Customer Connection for the BI BusinessObjects Platform – See how you can influence SAP

Nadine Engler, SAP, presented this webcast to ASUG and other user groups last week on the Customer Connection for BI Platform.  You can view the recording here

Nadine is the preparation lead, joined by SAP BI Platform product owners Derek Wang and Saroj Parmar for this webcast.

The usual legal disclaimer applies that things discussed are subject to change.

Figure 1: Source: SAP

On the right of Figure 1 is the customer advisory councils.

Customer Engagement Initiative is for new products (middle)

Left is the customer connect, which is used to optimize today’s products

Figure 2: Source: SAP

Customer Connection is used for small enhancements, support packages, and is open to user groups.

User groups propose the focus topics.

It is a customer-driven program.

Focus run in a project approach with a clear start and finish date.

Figure 3: Source: SAP

Nadine explained that customer connect projects have a fast cycle time with a dedicated scope

It takes 2-3 months for the collect phase

Improvement requests are prioritized by subscription, which means you intend to use it in production

SAP will only consider improvement requests with 5 or more subscriptions

Figure 4: Source: SAP

Figure 4 provides the details on BI Platform customer connect scope.

Figure 4 shows what is in scope and out of scope.

SAP plan to deliver customer connect improvements for BI4.0 and BI4.1

Figure 5: Source: SAP

Figure 5 shows some samples improvements already in the queue for BI platform. 

Submitted improvement requests are shown above to help get you inspired and start subscribing to them, if you are interested.

Nadine said the USF User group already submitted 20+ improvement requests.

Figure 6: Source: SAP

Figure 6 shows a high-level project plan.

The define phase ended with focus group USF, who proposed the customer connect.

Kick off was conducted on 5/7 to start the collect phase.

Customer’s task is to submit and subscribe to improvement requests

SAP will ask for clarification on improvement requests.

Collect phase will be open for 2 months.

7/19 is planned for final call.  SAP will list of improvement requests and ones with more than 5 subscribers.

After the final call you have 1 week to enter ideas and subscribe before the workspace is closed

After 7/26 no more improvement requests submitted and then the select phase begins and SAP looks at qualified requests – those with more than 5 subscribers.  SAP will review ones which are feasible – important that they can be easily adopted and no side effects.

At the end they have a select call and SAP relays which improvements will have been accepted (October).

SAP will have 3-6 months of development – SAP needs customer help in providing feedback in development and testing – will contact the improvement owner and subscribers.  SAP will ask you test and validate improvements.

In Q1 2014 SAP will have a delivery call for when improvements are available.

See this blog for details on how to get started with the customer connection program, starting at Figure 6 of that blog.

Question & Answer:

Q: Do you consider ramp-up customers or is it a different case?

A: some restrictions with ramp-up but it is a different program

Q: Hello, what is the ”scope” of the acceptable improvement requests? Can it cover Webi improvements?

A: This is not the case; this is the administrative part of the BI platform

Q: Is this for new release?

A: No improvements will be delivered with BI 4.0 and BI 4.1 in Q1.2014

Q: What about the existing enhancement requests which are in the roadmap for 4.0  sp6/7 and beyond?

A: Go ahead and submit improvement request

Keep in mind SAP has only so many resources just like your company.  Please ask for things that are important to you.

Q: How long does registration process take?

A: 1 to 2 working days after you complete registration

Special thanks to Nadine Engler for bringing this to ASUG, Kevin Geiger , ASUG BI volunteer, for moderating, Derek Wang and Saroj Parmar of SAP.

Join ASUG at ASUG Annual Conference (co-located with SAPPHIRE NOW) this week for these BI Platform and Strategy sessions:

#	Title	Date	Time
402	How to Align BI Roadmap with Business Priorities? Lessons on BI Strategy & Execution from Kelloggs	14/05/2013	12:30 p.m.
3602	Best Practices for Deploying BI4 Infrastructure & The Art and Science of Sizing and Architecting SAP BI 4 Deployments Correctly	14/05/2013	12:30 p.m.
303	Best Practices for Integrating SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.x with SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse (BW) and SAP ERP	14/05/2013	02:00 p.m.
304	Molson Coors Shares SAP BusinessObjects Strategies, Planning, and Implementation Experience with BI4	14/05/2013	03:30 p.m.
404	BI4 Maintenance Demystified	14/05/2013	03:30 p.m.
4304	SAP BusinessObjects Mobile BI Influence Council	14/05/2013	03:30 p.m.
4404	SAP BusinessObjects Semantic Layer influence council	14/05/2013	03:30 p.m.
505	The Future of Business Intelligence at SAP BusinessObjects BI	15/05/2013	11:00 a.m.
306	How to Successfully Implement a Self Service SAP BI Strategy with Nike	15/05/2013	12:30 p.m.
507	Strategies for Selecting the Right BI Client Product	15/05/2013	01:45 p.m.
408	Avoid Paying The Virtualization Tax: Deploying Virtualized BI 4.0 The Right Way	15/05/2013	03:00 p.m.
4309	ASUG Influence: SAP Business Objects BI 4.0 Platform and Solutions	15/05/2013	04:15 p.m.
310	Demystifying Authentication and Single-Sign-On (SSO) Options in Business Intelligence	16/05/2013	11:00 a.m.
311	If You Haven’t Upgraded to SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform 4.x, What Are You Waiting For?	16/05/2013	12:30 p.m.
511	Reconcile Legacy Warehouse and SAP BW on HANA – NOVA Chemicals BI Strategy	16/05/2013	12:30 p.m.

Meet Derek Wang at session 4309 for the ASUG BI Platform Influence Council, 5/16, 11:00 am.