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SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3 Now Available

steve_mchugh
Participant
‎06-17-2020 12:56 AM

Delivering for the On-Premise BI Community


SAP has released SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3 in general availability. This follows the successful completion of the beta program announced at TechEd in 2019.  It delivers on SAP’s commitment at SAPPHIRE NOW 2018 to a new release of the SAP BusinessObjects BI suite for our on-premise customers.

SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3 is designed to help enhance and build upon the on-premise mission critical enterprise reporting use cases that it supports today. It further enables the optimization of existing resources by leveraging on-premise universes, documents and assets in conjunction with the innovations provided by SAP Analytics Cloud.  In turn, it supports the acceleration of digital transformation to enable and deliver the intelligent enterprise.

Many organizations are operating in a mixed landscape with on-premise and cloud or multi-cloud technologies and data. With the new release of SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3, SAP supports customers with on-premise needs while enabling cloud interoperability, further enabling organizations to manage all types of analytics across their business.

Reinforcing our commitment to our on-premise customers, SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3 will be supported through at least 2027, making it the longest announced supported on-premise BI suite timeline in the industry.

Focus Innovation Areas


Three key areas of focus and emphasis make up the SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3 release. The “What’s New Guide for SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3” provides some great information as well.



Enhanced Hybrid Capabilities



More and more organizations are looking to use SAP BusinessObjects BI suite and SAP Analytics Cloud together.  SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3 provides a tighter integration between SAP BusinessObjects BI and SAP Analytics Cloud, including:

  • Consumption of SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence data models with SAP Analytics Cloud*

  • Reuse of SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence documents to build new reports and assets*

  • Improved live connectivity between SAP Analytics Cloud, SAP BusinessObjects BI universes, and SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence documents

  • Simplified single sign-on (SSO) configuration and user replication and synchronization across on-premise and cloud

  • Improved integration with SAP Analytics Hub, allowing SAP BusinessObjects BI content to automatically appear as SAP Analytics Hub assets


Check out these Hybrid videos and demos that are a part of the SAP BusinessObjects BI Virtual Tour for more information.

Improved User Experience



Harmonize the user experience and foster BI adoption with an experience similar to using the SAP Fiori® UX, including

  • A single touch-ready HTML5 SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence client, removing the need for Java and presenting a rejuvenated user experience for use with the Web and desktop

  • New BI launchpad offering a modernized user experience with 100% functionality and compatibility with existing content and authorizations

  • New SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence data model that enables reuse of existing Web Intelligence documents to build new reports, to create, and share business semantics, and associated results sets*


Check out these SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence 4.3 and Crystal Reports 4.3 videos and demos that are a part of the SAP BusinessObjects BI Virtual Tour for more information.

Enterprise Readiness



Delivering enhanced ease of deployment and support for the latest industry standards, including:

  • Updates to administrator tools like BI admin cockpit, monitoring, promotion management, and auditing functionalities

  • Consolidation of tools like BI Admin cockpit, monitoring and visual difference into a single application

  • Integration of the BI Admin console into the Central

  • Improvements to installer, cache removal, deployment scenarios etc.

  • New versions of data sources, applications and OS support

  • Security enhancements including SAML 3.0, simplified SAML configuration and setup, and enhanced credential mapping

  • Improved scheduling and publishing functionalities with new enhancements

  • New enhancements into the Semantic Layer, notably when accessing SAP HANA, SAP BW and cloud data sources


Check out these SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3 videos that are a part of the SAP BusinessObjects BI Virtual Tour for more information.

If you want to get a bit more in-depth, check out SAP’s Christian Ah-Soon’s blog entitled SAP BI 4.3: What’s New In Web Intelligence and Semantic Layer, and the blog, SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3 - What's New, from Venkat Guptha. Both really provide another level of information that many will find useful.

What is Included?


SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3 is composed of the elements that you see below.  For more details, check out SAP Note: 2936923.

  • SBOP BI Platform 4.3 Server



  • SBOP BI Platform 4.3 Client Tools (now only in 64-bit)



  • SBOP BI Platform 4.3 Live Office



  • SBOP BI Platform 4.3 Integration for SharePoint



  • SBOP BI Platform 4.3 NET SDK Runtime



  • SBOP BI Platform 4.3 Crystal Reports for Enterprise



  • SAP Crystal Server 2020



  • SAP Crystal Reports 2020


Check out the Product Availability Matrix (PAM) for additional important information. It’s a great single point of information, which includes end of maintenance dates, upgrade paths, landscapes, related product versions and technical release information, database platforms, Java platforms, operating systems, and so on. You may also want to visit the SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3 page on the SAP Support Launchpad.

Notable Elements to Remember


License Key

  • You must get a new license key for your BI 4.3 installation. It will not work with your previous BI 4.2 license key.


Deprecation of products using Adobe Flash

  • Based on the announcement by Adobe to discontinue support of Adobe Flash, SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards, and BI Widgets have been deprecated and are not available with SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3.


These solutions will officially reach End of Life (EoL) on December 31, 2020. Check out SAP Note: 2801797 for details and associated information.

There are options and next steps for SAP BusinessObjects Explorer and SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards (Xcelsius).  To learn more, read: “SAP BusinessObjects Explorer and SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius End of Life. Considerations as your p...Check out the presentation: SAP BusinessObjects Explorer and Xcelsius: Next Steps Using SAP Analytics Cloud

SAP Lumira Server version requirements

  • SAP Lumira Server for BI Platform 2.3 and lower versions are NOT supported on SAP BI Platform 4.3. SAP recommends upgrading to SAP Lumira Server for BI Platform 2.4 to enable Lumira functional features on SAP BI Platform 4.3.


Check out SAP Note: 2903302 for details and associated information.

How Do I Make the Move?


Next steps here depend on the version of SAP BusinessObjects BI you are currently using. For detailed information, check out the Business Intelligence Platform Upgrade Guide on the SAP Help Portal.

Here is a quick snapshot of potential routes that you might consider.

If currently on the BI 4.x Platform


You have a couple of options for consideration and it depends on your IT policy and/or preference:

  • Update directly on top of your current BI 4.x installation, --or--

  • Update by installing on a fresh BI 4.3 server, then move the objects.


If currently on SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.1 Platform or earlier


There are a couple of steps required:


  • Step 2: Update your new SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.2 installation to SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3


Help Us to Better Help You


Spare us three quick minutes and share anonymously your thoughts in this short survey. We are trying to better understand the SAP BusinessObjects BI world you work in today and how SAP Analytics Cloud might help meet our customer BI needs and objectives in the future.

More Information Available – Check Out These Resources


Join us on the SAP BusinessObjects BI Virtual Tour website and check out the Agenda page.  It features On-Demand video presentations and demos on all things BI 4.3 plus a Community page with additional resources, forums, FAQs and the opportunity to ask questions and get answers from our product experts.

Also check out SAP BusinessObjects BI Suite on SAP.com as well. Get started on your SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3 journey today and explore the possibilities as to how it can help your organization moving forward.

*Note: These features will become actively available with the release of Live Data Connect 3.1 currently scheduled for Q3 2020 release. Read this blog for additional information.
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