I had the unfortunate experience of having a root canal performed last week and it was not pleasant, but during the procedure I was totally fascinated by the way the Endodontist spoke to his assistant. He used terms and an entire language that I didn’t understand, but was second nature for him and his assistant. Terms like Obturation, Retrograde, Dam, Broach, Reamer, Rotary Burs and acronyms like EDTA and RCT along with numbers to identify sizes of drills or quantities of material. The assistant did not once hesitate or ask him to repeat anything and the operation proceeded smoothly.
As I was recovering from my drugged state and starting to feel like I had been slugged in the jaw with a baseball bat multiple times, it occurred to me that in the world of BusinessObjects, just like the world of Endodontics , we have our own language too and the terms we use and the way we speak to other BO people is unique.
The BusinessObjects product suite has been around more than 20 years and, apart from being the most widely use BI tool set in the world, has an incredible vocabulary of words, terms and acronyms that enable users, developers and administrators to quickly and effectively communicate with each other. So when we talk about semantic layer, universes, classes, objects, aliases, report variables and use acronyms like LOV and CMC, we are able to quickly understand and execute.
The next InfoSol Business Intelligence Seminar (IBIS 2015) coming up in June has the theme “Limitless Business Intelligence : Let’s Speak BO” and is designed specifically for people who speak the unique BO language. It will bring together BusinessObjects speakers from everywhere providing a forum for knowledge exchange and learning. The Call for Papers for the event has just gone out and everyone in the BO community has an opportunity to participate and share their amazing BO solution stories, tips, tricks or experiences using the tools.
Unfortunately, there are not too many international events completely dedicated to the BusinessObjects suite any more, but IBIS 2015 is laser focused on the core BO products and platform. In the last two years, we have witnessed a remarkable grass roots movement within the BusinessObjects community as independent local BusinessObjects and Crystal user groups have sprung up all over the U.S.. Many are supported by BO solution providers and many are organized and hosted by companies using BO. At the last count there were over 30 running regular meetings and that number is growing monthly. In a previous blog I wrote about how SAP appears to be out of sync. with its BO customer base and is focusing its attention in other areas so IBIS has become even more significant for the BO Community as a place to learn how to get the most out of a BusinessObjects deployment.
So if you speak BO, submit a paper and register for what will be the most significant event for the “BO lingual” amongst us in 2015!