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Author's profile photo Tammy Powlas

Visual BI Extensions for Lumira 2.0 Webcast Summary

You can watch this replay here. This webcast covered how these extensions can help you deploy Design Studio/Lumira Designer

Background:

Figure 1: Source: Visual BI

More than 70 visualization options and components available

From charts, to maps, to KPI tiles

Extensions speed up the delivery cycle (20% faster)

Number one rated extensions in the SAP Extension directory

Figure 2: Source: Visual BI

 

50 additional charts with different chart types; there is an overlap with Design Studio charts but adding more capabilities and features

Extensive formatting, including conditional formatting; define dynamic thresholds

Allows permanent color assignment (assign colors to measures)

Offers deep integration with the rest of your landscape

Leverage a single data source for multiple views

Use Web Intelligence reports as a data source (new feature) – could be a live report or scheduled report

Figure 3: Source: Visual BI

 

400 maps out of the box; double tap on iPad to drill down from Germany to its provinces

Maps support mobile, with mobile interaction

Conditional formatting is available for the maps

Map is not the end point; often it is the starting point of the analytical workflow; navigate from a Map to Crystal or Web Intelligence and the context moves with it

Figure 4: Source: Visual BI

 

They have time based filtering; user can select months/quarters/years; no need to write any scripting. You can configure calendar year vs. fiscal year

Offers Listbox, combo box; offered out of the box in Design Studio but this extension provides ability to search, cascading experience

Figure 5: Source: Visual BI

Have components not around visualization, but crucial to dashboard such as export to PDF, Word or PPT, integrated search option, menu component to break up parts of dashboard

 

KPI tiles, trend indicator, responsive UI to allow you to build dashboard once and configure how dashboard should behave

Figure 6: Source: Visual BI

Ability to add reference lines to a chart; indicate where target is

Ability to add trendlines to the chart is shown in Figure 6

Figure 7: Source: Visual BI

 

One data source for multiple use of charts; not picking up the data twice

Data utility

Don’t always want to see complete dataset

Figure 8: Source: Visual BI

 

No scripting is needed for drilldown

Double click to go to the next level; can use stacked dimensions or hierarchies

Expand and collapse with hierarchies with labels

Figure 9: Source: Visual BI

 

Conditional formatting based on dynamic thresholds, create rules based on a single measure (if revenue goes above $500K  or use target values – 90% of forecast, use green)

Rules can be based on any element of data source; not limited based on what is not visible

Figure 10: Source: Visual BI

 

Search within listbox or comb box – set the checkbox to search across the values

User can switch between keys / description at run time

Figure 11: Source: Visual BI

Ability to show an alert can be set up when filtering; a user can see an alert at point of filtering the information so the user doesn’t have to pick the product and then see something is not correct.

Highlighting so the user knows where to focus

Figure 12: Source: Visual BI

 

Similar to BusinessObjects Explorer a facet filter is offered for navigation

Component is called facet filter which is horizontal or vertical

Figure 13: Source: Visual BI

Time based filtering options are shown on the right

Support fiscal years, calendar years

Figure 14: Source: Visual BI

As Figure 14 shows, you can choose members or level based selection, search across the hierarchy

Figure 15: Source: Visual BI

Over 400 maps are delivered out of the box, different levels of granularity; for US, start with world, US, states, districts

Maps are hosted around the world or you can host them in your own network

They understand the common abbreviations – e.g. TX for Texas

Figure 16: Source: Visual BI

Supports map drilldown with 3 levels of drill – Europe > Germany > Bavaria

No scripting is required

Map the data to the 3 levels

Figure 17: Source: Visual BI

Navigate to other content in your BusinessObjects system – see more details in Crystal, Web Intelligence, Analysis

Figure 18: Source: Visual BI

Conditional formatting for maps as well with dynamic formatting, markers based on rules defined

Figure 19: Source: Visual BI

Table that has different behavior than SAP’s crosstab

This table behaves like Excel – e.g. sort column 3, interactive filtering, search, alert columns, freeze header for scrolling

Figure 20: Source: Visual BI

Offer export options using Excel, Word, PowerPoint, generate email inside dashboard; export can be based on templates

Can export multiple pages or views or tabs

Figure 21: Source: Visual BI

Ability to use Excel or Google Sheets as a data source is shown in Figure 21

For prototyping or production

Figure 22: Source: Visual BI

KPI tile is like an empty box for Lego blocks – you decide how KPI tile looks like – 5 numbers, 5 charts, etc.

You decide look and feel and highlight positive negative, conditional formatting

Figure 23: Source: Visual BI

Responsive UI container allows you to design the dashboard once and you configure how dashboard behaves – orientation

Design once, use multiple times

Why do you need extensions with SAP Lumira 2.0

Figure 24: Source: Visual BI

SAP has Lumira Designer with new features, why need extensions?

Some examples with Lumira Designer:

Conditional formatting in Charts is based on static rules (e.g. revenue more than $500K) – if rules adjust, variance, not an option; can only work with elements visible in chart in Lumira Designer

Chart responsiveness not possible in Lumira Designer, but in VBX

Conditional formatting in VBX is dynamic

Figure 25: Source: Visual BI

In Lumira Designer is similar to today; no standard maps provided; maps rely on GeoJSON

No drill down provided; everything has to be scripted

No conditional formatting on maps at all

No out of the box integration with the rest of the stack; map is more of an endpoint

Figure 26: Source: Visual BI

Filters do not come with a search option; if you have 500 products have to scroll

No filters for time-based scenarios

No facet navigation

Tree component in standard Design Studio but it does not provide level based filtering

Figure 27: Source: Visual BI

Standard export is missing ability to export complete tabstrip, pagebook,

Lumira 2.0 has adaptive layout but it does not differentiate desktop/mobile, screen sizes, hide elements

No export to PowerPoint

Adaptive Layout is available – no option to differentiate between desktop and mobile or profiles for screen sizes and cannot configure what elements are visible or hidden

Visual BI Extensions – Highlights, New Features

Figure 28: Source: Visual BI

Integrating with ESRI or Google Maps

Gives you the ability to choose either

Figure 29: Source: Visual BI

Offering a risk matrix chart as shown in Figure 29 and a Gantt Chart

Figure 30: Source: Visual BI

Facet filter supports hierarchies – choose which elements of hierarchy to select or exclude

Figure 31: Source: Visual BI

Add a new data source based on web service

Web Intelligence is a data source or any kind of web service – could be weather data, stock quotes

There is no data limit

Talking to the report; if the report has calculations, able to leverage those

Figure 32: Source: Visual BI

Have multiple pages of dashboard to export to PowerPoint

 

 

Question and Answer

Q: Can we create our own GeoJSON map and drill up?

A: Yes, maps do support GeoJSOn

Q: how stage data for multiple reports?

A: assume data utility; not staging like classic EDW sense; capable to take parts of a larger dataset

Just need certain dimensions and measures from a larger dataset

Q: when will 2.0 available?

A: VBX tested extensions; fully functional with their extensions

When 2.0 comes out (in ramp-up now) current release will work with 2.0

Q: Is there a row limitation from the universe?

A: WebI/Web service is not connecting to the universe for this extension

No data limit in Web service connectivity

Q: Will Design Studio run on a Mac?

A: No, no version for the Mac; this is something to ask SAP

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      5 Comments
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      Author's profile photo Nitin Kumar
      Nitin Kumar

      HI Tammy,

      Thank you for your post. One question about SDK and extensions, does extension built based on DS 1.x SDK will be portable on Lumira 2 Discovery. I know it will surely will work for Lumira 2 Designer but need clarification for Lumira 2 Discovery. I think it should work as part of inter-portability !?

      This is important as many 3rd party extension like of Visual BI we will be not be able to utilize in self service tool Lumira Discovery.

      In the same context, does SDK for both designer and discovery will be one now or different ?
      Regards,

      Nitin

      Author's profile photo Tammy Powlas
      Tammy Powlas
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Nitin,

      Thank you for commenting

      Are you trying to use a Design Studio SDK in Lumira Discovery?  I am not sure that will work....

      Author's profile photo Nitin Kumar
      Nitin Kumar

      Hi Tammy,

      I am wondering if extension made for DS going to work for Discovery. This in turn do mean SDK of designer and discovery should be compatible.

      I seems it won’t that means a bit spoiler as innovative utilities made by 3rd party (especially of Visual BI) will not work for Discovery.

      Regards,

      Nitin

      Author's profile photo Tammy Powlas
      Tammy Powlas
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Nitin - what you could do is create the application first in Lumira Discovery, then send that to Lumira Designer and then take advantage of the SDK utilities.  Part of benefit of Lumira 2.0 is the interoperability between the tools.  End user/key user starts in Lumira Discovery, and as things progress the application moves to Lumira Designer.

      Author's profile photo Nitin Kumar
      Nitin Kumar

      Thank you Tammy for response, yes that's the best way possible.

      Ideally would have expected it to work both way thereby utilizing innovations across.

      This led me to why two tools and why not one ? anyway that's longer talk and out of context question...