Integrating SAP Business Objects
Xcelsius and Web Intelligence
reporting with SAP NetWeaver BW
and SAP NetWeaver Portal
Presented By:
Mustansir Saifuddin
October 20, 2010
Session ID: BI212
Agenda
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The new face of BI …. With BOBJ
Available Tools and Integration Points
Project Approach and Resource Requirements
BEX Queries and OLAP Universe
Deploying a Dashboard
Portal Integration and SSO
The Experience
2
SAP Landscape with Business Objects
GRC
GRC
Financials
Operations
Human Resources
Logistics
Data Quality
Management
For
SAP/CRM
Real-time
Validation
Duplication
CRM
Content
SAP NetWeaver
Extractors
Business Warehouse
Process
Open
HUB Data Data
Master
Integration
Management Quality
SCM
Data Profiling
SRM
Explorer
SAP NetWeaver
Master Data
SAP Bex
BW Accelerator
Governance
Queries
Excel Analyzer BW SAP NetWeaver
SAP NetWeaver
Master Data
Master Data Governance
Business
Web Analyzer
Accelerator
Management
Data
Warehouse
Federator
Corporate Services
SAP
BEx
Pioneer
PLM
Data Services
ETL/DQ
Data
Federator
Information Foundation
Enterprise Applications
ECC
Live
WEBI
Office
SAP NetWeaver
Portal
Crystal
Xcelsius
Reports
Lifecycle Management
SAP BusinessObjects POA
SAP NetWeaver
SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise
Information Access
EPM
EPM
Any Portal, Any
Destination
Metadata Management, Information Lifecycle Management
SAP NetWeaver Portal
3rd-Party Databases and Applications
SAP Business Suite
3rd-Party Databases and Applications
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Why Business Objects
• Now part of the SAP Business Intelligence suite
of tools
• Tight integration with SAP BW and ECC
• More Reporting Options
• Better Presentation Layer
• User Friendly Tools
• Intuitive User Interface
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Serving Different User Base
• Meets the needs of different user base within the
organization:
• Executives and
Managers
• Business Analysts
• Information
Consumers
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Agenda
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The new face of BI …. With BOBJ
Available Tools and Integration Points
Project Approach and Resource Requirements
BEX Queries and OLAP Universe
Deploying a Dashboard
Portal Integration and SSO
The Experience
6
Tools and Usage
Tools
Web Intelligence
Crystal Reports
Usage
Adhoc Query, Reporting and Analysis
Enterprise Reporting
Xcelsius
Dashboard/Visualization
Pioneer
Advanced Analytics
Explorer
Discovery and Exploration
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Integration Points and Architecture Components
Xcelsius
Query as a WebService
Live Office
Crystal Reports
Web Intelligence (Webi)
OLAP Universe
SAP BW
BEX Query
Direct Access
Infocube
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Multi
Provider
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More Streamlined Connectivity – BEX to Xcelsius
Xcelsius
 BI Consumer Services BICS Connectivity
Query as a WebService
 Technical Requirements:
Live Office
 SAP NetWeaver BW 7.01 (SAP
enhancement package 01), Service Pack 05
Web Intelligence (Webi)
Crystal Reports
 SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius Enterprise
2008 Service Pack 02
 SAP
Frontend
7.x installed on the client
OLAP
Universe
with BI Add-Ons
SAP BW
BEX Query
Direct Access
Infocube
Multi
Provider
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Building Blocks
BEX Queries (Source)
Universe (Semantic Layer)
Universe Connection to BW
Webi Reports (Presentation Layer)
Live Office Connections
Xcelsius (Dashboard)
Infoview (BOBJ
Portal)
Enterprise
Portal
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Agenda
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The new face of BI …. With BOBJ
Available Tools and Integration Points
Project Approach and Resource Requirements
BEX Queries and OLAP Universe
Deploying a Dashboard
Portal Integration and SSO
The Experience
11
Project Approach
• Start with a Proof of Concept (POC)
• Define Scope (both for POC and full implementation)
• Number of KPI’s to be captured in POC
• KPI’s required for the go live
• Identify any Drill Down Reports
• Use Production or Production Like Data
• Identify your Audience
• Senior Management
• C level Executives
• Others
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Resource Requirements
• Team Requirement and Collaboration:
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BI/BOBJ Architect and Project Manager
Identify BW Resource(s)
Pick the Business User/SME to guide the project Team
Basis Resource:
• Knowledge of Business Objects Environment
• SAP Integration Kit
• Enterprise Portal support
• Business Objects Developer(s)
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Agenda
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The new face of BI …. With BOBJ
Available Tools and Integration Points
Project Approach and Resource Requirements
BEX Queries and OLAP Universe
Deploying a Dashboard
Portal Integration and SSO
The Experience
14
Use of BEX Queries as a Source for BOBJ
• BEX queries have a one to one relationship to a BOBJ Universe
• This is identified as an OLAP Universe
• In order for the Universe to access the BEX query
• Check the “Allow External Access” checkbox in query properties
• Also check the settings in RSRT transaction called “Use selection of
Structure Members”. This allows Business Objects to read the
structures in BEX query
• Try maintaining the reporting logic in BEX by utilizing exit
variables to determine time and other complex computations
if possible
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Use of BEX Queries as a Source for BOBJ
• Be mindful of the changes made to the BEX query
• A Universe refresh is required every time a change is made to
the BEX query
• Use inclusion filters instead of exclusions when using certain
values or value ranges for a characteristics
• Check your query output by using MDXTEST transaction in BW
that allows you to debug any issues
Note: You do not need a BI Query for every report and you do
not need a universe for every BI Query
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BEX Query and OLAP Universe
• A universe on top of BEX query is an OLAP Universe
– No table joins etc. are required in this type of Universe
• This is a major difference between relational database universe and OLAP
based
• The following screen shot
shows the “Refresh
Structure” setting
• These settings allows
the developer to sync
up the Bex query to
the Universe
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SAP BW OLAP Universes - Terminologies
BW Query Element
Cube Dimension
OLAP Universe Element
Class
Characteristic (incl. Time and Unit)
A class with dimension and detail objects
(detail objects for key and description)
Key Figure
Measure element in a class named Key figures
Navigational attribute
A class with dimension and detail objects
(detail objects for key and description)
Display attribute
Each display attribute becomes a detail object
underneath the related dimension object
SAP variables
Query filter as predefined object which can be
optional or mandatory
Custom structure
Dimension object
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BEX Query Designer
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Comparable OLAP Universe on Top of BEX Query
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Universe Settings for BEX Queries
• Hide Level 00 in the Universe definition
• Remove L01 suffix from the object names and update the text to
reflect user friendly names
 Use “Single Sign On When
refreshing reports at view time”
option as the authentication
mode
D o n 't
F o rg e t
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Agenda
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The new face of BI …. With BOBJ
Available Tools and Integration Points
Project Approach and Resource Requirements
BEX Queries and OLAP Universe
Deploying a Dashboard
Portal Integration and SSO
The Experience
22
Elements of Xcelsius
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Important Phases and Connectivity Model
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Data Model design
Dashboard Front End Design
Dashboard Excel Design
SAP BI-Xcelsius connectivity
Sap Bex
Query
Business
BI Consumer Services
QAAWS/
Objects
Connector
Live Office
Universe
Xcelsius
Dashboard
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Data Model Design for Dashboards
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As the end product is a Dashboard, the SAP BI backend data model should be
designed very specifically keeping in mind the following aspects:
Business Requirement
Dashboard performance
Complexity balance: Front-end/Back-end
Total development time
Change Management – Key Aspect due to management
visibility
• Connectivity model
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Guidelines for deploying a Dashboard
• Architectural Guidelines
• Dashboard Load Times. Define a criteria < 10 Seconds?
• Consistency in Results – design needs to minimize the
opportunity to duplicate calculations or arrive at different
results
• Flexibility in Dashboards and Queries/Reports
• Identify the level of effort for any design changes
• Examples: Aesthetic changes VS adding new KPI’s
• “Simplicity” should rule the design in Xcelsius and reports
• Keep ongoing maintenance in mind
• Turn around time
• Ease of Use for End users
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Xcelsius Dashboard Best Practices
• Define a standard look and feel for the corporate dashboard
• Color schemes
• Corporate logo
• Pick the data connection that works for your situation
• Query as a Web Services (QAAWS)
• Live Office (LO) connection
• Define KPI’s that provide a high level overview of the data
• Allow drill down capabilities in to more detailed Webi reports
• To answer any further questions prompted from dashboard
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Operational Budget Dashboard
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Additional Tips for Dashboard Design
• In the object browser group the
design elements in a logical manner
• A few things to consider when
choosing the design components
• Ease of Analysis
• Naming convention for the component
• Use of Filters and panels
• Color Scheme
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Dashboard Excel Design
• Use the following tips:
• Formula Optimization
• Use of Vlookups
• Color legends
• Use different excel sheets per
different mapping scenarios
• Use of headings and comments
with proper description
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BOBJ Adhoc Capabilities
• Web Intelligence (Webi) tool is known for its Adhoc capabilities
• Leverage the same Universe used for creating the Dashboard for
creating on demand reports to do more detail analysis
• Users can create their own Webi reports via Infoview (BOBJ Portal)
that can be integrated in to Enterprise Portal
• Leverage the SSO capabilities that allows seamless integration
between Enterprise Portal, Infoview and backend BW system
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Where can Web Intelligence add value?
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Customer requirements
• Self-service reporting and analysis, autonomy from IT
• Simple user interface, designed for the masses
• Combine data from SAP and non-SAP data in a single report
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Connectivity to SAP
• SAP and non-SAP data in a single report
• Rich feature set
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Connectivity to SAP
• Sits on top of Business Objects Enterprise Universes
• Universes connect to SAP NetWeaver BI via OLAP BAPI
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Access objects: BEx Queries & SAP BI Info Cubes
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Support of BW Variables in Webi’s
Variable type
Processing Type
User Entry/
Default
Value
Replacement
path
Authorization
Customer
exit
SAP exit
Characteristic
Supported
Supported
Supported
Supported
Supported
Text
Not
Supported
Supported
N/A
N/A
N/A
Formula
Supported
Supported
N/A
Supported
Supported
Hierarchy
Supported
N/A
N/A
Supported
Supported
Hierarchy
node
Supported
N/A
N/A
Supported
Supported
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Web Intelligence Publications
• Publications in Business Objects Enterprise (BOE) plays a similar
role to Information Broadcasting in BW
• Publications allows you to schedule a Crystal Report/Web Intelligence
object for distribution to end users
• Prerequisites – Publications with SAP BW Security:
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BI authorizations are configured in SAP BI
Server side trust being granted between SAP BI and BOE
SAP authentication configured in BOE
SAP user and roles imported to BOE and available as recipients
OLAP Universe deployed with SSO as authentication method
Web Intelligence report being created and available in BOE
Publication being created as multi-pass bursting process (one fetch per
recipient)
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Agenda
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The new face of BI …. With BOBJ
Available Tools and Integration Points
Project Approach and Resource Requirements
BEX Queries and OLAP Universe
Deploying a Dashboard
Portal Integration and SSO
The Experience
35
Integrating BOBJ into Enterprise Portal
• Xcelsius Dashboards, Web Intelligence and Crystal Reports can
be integrated into Enterprise Portal
• Allows users a consistent look and feel for their reports and dashboards
• Leverages SSO functionality thus enhancing user experience as a whole
• Couple of Integration options:
• Knowledge Management (KM) content can be used to integrate
BOBJ content into Portal
• OpenDoc URL Iviews can be configured in Portal to provide direct
link to Dashboard and reports
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Data Journey and Authentication Path
Use Single Sign On
(SSO) to connect
from Portal to BOBJ
Infoview to BW
In CMC, setup SAP
Entitlement System in
BOE using the SAP id
setup for SSO
Leverage role level
security in BW to
secure Enterprise
level data
Import BW roles into BOE
Ensure BOE,
BW and Portal
are in the
same Domain
Configure
Custom Access
Levels in BOE
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BOBJ Transport AKA Life Cycle Management
• Life Cycle Management (LCM) acts as the
transport system to move BOBJ
development objects between
environments
• Examples Include:
• Universe
• Connections
• Webi Reports
• Xcelsius Dashboard
• Custom Access Lists
(CAL’s)
– BOBJ
Authorization
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LCM Steps
• Following steps are involved in moving objects from Dev to QA
or Prod environments:
• Create a new job by clicking on this icon
• You must be logged on to source system
• Add the necessary objects
• Always verify dependencies between objects
• Some example sequence include:
• Report => Universe => Connection
• Once the object collection is complete a “Test Promotion” can
be performed. This allows for a quick sanity check before
actually promoting objects to target system
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LCM Do’s and Don’ts
• Schedule your LCM job similar to how you would setup your
SAP transports to a target system
• Use consistent naming conventions when creating the LCM jobs
• Avoid promoting dependencies if they are already in the target
system
• Use rollback mechanism if you have to restore the destination
system to its prior state
• Only use this option if you have to quickly restore the target system
• Use this option sparingly as it takes up disk space
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Agenda
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The new face of BI …. With BOBJ
Available Tools and Integration Points
Project Approach and Resource Requirements
BEX Queries and OLAP Universe
Deploying a Dashboard
Portal Integration and SSO
The Experience
41
Impact of Business Objects
• Adding Business Objects in your current landscape adds
complexity
• Newer skill sets above and beyond BW are required
• More Integration points (or more Pain Points introduced) in
the environment
• Maintenance challenges with a new set of components and
upgrades to deal with
• Evolving architecture
W a rn in g
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Key Learnings
• Xcelsius:
• Users can consume and analyze a lot of information in a meaningful way
• Information at the executives fingertips via tabs, filters with telling
graphical representation
• Web Intelligence:
• Webi reports reduces time to develop formatted reports with much
more capability on an Adhoc basis
• Webi reports provide power users ability to modify queries and reports
like BEX
• Webi reports provides executives and light information workers quick
insight into their data
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Payback
• An enhanced user experience
• Business Objects covers a wide spectrum of user base in the
organization
– Something for everybody
• More business ownership less IT dependency
– An opportunity to move away from Excel and Access based custom
solutions
• Provide insights in to your data at the highest level in the
organization – Folks who are making critical business decisions
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Contact Info
Session ID: BI212
Mustansir Saifuddin
Email: mustansir@isolutionpartners.com
Web: www.isolutionpartners.com
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