As of mid-July 2014, Analytics BI (Business Objects) has a new maintenance process/model. This information has been presented at a couple of ASUG webinars and also at the ASUG Conference in Fort Worth in September 2014. This is that presentation.
The BI (Business Objects) maintenance process is now integrated into the standard SAP maintenance process. This was done primarily to provide an aligned experience for all SAP customers.
In the old process, customer would open the issue with product support. If the issue is a real development issue, an ADAPT number is provided back to the customer. Development then works on the issue to perform the correction. In the meantime, product support is still the point of communication with regards to the issue. Once the issue is fixed, the ADAPT number will be included in a PDF file called 'Fixed Issues List' and will be delivered with the Support Pack and/or Patch release. The customer will then have to look for the this PDF file, search for their ADAPT number to see if it is included in this delivery.
In the integrated process, customer would open the issue with product support. If the issue is a real development issue, an SAP Note is created and SAP maintenance developers will take over the issue. Customer now work directly with SAP developer on the issue. When the correction is done, the SAP Note will be updated with the correction information and delivered along with every Support Pack and Patch that includes the correction.
These are the visible changes that customers can see with this integrated process. Customers will work directly with developers on product issues. ADAPTs will no longer be used and SAP Notes will be used for information on every correction. SAP Note will be in English with Japanese translation by request.
The new process should provide a better and consistent support experience for customers. Not only can customers work directly with development on product issues but developers can perform maintenance in a more customer aligned manner. Like all other SAP products, customers can now reference SAP Notes for all corrections and in addition, each patch download will reference all SAP Notes that are fixed and packaged.
