Analysis Office – BI and Planning Clients Convergence ASUG Webcast
This was an ASUG webcast given by SAP’s Alexander Peter. The usual legal disclaimers apply. We also had a lengthy question and answer, posted below.
Figure 1: Source: SAP
The focus of Figure 1 during the webcast is the plan to converge Live Office and all office integration into Analysis Office. It also covers the BEx Analyzer in tool
New tool is Analysis Office
Figure 2: Source: SAP
Figure 2 shows one product in the future – Analysis Office
Figure 3: Source: SAP
The planning objective is to have co-existence in same workbook, using the Excel layer, central services for central plug-ins
With 2.1, you get 2 plug-ins, and you decide at installation if you want one (or both)
You also see two ribbon tabs
You can open existing content from previous releases
It also has a single refresh all button
Figure 4: Source: SAP
Figure 4 shows the upgrade path.
Source: SAP
Note the EPM restrictions in Analysis Office 2.1 – Word support, EPM extensions, EVDRE formulas
Figure 5: Source: SAP
Figure 5 shows the upgrade path; note that it depends on the data source
Figure 6: Source: SAP
Figure 6 shows Analysis Office 2.1
Analysis Office has a single installer with both add-ins; you define in installer if you only want one
The default is to install both; 1 installer = 1 license
Figure 6 shows the API to control new lines and formats
Precalculation works for 2.1 works, API for logon and messages
Figure 7: Source: SAP
In the middle of Figure 7, “planned innovations”, the plan for 2.2 is to be released in Q4
Figure 7 in the middle shows three main buckets of investment, with convergence, more UX harmonization and continuous improvement. SAP is working to provide .NET API instead of VBA along with InfoProvider search improvements
The future (after 12-18 months) is Live Office convergence
Question & Answer
| Question | Response |
| Will this cover the BPC Consolidation also, which uses EPM Add-in as well? | Only from the Excel front end side |
| Is there a unified Login? How is security being maintained | For each plug in separate tabs and separate logons |
| can we open traditional BPC reports created with EVDRE? | Not in AO 2.1 |
| does analysis plug-in also supports LIVEOFFICE | That is still a separate install today – Live Office can be active at same time. |
| Does version 2.1 work with SAP GUI 7.4 and NWBC 5.0? Version 2.0 of Analysis Office does not work with SAP GUI 7.4 | Yes it does work with those SAP Gui Versions |
| Will the EPM addin be available seperately going forward or will it be depreciated | EPM will be part of AO 2.1 install |
| what’s the planned timeframe for AO 2.1 GA? | It is in ramp-up today; GA depends on when SAP meets its KPI’s |
| So there is no plan to merge classic BPC with Analysis? | Classic model is still part of EPM plug-in – no plan to have in AO plugin |
| Are u recommending that we install only EPM plugin when BPC 10 is installed for addin2.1? | If have EPM 10 and want new features install AO2.1 with EPM flavor |
| Will EPM Add-in continue to be a separate install or will it be included as part fo the Analysis 2.1 installation software? | It will be part of AO 2.1 – EPM 10 is in maintenance & still supported |
| Can we have EPM addin and Analysis BOTH installed together with AO2.1 for our EPM 10 and BW 7.4 ? | AO2.1 already has EPM install – one Analysis product |
| Is there a server side installation in Business Objects to enable usage of Analysis for Office 2.1? | no it is a client tool – there is a add-on for BIP used for scheduling & precalc |
| Will there be a convergence for Classic BPC 10.1 and Analysis for Office? | Analysis plug-in is access classic models? – answer is no; EPM is part of Analysis Office – need to know if talk plugin or product |
| Can we schedule EPM reports? | not the way we are doing Analysis – EPM is not part of precalc – looking into |
| Does Analysis Office support user’s ability to write data back to a database (BW)? | Only with the planning model – BW-IP |
| Since EVDRE is not supported … is the migration tool available in AO 2.1? | If migration was part of 10 it would be available- answer offline |
| I saw a prereq of .Net version 3 for Analysis 2.1 . Does the install supply this? | .NET is 4.5 is not part of installation – 2 things – VSTO runtime is a prereq – not part of install |
| Any new EPM support packages/patches different than EPM SP21 Patch 3 before GA for 2.1? | Don’t know; does’t have patch schedule – follow up |
| what are the limitations of EPM addin of 2.0 vs 1.4 | could you clarify? 2.1 & EPM 10? EVDRE formulas in next release & extension |
| Is data manager tab available in AO2.1 or is the functionality available somewhere elese? | Still there – can hide it |
| do we have any additional features on BPC reporting using EPM along with Analysis | not really; still on the roadmap; main things – work status & process flow |
| You mentioned defining OLAP functions in the data cells in the grid if I understood you correctly or is it just available in the axes? | Could you clarify? Planning to do something with planning functions in cells local members – AO table design – add a new column & add Excel formula – will be translated to a new calc measure |
| Does AO 2.1 work with BW 7.3? | yes |
| can we provide UI for log off & ogi instead of va API ? | There is no plan; it was typical BEx approach to logon – not need in AO as you connect to several sources at same time; couple of scenarios – to have new master data in planning process and load it – only way to do that was to clear session in backend |
| currently in table design new lines data does not persist after refresh ? whats the plan ? | Next release allow for Excel formulas, and do something around text – like comments |
| Will there no longer be independent EPM Add-in SP’s released after the AO 2.1 release? | Yes there will be SP’s for EPM 10 as long as it in maintenance – until 2020 |
| connecting to UNX/UNV in AO ? | Live Office Future direction – see roadmap slide |
Upcoming ASUG Analysis Office Webcasts
- Aug 11: How IPG Leverages SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office, to Deliver Winning Analytics and Increase Usability
- Oct. 8: ASUG SAP Analysis Influence Council Relaunch Webcast
Join ASUG at SAP TechEd Monday October 19
FULL DAY | HANDS-ON: SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio Deep Dive
SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio is SAP’s flagship product for the creation of dashboards and custom analytical applications. This full-day, hands-on seminar is a series of activities focused on the design studio in combination with SAP BW powered by SAP HANA. Attendees will learn to use the different components in design studio and how to go from simple KPI dashboards to more complex self-service style applications. The session will provide you with hands-on experience with SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio. More details can be found here.
Thanks tammy 🙂 Useful info 🙂
Hi Tammy,
thanks for the summary of the webcast.
I noticed a change in the client convergence plan:
Functions of Analysis for OLAP were before supposed to be converged into Lumia (see also slide 2 at another rececent webcast at Analysis Office Roadmap Webcast Notes).
Now it seems the target is Design Studio or Design Studio Apps (?). Was there any information regarding this aspect?
Greetings, Philipp
Hi Philipp - thank you for reading and commenting. We didn't get into those details on yesterday's webcast.
I know at TechEd last year SAP said you could use the Design Studio templates for Analysis OLAP functionality.
Hi,
Because Tammy is not working for SAP, she won't have the details.
Yes, previously Lumira was a vehicle for "BW Online" connectivity, but this got deprecated from the desktop product recently, and replaced by "Download from BW" (which helped deliver the manipulation, merging, and composition workflows previously missing for BW)
Yes, Lumira Desktop does have a recently implemented OLAP-style crosstab, but the full "BW online" experience (including automatic inheritance of BEx metadata concepts) has been delivered instead via Design Studio analysis & self-service templates. (which are out of the box plug-and-play applications for the BIPlatform).
This was the correct decision based on artchitecural constraints, but especially because it begins to showcase how powerful DStudio is or can be; and now also simple at the point of authoring, not just point of consumption too.
regards,
Henry
Thank you, Henry, for the detailed explanation.
Thanks Tammy for the useful summary and for the Q&A. 🙂
It's a pity that there will be only an API for Log on/Off and not a GUI button.
I created an idea as this does not satisfy our needs. I hope there will be more customers who vote for the idea.
Add GUI Button for Log on/off : View Idea
Hello Tammy,
We just reached out to SAP support on a bug, while we install only EPM add-in from AO2.2 SP02 package we see that version info is not displayed as it used to be displayed in earlier EPM versions. Usually, EPM Help--> About menu used to display the version info but in this case it doesn't, while speak to SAP processor from EPM product support team mentioned " Why we are considering to update to AO2.x package rather we can use the Standlone EPM patch 25 which is available in SWDC".
In the blog it says, the upgrade path recommended from 1.4 is to go for 2.x rather applying any latest patches if we are looking for new functionalities and also, it is mentioned "New Features will also be delivered only with AO 2.x versions" .
Is the EVDRE functionality part of it ? I heard this is one the major limitations with AO2.x as off now, any clue by when this will be included in AO 2.x ? Also, do we consider updating 1.4 SP25 ?
Thanks,
Sai Sudhir
Sai - I am not experienced in EPM; please create a new discussion for this
See this post as well: Do you use SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office and EPM Add-in?
and
Note: 2312162 - Office Client Strategy for BPC
(attachment in the note is good too!)