Saurabh Abhyankar, SAP, presented this EMEA webcast this past week. First the usual disclaimer applies that things for the future are subject to change. You can register to here the recording here and this is the slide deck
Key BI Challenges to solve
Figure 1: Source, SAP
Figure 1 shows key BI challenges, focusing on the people who use the products and that BI is about solving their problems
Business users want agility and look beyond here and now on their devices
Business users are not able to do what they want with data
IT wants to innovate the business
Business and IT are two groups trying to leverage analytics with different goals.
Figure 2: Source: SAP
Figure 2 shows the technology used to solve business requirements
Saurabh said that Hana changes the way people use business and analytics and provide real time information for the first time
You don’t need pre aggregation with real time, copy the data, index, etc.
Real time data on operational data
HTML5
XCelsius was built with Flash
Also reporting before was with DHTML and Java applets
HTML5 gives one consistent way to build applications
As evolve, HTML5 gives a way to build the consistency
Mobility:
Mobility pushes the boundaries of BI beyond the masses
Small teams to adopt – can do it via the cloud to reduce the barrier to access BI Information
Figure 3: Source: SAP
Saurabh’s presentation focused on 4 areas shown in Figure 3
He started with Enterprise Platform BI Platform/SAP Hana, then with end user focuses such as the analyst, for self-service and exploration, end users for mobility.
What does platform mean? It is the enterprise BI platform and Hana platform, delivering the services needed for end user scenarios – modeling, meta data, semantic, scheduling.
Figure 4: Source: SAP
Figure 4 shows that Q4 of last year SP5 of BI4 was shipped, which included the first version of Mobile Dashboards
BI4.1 is planned for end of first half of 2013
Second half is B4.1 SP1 (planned)
Figure 5: Source: SAP
Figure 5 shows it is easier to upgrade to BI4 with the Desktop Intelligence Compatibility Pack, which allows Desktop Intelligence customers to upgrade. It has improved dependency checks in upgrade management tool
It also has an openness theme – open platform, multiple operating systems, multiple data sources
4.1 three things:
1) SDK’s and REST web services – automated conversion of UNX to UNV
2) data source enhancements Odata, web services
3) Collaboration with StreamWork
Figure 5 includes semantic layer optimizations for SAP
Figure 6: Source: SAP
Figure 6 shows the Desktop Intelligence Compatibility Pack, allowing Desktop Intelligence customers to upgrade to BI4
Desktop Intelligence didn’t ship with BI4
The product has been around since the 90’s
End of life announced has been announced but it created a migration block for customers
SAP set out to find solution, which is DCP. DCP is an add on to DeskI 3.1 client that allows it to connect to BI4.1 CMS backend
For customers still using they can import .REP to BI4.1 and those users can open up those reports as previously
Figure 7: Source: SAP
Figure 7 shows how the BI portfolio connects to HANA
3 options:
Direct Access is most commonly used – highest performance, easy to use
- Working with data models
- Fast developments
- Analysts scenarios
- Visual Intelligence to discover Hana data
SQL Access
- Provides most flexibility and requires SQL knowledge
- Targeted for developers
- Write a few specific queries
Universe Access
- Consistent way for front-ends to access information
Figure 8: Source: SAP
Tools on left on Figure 8 can access the Information Models in SAP Hana
Hana stores data in tables in columnar storage
Hana Studio allows developers to model data in “user friendly” way in information models
Information models are a virtual view of the data
Figure 9: Source: SAP
Figure 9 shows Crystal Reports 2011 SQL based access is for those who understand SQL, typically a developer
Crystal Reports 2011 can access information models or the underlying tables
Figure 10: Source: SAP
Figure 10 shows the universe access provides a single view across the data
Part 2 is coming next, covering the front-end reporting tools.
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