*New BI4.1 SP2 feature* : Consume .UNX as an OData flow into Excel

Hi!

I’ve recently been made aware of an exciting new connectivity development that was delivered with BI 4.1 SP2.

Via the Web Application Container Service (WACS) – which is as standard on the BI Platform – new internal mechanisms have been implemented into the standard content (using the RESTful Web Services SDK) which now enables access to .UNX format Universes by way of an OData flow!

More information about this technology can be found at this document hereSAP BusinessObjects BI Universe Connector Technical Guide  – thanks to Terry Penner

Interestingly, this means a universe web-service can now be exposes to external applications.

From a product-positioning perspective, this opens up a new world of deployment possibilities (and partially helps mitigate the long-standing lack of evolution of Live Office in BI 4.x) – please refer to the official SAP Solution Brief here: http://www.sap.com/pc/tech/collaboration-content-management/software/bi-universe-connector/index.html

Most importantly perhaps, is that we can announce a new collaboration with the Office suite. Please check out the announcement here on this external MicroSoft site: Home | Power BI

In a nutshell: Microsoft and SAP have jointly delivered BI interoperability in Microsoft Excel. You can now use ‘Microsoft Power Query for Excel’ to seamlessly connect to SAP BusinessObjects BI Universes.

Great times to be a BI customer!

Cheers,

H