Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client Product for SAP BW Customers

Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client Product

for SAP BW customers

© 2011 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 2

Disclaimer

This presentation outlines our general product direction and should not be

relied on in making a purchase decision. This presentation is not subject to

your license agreement or any other agreement with SAP. SAP has no

obligation to pursue any course of business outlined in this presentation or

to develop or release any functionality mentioned in this presentation. This

presentation and SAP's strategy and possible future developments are

subject to change and may be changed by SAP at any time for any reason

without notice. This document is provided without a warranty of any kind,

either express or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties

of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. SAP

assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in this document, except if

such damages were caused by SAP intentionally or grossly negligent.


Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client … one part of your overall BI Strategy

WHY is using the RIGHT client so important?

.. It helps to address the business needs and requirements

.. It can help to increase the adoption of your overall BI implementation

.. It can help to increase overall business self service

… and using the WRONG client so detrimental?

.. will lead to user dissatisfaction

.. will lead to the “usual behavior”: exporting data, duct tape BI (Excel), untrusted information

.. will slow down the overall adoption of your BI strategy


BI Platform

Dashboards &

Visualization

Reporting

Interactive

Reporting

Analysis

Search &

Exploration

Trusted Data

SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.x


SAP BusinessObjects BI solutions provide business users with access to unified

information through a broad suite of BI tools for confident decision making and

alignment across people and teams on a single, scalable BI platform

Dashboards and

Visualization

How do I visualize

data for better

decision making?

How do I answer

ad hoc questions

and interact with

information?

Interactive

Reporting Data Exploration

How do I find

immediate

answers to

business

questions?

How do I

determine trends

from complex

historical data and

possibly make

better forecasts?

Analysis

How do I access

and transform

corporate data

into highly

formatted reports

for greater

insight?

Reporting

SAP BusinessObjects BI Client Portfolio

BI Application

Design

How can IT create

centrally from

simple to complex

BI applications for

a larger audience

?


Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client Different Needs Require Different Experience

Executive

Individual Contributor

Middle Management

Business Analyst

Information

Placeholder

text

Placeholder

text

Placeholder

text



Executive


Middle Management

Business Analyst

Information

Placeholder

text

Placeholder

text

Placeholder

text

Analyze regional goals and

strategic KPIs

Analyze information to measure

the progress toward set goals and

KPIs.

Leverage actual and historical data

to create detailed planning scenarios

Leverage data and tools to provide

answers ad-hoc to the management

and executive team so that

decisions are based on solid

information.

Oversee cross department / line of

business performance and evaluate

different scenarios for planning and

forecasting purposes.

Combine and review analytics with

company strategies and goals to

continuously improve company

performance

Review regular account

statements to control customer

invoices and vendor accounts.

Fulfill management requests for

information as simply as

possible.


Your consumer is driving the business requirements

• We will focus on the consumer of reports and analytics in this presentation

• IT will always play a role as part of your BI deployment to build the foundation


• Setting up BEx Queries

• Creating pre-defined

workbooks

• Building BI & Planning

Applications

• Dashboard Design

• Setting up BEx Queries

• Setting up connections

• Report Design

IT Crystal

Reports

Web

Intelligence

Dashboard

s

Analysis



Analysis, edition

for OLAP

Analysis, edition for

Microsoft Office Web Intelligence

Business

Analyst


Microsoft Office

Crystal Reports

Web Intelligence

Individual

Contributor


Microsoft Office

SAP BusinessObjects

Dashboards

Analysis, edition

for OLAP

Middle

Management

SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

Executive


Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client

Crystal Reports

Consume standardized reports to review operational metrics

Receive alerts from pre-built reports and leverage information for follow up

Use guided interactivity for filtering and selecting the right information

Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office

Consume and interact with information using prepared workbooks

Analyze operational metrics inside the Microsoft Office environment

Follow guided analysis using pre-built BI applications

Web Intelligence

Edit pre-built reports without the need for IT or a report designer

Use interactive reporting capabilities to access and analyze a variety of data sources

Share reports with larger audience and make use of product interoperability





Analyze corporate information to fulfill ad hoc requests from management

Review actual and historic data and use information as part of planning forecasts

Build and share Microsoft Excel based BI applications for guided analysis

Analysis, edition for OLAP

Analyze and interact with corporate data in a zero-client via the web

Build and share multi-dimensional workspace to reach a larger audience

Use Analysis as starting point and leverage product interoperability for details

Web Intelligence

Use interactive reporting capabilities to access and analyze a variety of data sources

Create and edit reports without the need for IT or a report designer

Share reports with larger audience and make use of product interoperability

Business Analyst



Middle Management


Analyze and review corporate KPIs and measure progress towards set goals

Share findings with upper management in form of presentations with live data

Use actual and historical data for detailed planning scenarios to enable realistic

forecasting

Analysis, edition for OLAP

Analyze and interact with corporate data in a zero-client via the web

Share prepared or private workspace with other users

Leverage product interoperability to share findings with other BI clients

SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards

Receive an overview on corporate KPIs using easy consumable visualization

Leverage interactive dashboards to conduct own analysis

Navigate to detailed information to analyze further down to the root cause




Track and analyze company wide metrics using real-time interactive dashboards

Leverage what-if capabilities to evaluate different planning scenarios

Provide navigation for further analysis using product interoperability

SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

Answer ad-hoc questions anywhere, anytime using historic and real-time data

Search and explore information by using natural words and simple visualizations

Access large volumes of information on-premise and on device

Executive


Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client How can Analysis, edition for Application Design help you ?

IT

Middle

Management

Business

Analyst

Individual

Contributor

Executive

Consume and interact with information using simplified BI templates

Use pre-built workbooks with guided steps

Create BI applications and design guided navigations

Leverage BI applications for planning and forecasting scenarios

Leverage BI applications for planning and forecasting scenarios

User product interoperability to share results with other BI clients

Consume and interact with information using simplified BI templates

Analyze information on mobile devices

CR

EA

TE

CO

NS

UM

E


Multidimensional data analysis with

native Microsoft Office user experience

• Analyze and interact with data in

Microsoft Excel to discover, compare, and

forecast business drivers

• Create live data presentations with

Microsoft PowerPoint to share business

insights

• Create predefined workbooks for

simplified data analysis

SAP BusinessObjects Analysis,

edition for Microsoft Office

Middle Management Business Analyst Individual Contributor


SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, edition for OLAP

Multidimensional data analysis within a

web-based environment

• Analyze and interact with data through

dedicated web client to uncover answers

to business questions

• Create workspaces for private usage or

to share business insights across the

enterprise

• Run SAP BusinessObjects Analysis,

edition for OLAP with other business

analytic solutions integrated on the same

BI platform

Business Analyst


Preview: SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, edition for application design

Analytical & Planning Applications

This presentation and SAP’s strategy and possible future developments are subject to change and may be changed by SAP at any time for any reason without notice. This document is provided

without a warranty of any kind either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

Rich and Intuitive design environment

for building powerful analytical and

planning BI applications

• Leverage a large set of out-of-the-box

design components and the ability to

customize using simple scripting language

• Create applications for on-premise and

on-device using the latest technology, such

as HTML5 rendering

• Create applications optimized for SAP

NetWeaver BW and SAP HANA

Middle

Management Business

Analyst

Individual

Contributor

Executive


SAP Crystal Reports

Design well-formatted, layout-focused

reports

• Create professional reports following

strict layout presentation: legal, business,

financial, and regulatory

• Build guided interactivity into reports to

enable faster decision making

• Report off any type of data source and

transform raw data into detailed data

analysis



SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

Ad hoc interactive reporting

• Access, analyze, format, and share

business insights, all in one tool.

• Create queries easily without the need to

engage a report designer

• Query on any type of data source with

built-in features focused on easy data

analysis

Middle Management Business Analyst Individual Contributor



Visualize complex data easily with

interactive dashboards

• Monitor key performance indicators

through library of rich visualizations

• Perform “what-if” scenario-based

analysis with interactive controls

• Drill into reports and analytics for further

data analysis

Middle Management Executive


SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

Search relevant information and direct

exploration of data

• Answer investigative questions and

obtain facts quickly

• Self-service access to data without the

need for predefined report or query

• Automatic generated visualizations for

immediate insight on data

Executive


… based on product capabilities


Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client Comparing Product Capabilities

Crystal

Reports 2011

Crystal

Reports for

Enterprise

Web

Intelligence

SBOP

Dashboards

Analysis,

Edition for

Microsoft

Office

Analysis,

edition for

OLAP

SBOP Explorer

Highly formatted

reporting

Parameterized / Dynamic

Layout

Self – Service reporting /

Free form layout

Hierarchical capabilities

Data Visualization

Product Interoperability

Guided Navigation

Mobile Reporting


Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client Comparing Product Capabilities – SAP Data Sources

Crystal

Reports 2011

Crystal

Reports for

Enterprise

Web

Intelligence

SBOP

Dashboards

Analysis,

Edition for

Microsoft

Office

Analysis,

edition for

OLAP

SBOP Explorer

SAP ECC * * *

SAP ECC via Transient

Provider ECC 6 - EhP05

SAP NetWeaver BW

(BI Consumer Services)

SAP NetWeaver BW

(MDX)

SAP NetWeaver BW

(Relational)

SAP NetWeaver BWA (via

SAP BW)

SAP NetWeaver BWA

(directly)

SAP HANA (directly) *

Non-SAP Sources

* - New planned capability with SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 Feature Pack 03


Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client Comparing Product Capabilities – Hierarchical Capabilities (1/2)

Crystal

Reports 2011

Crystal

Reports for

Enterprise

Web

Intelligence

SBOP

Dashboards

Analysis,

Edition for

Microsoft

Office

Analysis,

edition for

OLAP

SBOP Explorer

Hierarchical member

selection *

Level Based Member

Selection * * *

Selection based on

Nodes and Leafs *

Hierarchical parameters *

Hierarchical Charting

Hierarchies in crosstab

Hierarchical Report

Design

Ad-Hoc Exchange of

Hierarchies



Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client Comparing Product Capabilities – Hierarchical Capabilities (2/2)

Crystal

Reports 2011

Crystal

Reports for

Enterprise

Web

Intelligence

SBOP

Dashboards

Analysis,

Edition for

Microsoft

Office

Analysis,

edition for

OLAP

SBOP Explorer

Expand to Level *

Showing Leaves only

(lowest member)

Skipping Levels of a

hierarchy

Ranking data along

hierarchy



Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client Comparing Product Capabilities – Mobile

Crystal

Reports 2011

Crystal

Reports for

Enterprise

Web

Intelligence

SBOP

Dashboards

Analysis,

Edition for

Microsoft

Office

Analysis,

edition for

OLAP

SBOP Explorer

Online Viewing

Offline Viewing *

Mobile Viewing (native)

Mobile Viewing (browser) **


* * - Only on Flash enabled devices


… based on your business requirements


Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client Using Business Requirements – Financial Area

As Financial Manager for the West Coast Region of North America

I need to be able to analyze cost and profit center actuals towards

the allocated budget along several dimensions. I need to be able to

see these measures along our company structures as well as

being able to compare information from several sources. I also

need to be able add my own calculation to answer on-demand

requests from senior management.

I would like to leverage the information inside Microsoft Excel, but

it also should be possible to use it in a browser.

Middle Management



What did we hear ?

Use of hierarchies (cost center / profit center / company structures)

Probably usage of BEx Query Structures

Usage of Microsoft Excel and browser based access

Creation of calculations on the fly

Accessing multiple sources

Middle Management



Crystal

Reports 2011

Crystal

Reports for

Enterprise

Web

Intelligence

SBOP

Dashboards

Analysis,

Edition for

Microsoft

Office

Analysis,

edition for

OLAP

SBOP Explorer

Usage of Hierarchies

Using BEx Query

Structures

Microsoft Excel as client

Internet Browser as client

Creating calculations

Multiple Source in one

report



Usage of hierarchies and structures

– Crystal Reports, Web Intelligence, SBOP Dashboards are able to leverage hierarchies in reports but

are lacking deep hierarchical capabilities

– Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office and Analysis, edition for OLAP provide the complete bandwidth of

hierarchical capabilities

Creating Calculations on the fly

– Crystal Reports and SAP BusinessObjects Dashboard would require to change the underlying report

– Web Intelligence allows to create calculation but the user needs to “write formulas”

– Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office and Analysis, edition for OLAP allow to create calculations in a

very simple way without the need to create formulas

Microsoft Excel as client to access the data

– Live Office is able to provide the information from Crystal Reports and Web Intelligence with limited

navigation

– Analysis, edition for OLAP and SBOP Explorer have no “live” integration with Microsoft Excel

– Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office provides a native integration into Microsoft Excel and Microsoft

PowerPoint



Summary

Based on the combination of requirements from the Financial Area the recommendation

would be to use

– Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office

– Analysis, edition for OLAP

For less hierarchical driven reports and a more consumer (less power user) type of

audience Web Intelligence might be an alternative


Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client Using Business Requirements – Sales Area

The Sales Manager for Canada asked me to create a report

for his sales representatives that would allow them to see

their current sales pipeline. He mentioned that the

information needs to be available in the office, on the road,

and on mobile devices.

He also stressed out that each sales representative needs to

be able to change the report “as they wish” so that they can

see the information by opportunity, product, week & month,

and other angles. Actual hierarchies are only used limited.

For him as Sales Manager for Canada, he mentioned it would

be a great value to be able to run some simple scenarios to

see how certain changes could impact the pipeline, for

example a change in the product cost or price.

… and he then also mentioned that sometimes people prefer

just to get an eMail with a PDF file.

Business Analyst

Middle Management




What did we hear ?

The information needs to be available on-premise (in the office), offline (on

the road), and on mobile devices

Users need the ability to change the report and change the view on the

data.

Only limited use of hierarchies

Distribution of the reports via eMail in a PDF format is also required

For the Sales Management some simple what-if scenarios would be a great

asset

Business Analyst



Crystal

Reports 2011

Crystal

Reports for

Enterprise

Web

Intelligence

SBOP

Dashboards

Analysis,

Edition for

Microsoft

Office

Analysis,

edition for

OLAP

SBOP Explorer

Offline Capabilities

Mobile Reporting

Distribution via eMail

(Broadcasting)

Edit the report

Change the “view” of the

data

What-if scenarios



Using the information on-premise and on the road (offline)

– Crystal Reports and Web Intelligence provide offline capabilities out of the box

– For SBOP Dashboards there are partner solutions available on SAP EcoHub

– Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office provides limited offline capabilities

Providing mobile access to the information

– Crystal Reports and Web Intelligence provide mobile access for Blackberry and iPad / iPhone via Mobile

BI

– SAP BusinessObjects Explorer is available for the iPhone / iPad

– SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards is available on Flash enabled mobile devices

Distribution via eMail

– Crystal Reports and Web Intelligence are integrated with the Publication capabilities from the BI Platform

– SBOP Dashboards, Analysis, edition for OLAP and Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office are not

integrated yet

– SAP BusinessObjects Explorer is always a online access



Changing the “view” on the information

– Crystal Reports and SBOP Dashboards only provide limited capabilities to change the report for the

consumer. Such workflows have to be considered as part of the original design already

– Web Intelligence, Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office and Analysis, edition for OLAP provide rich self

service functionality for the consumer

– SAP BusinessObjects Explorer provides such capabilities, but the consumer might be limited to the

Information Space definition

“What – if” capabilities

– A “What – if” scenario is the strength of SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards

– Web Intelligence and Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office do offer limited capabilities in this area



Summary

Based on the combination of requirements from the Sales Area the recommendation would

be to use

– Web Intelligence

– Interactive Analysis Desktop

– Mobile BI

What – if Scenarios will be created using SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards


Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client Using Business Requirements – Executive Area

As Executive Manager in this company I need consolidated

information, which provides me with a high-level overview on

all critical corporate KPIs. I need to be able to access this

information anytime, anywhere.

If needed I need to be able to get to the root cause and see

the detailed information.

I also can not always wait for my business analyst of IT to

send me the information when I ask them a question. It

would be good to be able to simply search for the answer by

entering my question.

Executive



What did we hear ?

Consume highly aggregated information

Strong data visualizations needed

Provide the ability to drill down and navigate to detailed information when

needed

Fast response time

Information needs to be available via mobile device

Allow for search and exploration

Executive



Crystal

Reports 2011

Crystal

Reports for

Enterprise

Web

Intelligence

SBOP

Dashboards

Analysis,

Edition for

Microsoft

Office

Analysis,

edition for

OLAP

SBOP Explorer

Highly Aggregated

information

Strong data visualization

Drill Down / Navigate to

detailed information

Mobile Reporting

Search & Exploration

This BI clients are not suitable for the intended audience.



Highly Aggregated Information

– SBOP Dashboards and SBOP Explorer are capable presenting highly aggregated information

Strong Data Visualizations

– SBOP Dashboards and SBOP Explorer both are offering strong visualization capabilities

Drill Down & Navigate to detailed information

– SBOP Dashboards allows to navigate to other BI clients and outside the dashboard to receive further

detailed information, as well as navigate to details in the dashboard.

– SBOP Explorer allows to see all the detailed information in a single view but has no capability to

navigate outside to receive further details

Providing mobile access to the information

– SAP BusinessObjects Explorer is available for the iPhone / iPad

– SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards is available on Flash enabled mobile devices



Summary

Based on the combination of requirements from the Executive team the recommendation

would be to use

– SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards

– SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

– SAP BusinessObjects Explorer for mobile devices

In addition consider SAP NetWeaver BWA or SAP HANA for performance improvements



Phases

Se

lecting th

e R

igh

t

SA

P B

usin

essO

bje

cts

BI

Clie

nt

Auditing

Use SAP BusinessObjects Auditing to track the BI activity

Use SAP NetWeaver BW statistics to track the activity on BW

Leverage the information in combination with the IT and BW team for performance improvements

Use Case

What are the business requirements ?

What is the audience doing with the information ? How are they doing this today ?

How is your audience using the software right now ?

Create a use case on department level, don’t try to make one use case for all your requirements

Audience

Who is your audience?

What are the skills of your audience ?

How is your audience using the software right now ?

Remember, a business analyst in sales might be different to a business analyst in finance


Your BI Strategy should start with the business requirements, not with the DWH

Key Points to Take Home

Use Cases should come from the business, not from the IT department

Users don’t need all BI client products, but will not always be satisfied with a single

product.

Make use of Product Interoperability for sharing and navigation purposes.

Remember…. There is no “silver bullet”. If in doubt – let the business decide.

Thank You!

Contact information:

Ingo Hilgefort ([email protected])

Twitter: ihilgefort

Date post:	07-Nov-2014
Category:	Technology
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Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client Product for SAP BW Customers

Technology