BI 2013 – It’s a Wrap, Part 2 , Maintaining your BI4 System
Part 1 can be found here. For part 2, I attended “A comprehensive guide to SAP BusinessObjects BI platform maintenance and optimization” pre-conference with James Rapp and Vishal Dhir of the SAP Customer Solution Adoption team. Below are some highlights.
First, Jim had us take a survey, asking what BI tool we mostly use, and if we knew about BI4 Elite training and the BI Pattern books. Only a few people knew about the BI Pattern books BI4 Elite. Overall the survey was a great idea to engage attendees.
Please note this pre-conference session was 3 hours and below I am listing only small highlights.
The pattern books can be found at this link – one book is free:
http://wiki.sdn.sap.com/wiki/display/BOBJ/SAP+Business+Intelligence+Platform+Pattern+Books
Figure 1: Source: SAP
Jim reviewed the BI Release Cycle slide shown in Figure 1
Figure 2: Source: SAP
Many of the changes in the BI4 maintenance model were to align with “one SAP”. Also please see recent blog by SAP on New Patching Policy on BI
Figure 3: Source: SAP
Jim said we should review the Critical Patch Criteria outlined in the note 1661557 (SMP logon required).
Another reference is the BI4 Support wiki on SCN http://wiki.sdn.sap.com/wiki/display/BOBJ/BI4.0+Product+Support+page
Check the BusinessObjects Maintenance schedule at https://service.sap.com/bosap-maintenance-schedule and the Forward-Fit plan at the bottom (SMP logon required)
Christopher Vozella also wrote about demystifying BI4 maintenance here
Chris also has a presentation on Demystifying BI4 Maintenance at the upcoming ASUG Annual Conference
BI4 sizing was also reviewed – several blogs have been written on this already but check the quick link sap.com/bisizing – the overall message this week was to size your BI4 system properly for the best results.
Figure 4: Source: SAP
Figure 4 discussed performance testing, a little talked about topic in BI. For more information, check the Performance Testing Wiki:
http://wiki.sdn.sap.com/wiki/display/BOBJ/Performance+Testing+SAP+BusinessObjects+BI+Platform
For some fun with the conference pictures please see this Animoto video at http://animoto.com/play/CkHAILBPLomrFgu0ZQGjAg
If you missed BI 2013 you can “catch up” and attend the BI4 Elite training or join us May 13th at ASUG’s Annual Conference Pre-Conference session, BI4.1 hands-on tools in a day – register here.