performance
 Query as a Web Service does not have to build a WEBI report and
queries directly
 Good for large data sets that need to be broken down with prompt
parameters
 Can perform row level security querying
Data Logic / Maintainability
 Keeps Data Logic in the data layer so that database handles all the
number crunching through the ETL
 Don’t have to maintain Live Office connections on the Excel
spreadsheet
 Less overhead on the dashboard source file
Thoughts on Live Office and QaaWS
 Is it strict where Data Logic should reside in your
organization?
 Is it necessary to invest in the ETL work? Are ETL
resources available?
 Is performance a major factor?
 Real time or Delayed data?
 Is the organization comfortable with managing both LO
and QaaWS to get the best out of both worlds?
BI Web Services
•
•
•
•
•
•
Available for SAP BusinessObjects XI 3.1 SP2 and up
Hybrid of Live Office and Query as a Web Service
Allows you to create web service objects from Web Intelligence blocks
(Complex formatting without the need for ETL)
Can used scheduled reports
Can use Web Intelligence drill down feature which is extremely useful
No more Live Office management required on Excel spreadsheet
BI Web Services - Continued
•
•
•
On SAP Business Objects XI 3.1, you can only use Web Intelligence rich
client to generate BI Web Services
On SAP Business Objects BI 4, you can generate BI Web Services from
Interactive Analysis (Web Intelligence web client)
In SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards and Life Cycle Manager, the BI Web
Service objects are treated as Query as a Web Service objects
Some quick dashboard performance tips
•
•
•
•
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When using Live Office, use as little live office connections as possible.
They take up a lot of overhead
Re-use dashboard components such as charts and selectors as much as
possible
Keep dataset sizes to a minimum. When you are going over 1500 rows, it
takes a significant amount of overhead.
Try to use formulas such as VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, SUMIFs, etc sparingly.
For VLOOKUPs you can use Filtered Rows instead.
Use “&” instead of “Concatenate”
Inovista Microcharts
•
•
•
•
•
A powerful 3rd party addon that allows a designer to create standard or
hierarchical tree structures and present numerous data visualizations in a
compact way
Fills SAP BusinessObjects Dashboard’s tree explorer gap
Each column can represent a different chart type
Huge amount of control options to customize table functionality
Allows designers to build visualizations that are in line with Stephen Few’s
principles
Filtered Summary Component
•
•
•
•
Straight forward approach to summarize groups of data
Inject summarization, searching and filtering capabilities for end users
Shorten development time and improve dashboard maintenance
Don’t have to run another query in order to get aggregated calculations
Gmaps Plug-in
•
•
•
Navigate geographic information within a familiar Google Maps interface
Visualize performance at any level from worldwide to a street-level picture
Retrieve detailed information on map properties
Query Browser
•
•
•
Powerful new feature in SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards 4 that allows
designers to connect directly to Universe objects
Don’t have to manage separate WEBI or QaaWS objects
Allows designers to bind output data directly to object selectors and vice
versa to reduce complexity.
Build your query
object
Bind directly to
query object
Query Browser - Continued
•
Multi Select without having to use the real estate hogging List Builder!
Multi Select from
list of values!
Query Browser – Need to know
•
•
•
Must be on SAP BusinessObjects BI4
You must use Information Design Tool to convert existing Universes into
UNX format for the Universes to be visible on Query Browser
Query selection is the same as Query as a web service (no complex
formatting)
SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards 4.0 Resources
SAP Community Network
http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/index
The Official SAP Community Network provides a wealth of knowledge on SAP products, forums to help developers overcome any
problems, blogs to learn new tips and tricks, and much more.
Business Objects Board
http://www.forumtopics.com/busobj/index.php
Before SAP bought Business Objects, this was the largest support forum that developers would go to. Even after the acquisition of
Business Objects, the forum still remains very active.
EverythingXcelsius.com – Xcelsius Gurus Network
http://www.everythingxcelsius.com
Website for all your SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards (Xcelsius) news, tips, tricks, templates, consulting and training.
MyXcelsius.com
http://www.myxcelsius.com
Great blog that contains a huge amount of tips, tricks, and best practices for SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards. There are close
to 10 authors who contribute to making this blog a success.
David Lai’s Business Intelligence Blog
http://www.davidlai101.com/blog
David Lai’s blog that provides a great amount of tips, tricks, and best practices mainly on SAP BusinessObjects related products.
He also provides insight into other Business Intelligence toolsets.
SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards 4.0 Cookbook
http://www.packtpub.com/sap-businessobjects-dashboards-4-0-cookbook/book
Over 75 simple and incredibly effective recipes for transforming your data into exciting dashboards with SAP BusinessObjects
Dashboards 4.0. Available May 2011
Questions and Answers