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Business Objects Archive

To BI 4.0 or Not?

By
Paul
Published: June 30, 2011Posted in: Business Intelligence, Business Objects, SAP Business ObjectsTags: , , ,
To BI 4.0 or Not?

As SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 is finally about to move into general availability status, there is mixture of excitement tempered with caution amongst both customers and consultants alike.

It is undoubtedly a major new release of the long and successful BusinessObjects product suite. It includes a new semantic layer and universe designer, known as the Information Design Tool (IDT), with enhanced capabilities including native access to OLAP data sources. There are exciting new functionalities in Web Intelligence with hierarchal data analysis and new charting capabilities. Xcelsius 4.0 integrates with the new semantic layer and includes the query panel in the Designer tool allowing direct binding of universe objects to visualizations. There are two new versions of Crystal Reports and Advanced Analysis the new OLAP analysis tool that replaces Voyager. In addition there is a bunch of new functionality in the platform for monitoring, auditing, version control and event management plus a whole bunch more for integration with SAP and SAP BW. BI 4.0 is also based on 64-bit architecture.

All of this adds up to a lot of new code and new integration. While extensive testing has been underway in both the beta and ramp up releases, the new software is for the most part untried in the challenging production environments of existing BusinessObjects enterprise deployments. This is due to some degree to the fact that previous new releases of the BusinessObjects suite have had issues (XI 3.0 and BO 6.0 quickly come to mind). Most existing customers prefer to wait for one of two service packs (not fix packs) before venturing into a new release.

There is also the consideration that there are some pretty important items missing from the BI 4.0 release such as the Microsoft .net SDK’s (used by many 3rd party add-on solutions) and the integration with SharePoint .

Many existing classic BusinessObjects customers have large numbers of Desktop Intelligence reports which will no longer be supported in BI 4.0. This will be a huge conversion project for many of them that will be difficult to justify from a tangible return on investment viewpoint.

However, for many SAP ERP customers, BI 4.0 is long overdue and they need the better integration it offers as soon as possible so I would expect many of them to look to adopt early. Customers implementing BusinessObjects for the first time may also benefit from starting with BI 4.0.

As for the existing BusinessObjects ,Crystal and Xcelsius based customers, it would be good to use the next 12 months to try out the release in a test environment and start to become familiar with the new functionality while testing items from your existing deployment with the new platform. This would also allow you to better plan for what new functionality would benefit your business the most and to learn it thoroughly before deploying. For those with large numbers of Desktop Intelligence reports, it provides time to consider options and convert at a sustainable pace and, dare I say, for SAP to even reconsider the Desktop Intelligence support decision.

Image Credit: http://www.presentermedia.com/

Rod Stewart and Business Intelligence in Concert

By
Paul
Published: April 19, 2011Posted in: Business Intelligence, Business Objects, Paul Blogs on BI, Products, Xcelsius, Xcelsius End UserTags:
Rod Stewart and Business Intelligence in Concert

I just saw Rod Stewart in concert last week and he was truly awesome. The musicians and singers supporting him were just fantastic and the whole set was so tight and so professional. It felt as though they had been playing together for years but they actually had only started rehearsing a couple of months ago.

Of course, Rod Stewart is now in his late sixties and has been performing professionally for more than 40 years. He has always been a great entertainer and he knows his art to near perfection. He knows what to look and listen for in the people who support him and he knows what the audience likes and how to woo them.  His choice of songs from his incredible repertoire was spot on incorporating well known hits like “Maggie May”,  “Do you think I’m Sexy”,  and “Have I told you Lately” with some of his best songs like “Reason to Believe” ,  “The First Cut is the Deepest” and  “Hot Legs”.  His showmanship was in fine form too from kicking and heading soccer balls into the audience to getting down on all fours and worshipping the stunning stilettos of the very attractive female mandolin player!

The set lasted well over two hours but it was one of those concerts where you just did not want to end.  I left with a sense of euphoria and a desire to tell everyone about what I had just experienced (hence this blog).

I both attend and deliver a lot of Business Intelligence “shows”. To find that perfect combination of presentation, demonstration and connecting with your audience is not always easy. It takes practice, experience and, like Rod Stewart, a certain amount of showmanship.

Recently I had to deliver a presentation and demonstration of the complete SAP BusinessObjects product suite in one hour.  It is simply not possible to include everything in a meaningful way in that time so I focused  on the “well known hits” of Web Intelligence for reporting , ad-hoc query and analysis and Xcelsius for dashboards and “what if” scenarios. I had to explain the tools, demonstrate their usage as an end user and as a developer.

The customer was in the insurance business so I had one of my band members create fictitious data and scenarios for their specific industry. I also rehearsed the demo many times to make sure I could fit everything in the time allotted. I actually ran through it three times just before arriving at the customer site.

In the presentation room, everything was set up and just 5 minutes before the start, I plugged in a network cable and my Virtual Machine with the server software on it froze up!

Never happens – right?

Actually, it happens all too often. I quickly rebooted the Virtual Machine knowing it would take 10 to 15 minutes to fully reload and started the presentation on time showing my first PowerPoint slides while the server was rebooting in the background.  I managed to complete all the demonstrations within the hour and covered the Business Intelligence portal, Data Quality, Metadata Management and the semantic layer abstraction for good measure.

There were about 25 people present and I played to my audience making sure I had their attention and responding to their reactions as their eyes lit up with the data visualization in Xcelsius and the drag-and-drop magic in Web Intelligence.

They actually applauded at the end. I did not get the wild standing ovation that Rod Stewart got at the end of his set but then again, I did not have soccer balls to kick and stunning stilettos to worship!

BO XI 3.1: To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade?

By
Paul
Published: November 29, 2010Posted in: Business Objects, Paul Blogs on BI, SAP Business ObjectsTags: , , , ,

As SAP announces the “ramp up” or controlled release for SAP BusinessObjects XI 4.0, some companies who are planning to upgrade to BO XI 3.1 are wondering if they should now wait.

The simple answer is “no” and there are many good reasons to upgrade to XI 3.1 as soon as possible.

Firstly, BusinessObjects XI 3.1 has been the general release for a couple of years now and has proven to be a stable and solid platform. It brings a new version of Web Intelligence with the Rich Client (offline) capability with access to external data providers like Excel. It also has other features, previously only available in Desktop Intelligence, like the fold/unfold feature and stored procedure support through the universe. It adds new functionality also like the ability to track data changes between versions, contextual hyperlinking and use of drop-down selection boxes for prompts.

At the same time, XI 3.1 fully supports Desktop Intelligence reports unchanged which is quite significant when you consider that there will be no support for Desktop Intelligence in XI 4. This means that XI 3.1 will be the last BusinessObjects release to support Desktop Intelligence or the old Full Client reports.

BusinessObjects XI 4.0 will be a major new release with a lot of new functionality some of which will be available in the first 4.0 release and some which will be released later in service pack updates. It will be a 64-bit software application. It will have a new semantic layer that will combine the capabilities of the old BusinessObjects universe and Crystal Business Views and with a slew of new functionality including support of OLAP (MDX) data sources like SAP BW and MS OLAP cubes. The old BusinessObjects Universe Designer will remain supported in XI 4 for compatibility and easier transition.

There are new functionalities and capabilities in Web Intelligence, Xcelsius, Crystal and other content providers including taking advantage of the new semantic layer and universe design tool. There are two versions of Crystal – Crystal Enterprise which is new and uses the new semantic layer and Crystal Reports 2011 which is a continuation of Crystal Reports 2008. There is a new OLAP analysis tool called Advanced Analysis which replaces Voyager and there are significant improvements to Data Services and the BOE infrastructure functionality.

There will also be a new utility to move the contents of your old BusinessObjects content to XI 4. The Import Wizard is effectively replaced by this new tool called the Upgrade Manager Tool. This works for upgrades from XI 3.1 and the plan is to also be able to upgrade from XI R2 with security model changes. There is no upgrade available from earlier releases meaning you would need to move to XI R2 or XI 3.1 before moving to XI 4.

The ramp up will probably last 3 to 6 months so the general availability of XI 4.0 is expected sometime between February 2011 and May 2011. It is unlikely that the first service pack will be available until late in the year and most existing BO customers will probably not look at moving to XI 4 until 2012 or 2013 (based on previous trends).

For these BO customers still using Desktop Intelligence, there will be the added consideration and work of converting or replacing their old reports with Web Intelligence which for some may be a considerable effort and cost.

According to information disseminated at the ASUG BO annual conference in October, in addition to Desktop Intelligence, the following other existing BO XI products will be end of  life :  Voyager, Encyclopedia/Discussions and Performance Manager.

Historically, the current and immediately prior software releases tend to be actively supported for all software issues which would suggest that at some point in 2011 only XI 4.0 and XI 3.1 will be considered the actively supported releases.

Taking all of this information into consideration, it does make sense to upgrade to BusinessObjects XI 3.1 in the coming months if you have not done so already.

Watch Out for the Compliance Police

By
Paul
Published: March 9, 2010Posted in: Business Objects, Paul Blogs on BITags: , ,

I recently heard a story on the radio about a farmer in England who had secretly built a castle behind a wall of haystacks so the local planning authority would not find out. He had been denied permission to build the castle but he did some research and discovered what he thought was a loophole in the law. Basically, there is no law stating that you cannot build a house on your land but the local planning authority can require you to demolish it if they do not approve it, but there is another law that states they must tell you to demolish it within 4 years of it being built. So the farmer decided to build his castle in secret behind a wall of haystacks and lived in it happily for 4 years without anyone, except close friends and family, knowing. However, a court in England just ruled that the 4 year rule cannot be used in this case and have told the farmer he must demolish his castle. 

The story started me thinking about software compliance which has unfortunately gained a dominant presence in the Business Intelligence space in the last couple of years. While it is known that in some parts of the world, software is often pirated or used illegally that is not usually the case in North America. Most companies use their software according to the license under which they purchased it.  However, as hardware technology has improved with dramatic increases in processing power and memory capacity along with even more dramatic reductions in price, software companies have felt a need to change their licensing rules so they would not lose out on revenue and profits. So with the onset of multi-core CPU processors, there is often a fee with the additional cores. For example, with BusinessObjects software, a dual-core CPU may be charged at 1.5 CPU’s for software licensing (1 CPU for the first core and 50% for additional cores) and a quad-core CPU would be charged at 2.5 CPU’s.  So if you own a 2 CPU license of your BusinessObjects software and then move it to a new server that has 2 CPU’s but those CPU’s happen to be quad-core processors, you would actually find yourself needing to buy 3 more CPU licenses of the software in order to be in compliance. Any configuration that results in a half CPU  (like 3 x Dual Core CPU’s equally 4.5 CPU’s) will be rounded up to the next whole number of CPUs (5 CPU’s). Since it is very hard to purchase single core CPU processors these days, many companies are finding themselves facing unexpected and significant software fees. The software companies themselves have caught on to this and sometimes send out an audit form the customer must fill out to state the hardware that the software is running on or, sometimes, they perform remote audits by phone or web cast.

If your BusinessObjects software is licensed by Named User as opposed to CPU, there is no limitation on the number of CPU’s and servers that you can deploy on with the Enterprise level products (EDGE is restricted to one server). This is an advantage from the standpoint of performance and scalability but it also means that you need to purchase a separate license for each named user who will be using the software. In the BusinessObjects world, access to the different products and functions is controlled through the Central Management Console (CMC).  Sometimes customers accidently turn on functions, like the Web Intelligence Interactive Viewer, without knowing if they are licensed to use this or for how many users.  Other companies will map their Active Directory users to the CMC without realizing that they may not own sufficient licenses for all the users in Active Directory.

So how can you check your Business Intelligence software licensing is in compliance and avoid these accidental non-compliance issues before you are faced with a large, unexpected and unwelcome invoice? 

One way is to use a company like InfoSol who is intimately familiar with the BusinessObjects licensing rules to perform a Software License Audit service to validate what you are actually using versus what you are licensed to use.  There is also a software product that InfoSol uses in its audit service called Integrity that automatically checks the CMC for license compliance. This product may also be purchased through InfoSol. These services can be performed remotely or on-site and are a fraction of the cost that most license non-compliance situations would cost.

Of course, you could try the same approach as the farmer who built his castle behind the haystacks but it may not be a risk worth taking.

If you wish to see a photo and read the story about the Hidden Castle, visit  Telegraph.co.uk