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