BW Connection in SAP Analytics Cloud vs. Lumira 2.0 #ASUG Webcast Recap
The usual disclaimer applies that things in the future are subject to change. This was an ASUG webcast that SAP gave late last month.
Figure 1: Source: SAP
“Old” Lumira and Design Studio are now called Lumira 2.0 – one file format, one technology base, sharing elements, two client tools.
“SAP is bridging business users with more technical power users by providing 2 different client tools, each optimized for different personas, but both powered by the same runtime engine, file format, and data access stack.” – SAP
Figure 2: Source: SAP
Lumira 2.0 is an add-on installation on the BI platform
Figure 2 covers shared technology, including online data connectivity
Shared UI technology is based on SAPUI5
Figure 3: Source: SAP
SAP recommends: If invest in OnPremise use Analysis Office or Lumira for BW customers
If invest in the Cloud, use SAP Analytics Cloud to access BW data, self-service
Figure 4: Source: SAP
For BW/4HANA there are no Business Explorer apps available as shown in Figure 4
Figure 5: Source: SAP
Discovery client it is new to have BW online connection as it is sharing Designer connectivity
Figure 6: Source: SAP
BEx Query support includes items shown in Figure 6
Figure 7: Source: SAP
You can use Discovery client to prepare data and later build apps in Designer
Figure 8: Source: SAP
Known from old Lumira
Figure 9: Source: SAP
Seen as a complimentary investment (SAP Analytics Cloud)
A modern BI analytics solution on top of BW
Enable self-service workflows with BW with online and acquisition
Data replication is not required as shown in Figure 9
Figure 10: Source: SAP
Today, data, when connecting to online source, Q3 (universes) – no data replication; results sent directly to web browser – not sending data back to cloud
Uses reverse proxy – enables to connect to internal corporate data or expose to external internet
Figure 11: Source: SAP
The slide above is to help with “Finding the right match to LOB requirements with SAP Analytics Cloud” and to help with use cases
4 pillars are shown with use cases
Figure 12: Source: SAP
Dashboard scenarios for executives include data that is aggregated, KPI’s, see data quickly in near real time and light visualization called “stories”. One “crown jewel” showcase is Digital Boardroom
For financials, Analytics Cloud can support hierarchies and in the future support BW query structures (planned for later this year)
Figure 13: Source: SAP
The technical requirements with SAP Analytics cloud are shown in Figure 13
If you want to make use of it, and you are on lower SP, you can but you have to apply a lot of notes
Figure 14: Source: SAP
Figure 14 is the “marketecture” slide showing access to underlying data
Direct access to InfoProviders is planned for later this year
Figure 15: Source: SAP
Leverages existing metadata concepts, prompting,
Careful consumption of presentation concepts
Conditional formatting – plan to push to Analytics Cloud itself
Decouple presentation aspects from BEx query to Analytics Cloud
Set the external access flag in BEx Query
Figure 16: Source: SAP
Link to the help on integration with BEx query support is shown in Figure 16
Zero suppression – SAP is working on this; roadmap for Wave 15
Bi-weekly release to keep up on release of innovation
Figure 17: Source: SAP
Not as far as Lumira 2.0 with BW integration
Mid-term is this year
This year is focused on integrating with BEx query concepts
Longer term is next year; empower business users to do more with data such as local calculations
Figure 18: Source: SAP
Can connect to online data after setting up reverse proxy
Figure 19: Source: SAP
If you want to combine data with other sources, use the acquisition method
Figure 20: Source: SAP
Figure 20 shows architecture needed – the cloud connector is a like a VPN tunnel; cloud agent is an on-premise application to deploy to connect to your SAP data source
Question and Answer
| Question | Response |
| SAP Analytics Cloud and BO in Cloud are same thing or different? | BusinessObjects Cloud was renamed to SAP Analytics Cloud at SAPPHIRENOW last month – same product |
| Can Analytics Cloud consume On-Premise BOBJ content from BI Platform? | Hi. There is no direction content consumption with on premise BI content yet. This is currently under discussion on the approach as part of our overall Hybrid strategy between Cloud and On-premise investments. One of our current priority focus is on data integration. Being able to connect to on premise data for analytical purposes. |
| Is there specific note that address Lumira BW online access limitations? Is there a corresponding one for Analytics Cloud and BW online access limitations? | For SAC: https://help.sap.com/doc/00f68c2e08b941f081002fd3691d86a7/release/en-US/120b1729c7a844b2837d40347e16520f.html |
| Having trouble understanding when I would use Analytics Cloud if already have success using Lumira and other tools. Is this a simplified option INSTEAD of tools like Lumira? | Analytics Cloud is not seen as a simplified option to Lumira. It is a separate analytic investment that is built purely in the Cloud. For customers interested to transition into Cloud, SAC provides a broader set of use cases (Planning, Predictive, and BI) combined in comparison to Lumira 2.0. |
| Turning on OLE DB access means that MDX is being used? If so, isn’t that slower? Why not native BICS connection? | For SAC, we are not using BICS to connect to BW online, but rather a different proprietary connector/protocol called “INA”. We are simply reading the OLE DB flag to determine which queries are suitable for SAC analytical consumption |
| Hierarchies using Lumira on HANA has been a problem, particularly for financial tables. You seem to be addressing this by querying BW from Lumira. Will this never be fully developed in HANA directly? | This session was about BW connectivity – working on HANA live connectivity but not sure of status |
| So, does using this INA interface mean slower and less functionality than BICS? | INA interface is less rich compared to BICS, but it does not mean we can’t expose the core BICS-based concepts which end users care about. |
| Does Lumira use native BICS instead of INA? | Lumira indeed uses BICS. BICS protocol is not cloud-enabled, so the INA protocol was developed to enable cloud access scenarios. |
| Are you saying BICS cannot be used in the public Cloud environment? | Yes; architecture challenges; BICS only good for on premise |
My thanks to SAP’s Eric Yew and Larissa Naujoks, SAP, for this webcast and to Ina Felsheim for setting up this webcast.
Related:
ASUG 2017 Recording Webcast List
Upcoming webcasts:
- BI + Analytics Webcast Series – register for all at once hereJuly 5: Disruption Ahead: The Big Trends in Business Intelligence and Analytics
- July 11: Agile self-service reporting with SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio at Tetra Pak
- July 25 Mobile BI Strategy and Options for SAP Customers
- Aug 2: SAP Analytics Solutions Value Map – Bridging the gap between support and consulting
Hi all,What are differences between BW live to BW import connectivity ?
any differences in term of Lumira functionality ?
thanks
Yoav