My Life With BusinessObjects

Although many, including Hollywood, jumped on the 2012 end-of-the-world bandwagon, SAP is getting the party started earlier.  For SAP BusinessObjects customers, the end of the world as we know it will occur in 2011 with the general availability of SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 4.0 (code name Aurora).  Folks in the beta program are revealing that Desktop Intelligence is not present in the SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 4.0 distribution.  While the temptation for some may be to go into shock, the news of Desktop Intelligence’s demise is really old news first announced as part of the XI roadmap in 2004 after then-BusinessObjects acquired Crystal Decisions.  Desktop Intelligence was going to disappear “someday” and now we’re learning that “someday” is really 2011.

Disclaimer: I am not part of the SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 4.0 beta program.  Although I would like to get in, if somebody could please show me the secret handshake.

Desktop Intelligence, in previous versions known simply as “Business Objects”, “Business Objects Reporter”, or “the full client”, used to be the only reporting tool in the BusinessObjects arsenal.  Although Web Intelligence had gone through several incarnations, it wasn’t until Web Intelligence XI R2 that the tool became powerful enough to handle most common reporting tasks.  However, at the same time, Crystal Reports was fully integrated into the Business Objects product portfolio.  Then Voyager appeared (soon to be reincarnated as Advanced Analytics, previously code-named Pioneer).  And Xcelsius, uh, I mean SAP BusinessObjects Dashboard Design.

What we’ve seen from SAP and other vendors is that there isn’t “one BI tool that rules them all”, but instead tools focused toward specific user audiences and applications.  In its day, Desktop Intelligence tried to cover all known bases.  And although Web Intelligence (soon to be re-branded as Interactive Analysis) incorporates most Desktop Intelligence features, it still doesn’t cover all of them even in the most recent XI 3.1 SP3 release.

So over the next few weeks, I’ll be exploring The End of the World as We Know It.  Life without Desktop Intelligence.  I’ll explore certain Desktop Intelligence features in XI R2 and XI 3.x and look at some strategies for living in a world without Desktop Intelligence.

For those who did not catch my earlier post or those who may be bitter, clinging to their guns and SAP BusinessObjects XI R2 CD’s, I found an interesting message on  the SAP Support Portal (S-ID required) while downloading XI 3.1 software this week:

How to obtain SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XIR2 Patches and Full Builds

SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XIR2 arrived at its product end-of-life (EOL) on June 30, 2010. SAP BusinessObjects has agreed to provide Best Effort Support for all customers until June 30, 2011. During this time, customers may still need to access full XIR2 builds, fix packs and service packs. Please read How to obtain SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XIR2 Patches and Full Builds for information on how to locate these downloads in the SAP Support Portal.

To get a full build of SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI R2, please create a customer message on the SAP Service Marketplace…

Guess I better keep my XI R2 CD’s in a safe place…

SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise includes powerful auditing capabilities that allow organizations to perform detailed reporting and analysis of user activity on their business intelligence platform.  SAP includes an Activity universe and sample reports in both Crystal Reports and Web Intelligence formats to get started.

I’ll be presenting “KPIs for Business Intelligence” at the upcoming 2010 SAP BusinessObjects User Conference.  My focus will be on what organizations can build themselves to analyze user activity.  However, many organizations don’t have the time or resources to create their own solutions and there are several packages available in the marketplace for those who would rather buy than build.

I’d like to compile a centralized list of software vendors and their auditing products.  If you are such a vendor, could you add a comment to this post?  Please include:

• Vendor Name
• Product Name
• URL to Product Information
• Phone and/or e-mail contact to get more information about the product

Remember that I moderate all comments, so don’t panic when yours does not appear right away.  I’ll compile the information into a future blog post and include a summarized PowerPoint slide in my KPI presentation.

Thanks in advance!

Time to put on my Mickey Mouse ears – I was delighted when the following e-mail arrived on Friday:

Congratulations. We are delighted to invite you to present at the 2010 SAP BusinessObjects User Conference.

The 2010 SAP BusinessObjects User Conference will take place at The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort in Orlando, Florida on October 5-7, 2010. You can learn more about the conference and search through all of the sessions.  Although general availability (GA) of XI 4.0 isn’t happening until 2011, there are multiple sessions about Crystal Reports 2011, BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 4.0, and BusinessObjects Explorer XI 4.0.  These are the first major releases developed after SAP’s 2008 acquisition of Business Objects, so the conference will be a great opportunity to see how SAP communicates its vision for the future of business intelligence.

As with last year, I’ve been selected to present three breakout sessions:

Explore the Universe with Explorer

Session Code 1002 | Tuesday, October 5, 2010 | 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Like a Hubble telescope for your BI environment, SAP BusinessObjects Explorer software brings together the simplicity and speed of search with the trust and analytical power of BI to provide immediate answers to casual business users. This session focuses primarily on Explorer Standard Edition, which allows SAP BusinessObjects customers to begin using Explorer right away with existing universes. The benefits of Explorer Accelerated Edition will also be presented. Learn how your IT organization can deploy and support Explorer effectively to provide users at all levels of the organization with intuitive access to the same “single version of the truth” that powers existing BI applications.

KPIs for Business Intelligence

Session Code 207 | Wednesday, October 6, 2010 | 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Many organizations use BI tools to develop Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure and improve organizational effectiveness. But fewer organizations apply BI to the business intelligence organization itself. Learn how to develop KPIs from the information available from BusinessObjects Enterprise Auditor as well as other aspects of your business intelligence infrastructure. See how these metrics can be utilized in operational, tactical, and strategic dashboards created using familiar tools like Xcelsius, Web Intelligence, and Crystal Reports.

SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise Security Essentials

Session 409 | Wednesday, Oct 6, 2010 | 2:45 PM – 3:45 PM
In this presentation, learn how the SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise security model works. Leverage features, such as inheritance, scope of rights, and custom access levels, to secure the business intelligence system, while reducing overall complexity and maintenance. Techniques will be demonstrated using SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI that are also applicable to SAP BusinessObjects Edge BI. Real-world scenarios drive home the concepts learned and give each attendee the confidence to implement the same techniques back home.

I am looking forward to seeing you at Walt Disney World this October!

For more information:

• America’s SAP User Group (ASUG) official web site
• 2010 SAP BusinessObjects User Conference official web site
• 2010 SAP BusinessObjects User Conference session search
• Walt Disney World Resort official web site
• Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort official web site

Today is June 30, 2010, a day that will live in infamy.  It is the last day of patch support for SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI R2.  Limited tech support will continue for an additional year, until June 30, 2011.  But it means that XI R2 Service Pack 6 (XI R2 SP6 and a few fix packs) is the end of the XI R2 distribution.  With the recent release of XI 3.1 Service Pack 3 (XI 3.1 SP3) and the highly anticipated XI 4.0 coming at the end of this year, SAP is signaling that it is time to move on.  I can still remember the excitement of the 2004 acquisition announcement of Crystal Decisions by a then-independent BusinessObjects, followed by road shows and road maps.  XI Release 1 was to ship in early 2005 with XI Release 2 following later in the year.  XI R2 indeed shipped in late November 2005 and I started my first BusinessObjects migration project in January 2006.  It brings a smile to my face when I think of how my career as a business intelligence professional has changed since those days.

What does the end of patch support mean for XI R2 customers?  It means that although tech support is still available to assist with issues over the next 12 months, the standard approach to anything resembling a software bug will be “upgrade to XI R2 SP6, apply its fix packs, and hope the problem disappears.”  Otherwise, move to XI 3.1 SP3.  XI 3.x thoughtfully implements many of the enhancements customers requested for XI R2, including a completely redesigned Central Management Console (with new security features), a slightly redesigned InfoView portal for users, a desktop edition of Web Intelligence (the Web Intelligence Rich Client), and more.  Beginning with XI 3.1 SP2, SAP introduced additional Web Intelligence features to help customers continue the migration away from Desktop Intelligence, which will either have limited or no support in XI 4.0 (BTW, I have no inside knowledge here – we’ll all learn Desktop Intelligence’s fate together when SAP introduces XI 4.0 in fall 2010).

The table below contains product end-of-life (EOL) dates courtesy of the SAP Support Portal.  If your enterprise is still using classic BusinessObjects 5.x or 6.x, now is the time to begin planning your migration to XI 3.1 SP3.  Customers on XI R1 or XI R2 should also begin making plans to upgrade to a fully-supported release. Because of the CMC’s redesign and its new security features, I highly recommend that organizations budget training dollars for their administrators. Although upgrading from XI R1 or R2 is not as complex as a classic BusinessObjects migration, the new XI 3.x security features, particularly the Custom Access Levels (CAL) are much easier to maintain than the Advanced rights available in XI R1 or R2.

SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence is a brand new 2010 title from SAP Press, who kindly sent me a review copy.  According to its back cover, the book will “provide you with a comprehensive functional overview of SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence, as well as actionable, step-by-step content to help you quickly begin creating, analyzing, an sharing enterprise reports.”  Authors Jim Brogden, Heather Sinkwitz and Mac Holden have created a comprehensive, hard-cover 574-page  guide to SAP BusinessObjects’ query and analysis tool.

Web Intelligence is used by many types of business and IT users throughout an organization.  However, it is designed primarily for business users, not IT professionals.   I was curious how the authors would define Web Intelligence, as this definition would guide the organization of the material.  From the book’s description of Web Intelligence in Chapter 1:

SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence is a best-in-class ad hoc query, reporting, and analysis tool designed with the business user in mind [emphasis added]…  The primary function of Web Intelligence XI 3.1 is to provide the capability of querying a set of data without any knowledge of the SQL language and interactively analyzing data to further restrict, expand, and modify the way information is displayed and delivered”

A majority of the book is devoted to Web Intelligence report design and is topically well-organized.  There is also significant coverage of universe design and the Web Intelligence SDK, topics that traditionally have different (predominantly IT) audiences.  The Web Intelligence SDK is covered neatly at the end of the book. However, universe design topics appear at several places throughout the book. My personal preference is that a book for Web Intelligence users should focus on the user experience and, to quote the Wizard of Oz, “pay no attention to that man behind the curtain”.  That man (or woman) is the universe designer, frequently an IT professional.  That said, I really appreciated the discussion in Section 2.1.1, “Design with the Business User in Mind”.  Technical challenges aside, most universe designers violate this basic rule, resulting in a universe that is not easily adopted by business users.

This book is comprehensive, giving coverage to advanced features like report bursting via Publications, related tools like Live Office, linking multiple report documents, and new features introduced in Web Intelligence XI 3.1 SP2.  Business users who are new to SAP BusinessObjects tools will benefit greatly from the book’s methodical coverage of Web Intelligence.  Traditional SAP users, in particular, should embrace this book readily, as Web Intelligence is replacing older SAP BI tools in the product portfolio.