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In Web Intelligence 4.3 the method for apply formatting and properties changes to tables/charts and other objects has been revamped. Right-click menus are still available in most cases, but the workflow to make a change can be much quicker if you use the new properties panel that has been added.

MS Power BI use is growing, quite often because it is available to end users for free via an Office 365 subscription, but how does it actually compare to an enterprise level BI suite such as SAP BusinessObjects Edge?

Citizen Watches decided to move from SAP Crystal Server to SAP BusinessObjects Edge as a solution to satisfy all of their Business Intelligence and reporting needs.

The starting block for most Web Intelligence reports is the vertical table – the system gives you one of these every time you create a new report. There are some key differences when working with them between 4.2 and 4.3 and this short blog takes you through them.

IE11 first came out in 2013 and so in technology terms it is ancient and has done well to still be in mainstream use, considering how Chrome and Firefox have risen in that timeframe, and that Microsoft themselves have tried to kill it off with their Edge browser. In 2021 however it will start to be properly phased out: Office 365 products will end support for it on August 17th.

In SAP BusinessObjects 4.3 the Launchpad has had a complete redesign in SAP’s proprietary application code, Fiori. This redesign has removed the tabbed environment from the previous 4.x Launchpads and replaced it with one based on ‘tiles’.

Along with the rest of the redesigned Launchpad, scheduling has been updated in look and feel, as well as a slight change in process.

In previous 4.x versions of SAP BusinessObjects, IT administrators had a minor headache because of the different database driver infrastructure needed between the server and local client installs. The BOBJ server architecture was 64bit, the local client tools were 32bit. If you wanted to install the client tools on the server, then you needed both sets of drivers or middleware installed there – Oracle admins especially found this hard to grasp!

Having been working with SAC recently, then working with Web Intelligence 4.3 I was struck at how similar the interface felt, which is of course one of the intentions of the homogenised Fiori interface used across SAP’s products. So I thought it would be interesting to compare them side by side. In each comparison below Web Intelligence (Webi) appears on the left or above and SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) on the right or just below.

Change is here for SAP BusinessObjects users in the shape of SAP BI 4.3. This is the first major 4.x release since 4.2 in early 2016. Four years is a long time in software development, let alone politics, so there will be some big opportunities to grasp and a few challenges to meet.

As SAP and Microsoft analytics experts we are often asked to support customers transitioning from their existing analytics tools to a new reporting tool, this can happen when a new requirement exceeds the existing tools capabilities or a new parent company introduced to the business has a pre-determined analytics strategy with another analytics tool.

This blog explores some of the considerations of a recent requirement to convert an existing Web Intelligence report within an SAP BusinessObjects platform to the new analytics environment of a Power BI report.

In some contexts, SAP BusinessObjects and QlikView could be viewed as quite similar. They both, for example, sit towards the higher-input-higher-reward scale of Business Intelligence (BI) products. They also both need a higher level of expertise to get the most out of them when compared to other offerings like Microsoft’s Power BI.

They have their differences though. Primarily, BusinessObjects is a full-service data discovery and exploration platform. QlikView is a guided analytics tool. This will affect not only how the two are set up within your business, but also how your people will use them.

The version of Tomcat that comes with SAP BusinessObjects does not meet security penetration testing therefore needs to be upgraded to the latest supported version of Tomcat. The blog gives step by step instructions on how to install a newer version of Tomcat for SAP BusinessObjects 4.2 or SAP Crystal Server 2016 to use.

On many occasions, I have come across a Business reluctant to invest in a Business Intelligence solution because of perceived problems with data quality.

We’re not shy about the fact that we like SAP BusinessObjects here at DS Callards. We think it’s one of the best Business Intelligence (BI) platforms available – for several reasons. Primarily though, SAP BusinessObjects stands out from the competition because it provides the platform and tools for the entire process of taking your raw data and turning it into something useful. Other BI tools tend to focus on one or two parts of the process.

For the uninitiated, the term ‘Data Science’ can conjure up images of the famous scene from The Matrix – the one with the unending scroll of green characters on a black screen. It means it is indecipherable to all but a select few. As with many Hollywood inventions though, this just isn’t true.

Cognos is IBM’s cloud-based offering into the Business Intelligence (BI) market. It is a full suite of software designed to provide a self-service approach that encompasses data extraction, data analysis and visualisation and reporting. It’s built on open standards so it can be used with a variety of data sources.

SAP BusinessObjects is a Business Intelligence platform, a world leading software suite that enables organisations to access and control, manipulate and secure, visualise and distribute their data. The suite includes many tools, but chief among them for easy analytical visualisation is Web Intelligence.

SAP has two world class approaches to analytics available at the same time – the classic SAP BusinessObjects on-premise suite of tools and the new SAP Analytics Cloud environment.

One of our leading Business Intelligence Consultants explains how to create JDBC connections for the Universe (SQL Server, Oracle and SAP IQ).

The latest version of SAP BusinessObjects is coming in 2020 (early access in late 2019) and you can prepare for it now by following a few guidelines, checking your supporting IT infrastructure is up to date and talking to Codestone about your strategy. .

These best practices cover the various methods whereby you can back up your SAP BI Platform, in case it ever needs to be restored for any reason. It is based on SAP BI Platform 4.0, 4.1 and 4.2 (SAP Crystal Server 2011, 2013, 2016 – are the equivalent versions).

SAP have announced they are committed to continued investment in the on-premise BusinessObjects suite of tools, and will be releasing SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3 at the end of 2019 for early access – general availability will follow in mid 2020. Following a presentation from Gregory Botticchio (BI Product Manager at SAP) we have a great insight into what BI 4.3 will look like and what new features it will have.

If you are considering upgrading your SAP BusinessObjects or Crystal Server on-premise environment to the latest version - SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.2 SP7 or SAP Crystal Server 2016 SP7 – then Codestone has the experience to help you through the process.

Thanks to the power of Web Intelligence, you can build a single report that presents data at a very high level and drill down to a very low level, courtesy of Navigation Paths being set up in the Universe.

New BI Platform Service Pack incoming! Older platform versions are out of mainstream maintenance.

SAP have released SAP BusinessObjects 4.2 Service Pack 7 (and SAP Crystal Server 2016 SP7) which is the final function-improving service pack before the launch of version 4.3 later in the year.

The push for visualisations in modern BI products means that more and more products are available to make our data look pretty and engaging. However one analyst’s taste for bright colours and crowded dashboards might not suit the engineer’s taste for simple outlines and clear labelling, while the marketer’s taste for neutral tones and bold graphics would be fulfilled by neither.

Technology moves fast, particularly in the area of data analytics. More data is being created than ever before and companies are beginning to see the value in it and turn to technology to leverage this.

Cloud-based analytics platforms are great. They’re flexible, they’re accessible and they grant greater capabilities to businesses. Ensuring your analytics adds value to your business means enabling it to benefit decision making throughout the company. From top to bottom. After all, decisions are made everywhere in a business, not just in the board room. Being able to make data-driven decisions from anywhere is, for some, an unrealistic pipe dream. But it doesn’t have to be.

Business Intelligence and the cloud. The two make sense together. Modern business environments operate better with the flexibility and accessibility of the cloud, and it could put money back in your pocket as well. But making this decision when you already have analytics deployed via your traditional infrastructure i.e. on-premise, can be slightly more difficult.

Business Intelligence (BI). The Cloud. Two terms we’re all fairly familiar with in isolation. Combining the two, though, makes for some interesting results and certainly, something businesses of all sizes should be looking into. There are many and various benefits for businesses who deploy their BI solutions via the cloud. One of the added benefits of the cloud is that it is applicable to businesses of all sizes as well, so whether you have 10 employees or 10,000 the benefits below are all relevant. BI tools and cloud computing are increasingly accessible and advanced in the capabilities they can deliver, there’s no reason to wait. In fact, Cloud BI adoption is increasing rapidly, with levels in 2018 doubling those from 2016.

If we asked you what data visualisation was about, what would you say? The easy answer is that data visualisation is simply about the display of data, and to many, it is. For real value though, data visualisation needs to be about displaying data in a way that is easy to understand and learn from. It’s very tempting, once you’ve decided what data visualisation software you’re going to use, to pick out the most exciting charts you can find and cram them into a dashboard.

In the coming two years, not only will we have to deal with the turmoil of Brexit and all it brings, but Adobe Flash will be reaching the end of its life, being unsupported after the end of 2020. Before then Microsoft will be phasing out support for its browsers and operating systems. This means that classic Xcelsius dashboards will no longer be supported by SAP and may even cease to work at all in the platform. At the very least their continued use will lead to headaches for IT departments and pop-up warnings and frustration for users.

The world of cloud-based business intelligence tools is a saturated market. It is a market that has a wide variety of larger, more established brands and new kids on the block with fresh offerings. Conventional wisdom says you go for the more trusted name, but what if that means you miss out on the best features and you’re also substantially overpaying? There are so many variables that make this a difficult choice. Price is more often than not cited as one of the primary deciding factors, alongside features and accessibility. To help you out, we’ve taken three of the more popular and best-kitted out options for a blow-by-blow analysis. Whether you need specific features or just need to save a bit of budget then read on.

The life of an IT consultant is not filled with action and excitement, unlike that of Robert De Niro’s character in Brazil. There is no abseiling, no night-time assignments, no balaclavas and no evading authorities, at least not normally. The life of an IT consultant is to help customers who don’t have in-house resources to complete their IT projects and vision.

Manufacturing is an industry that has been facing severe pressures for a number of years. Raw materials have become more expensive and difficult to source, growth has slowed significantly and economies the world over are facing uncertain futures. Productivity growth for industrial companies in the European Union fell from an average of 2.9% between 1996 and 2005 to just 1.6% from 2006 to 2015, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The result is fairly obvious. Manufacturers have had to streamline and squeeze every ounce of productivity out of their businesses just to survive. To do more, with less is the industry’s focus.

Predicting the future is something every company would benefit from. Being able to prepare for all eventualities or, even better, prepare for specific eventualities. An increase in the capability of data-gathering and processing tools means that predictive analytics enables companies to create models to predict what future situations might look like. Unsurprisingly, this is popular technology and Gartner has predicted that by 2020 predictive analytics will account for 40% of enterprises’ net new investment in BI.

Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) often evoke thoughts of the cutting edge of technology. Self-driving cars, AlphaGo and talking digital assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana. These are perhaps the most recognisable and exciting aspects of Machine Learning, certainly for those who don’t work within Business Intelligence (BI). The real power of Machine Learning, though, lies in its application as part of data analytics or BI. It may not be as glamorous or as attention-grabbing as the previous use cases but the value Machine Learning can add in this avenue is more than significant. For those who work within BI, or use it in their business, the value of Machine Learning needs to be recognised, understood and exploited.

Modern customer expectations have changed dramatically, especially in the logistics industry. Technology advancements mean that customers expect goods delivered faster, safer and at lower costs – all with the added ability to change deliveries last minute. Where once it was just a pipedream, free next-day delivery is now an expectation. With all these changes and a ramp-up in expectations, logistics companies must find a way to be able to adapt to the demands and deliver exceptional service for their customers. Increasing competition and the rise of small-scale disruptors in the industry means failing to do so will result in a loss of business, maybe terminally.

Labour is a critical component of any logistics operation. Very often it represents the largest proportion of expenses for large organisations – at least those with hourly workforces. Reducing the costs of labour for the logistics industry is a pressing concern. Given that customer demands are increasing, and services must now be more flexible than before many find that labour costs are only rising. Those who continue to assess and deploy labour using traditional methods will risk profitability.

In many ways, the logistics industry presents the perfect conditions for the user of cloud-based analytics. Logistics companies have to take into account reams of complex and constantly changing factors that influence their decision making on a minute-to-minute basis. Global supply chains now have more players, are more complex, and are generating more data points than ever before. Added to this, the industry is also seeing a higher level of competition with the traditional suppliers losing ground to smaller, more agile companies.

Waste in business is bad. It negatively affects your bottom line and can mean you’re using up to 20-30% of your revenue on inefficient and badly managed processes. Since the advent of robust data analytics tools, businesses everywhere have been striving to become more efficient in everything they do and identify numerous improvements to every process. This need to improve efficiency and business processes is keenly felt by the logistics industry – for several very good reasons.

With more data being stored than ever before, many firms are turning to data visualisation to help them understand the truth in their data. The market for data visualisation software has increased as a result, with a wide range of tools being available, and even dedicated programming languages, such as D3. SAP has a long history of Data Visualisation-capable tools and are a market-leader in the area with the SAP Analytics Cloud solution.

Waterfall charts are a great way to show the contribution of different categories’ performance towards an overall goal. They take what could be a boring stacked column chart and add graphical drama by moving each category to the right of the previous one. They are also one of the few ways to neatly demonstrate negatively performing categories alongside positive ones.

Praetura Asset Finance (PAF) offers tailored funding options such as asset-based finance, hire purchase, finance leasing and refinancing. Always ahead of the technology curve, Daryl Johnson, Deputy Managing Director, decided to deploy SAP BusinessObjects and this is his four-part guide of their experience when migrating up towards the world-leading Business Intelligence solution.

Praetura Asset Finance (PAF) offers tailored funding options such as asset-based finance, hire purchase, finance leasing and refinancing. Always ahead of the technology curve, Daryl Johnson, Deputy Managing Director, decided to deploy SAP Analytics Cloud and this is his step-by-step guide of their experience when reviewing, installing and using the solution.

SAP BusinessObjects 4.2 SP6 was released two weeks ago and we have been testing and exploring its new capabilities since then. In this blog post I will be taking a closer look at some of the new functionality that SAP has brought to Web Intelligence: the introduction of automatic date hierarchies, hyperlinking within documents, and the auto-refresh option in the Fiori interactive viewer.

Public sector organisations have faced extreme funding shortages and had to implement cost-saving measures for many years. Seemingly, there is always more money to be saved and efficiencies to be found. Many of these problems have been solved with the introduction of ‘digital transformation’. The idea is that public sector organisations would move from traditionally paper-based or physical processes to online and digital ones.

The UK retail landscape in 2018 is highly competitive. Customer behaviour and how people choose to interact with and purchase from brands has shifted significantly in recent times. The problem is that many retailers have found it difficult to adapt and keep up with these developments. They lose out on market share, and in the worst cases, go out of business. But for those that fold, there are also others that are thriving. They have found ways to stay ahead of trends and maximise their profits.

Thinking about Digital Fitness is much the same as traditional, physical fitness. You need to practice to get better, and, you must start somewhere. The journey isn’t always going to be easy, but the benefits are obvious – we’re all aware of them.

Manufacturing is, by its very nature, an extremely data-heavy industry. All processes, from managing supply chains and resources to the actual production and delivery of goods. Machines and processes must be monitored in excruciating detail – any drops in efficiency or maintenance required needs to be addressed urgently so production is not damaged.

One of our leading Business Intelligence Consultants explains how to set up a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) on Tomcat which forms part of the SAP BusinessObjects server application. It is a step by step guide in how to turn a http url into a https url and to become more secure.

One of the nice features of SAP Data Integrator that DTS just cannot compete with is how it deals with datastores at run time. For an overview let's think about how the process will normally work…

So, recently I find myself heavily involved with SAP Data Services and data migrations, I know what you’re thinking … that's not real code! And you’re damn straight …. it isn’t, but I have always leaned heavily towards the data end of the spectrum rather than the UX end which is filled with sorcery, witch craft and more importantly users who are like little pixies with no respect for the sanctity of code; data is data though and it doesn’t press buttons marked ‘Nuclear Button, Do Not Press’ just for kicks. I thus don’t complain too much (ahem) when ETL jobs come my way. One of the biggest challenges with ETL in the SAP world is to keep everything down at the database level, it’s very easy to slip up and watch your execution times rattle up to unusable very quickly all because you used a feature for which there is no direct database equivalent and at times it is frustrating at how the simplest functions are not covered; bygones.

If you use a month name field (or convert a month number to name), it is a string object, so orders alphabetically in a report. The report users can change this with a custom sort but this is cumbersome.

I've just taken a look at the new Waterfall Chart feature in CR4E 4.2 SP2. I thought the idea of tracking weight loss over a period of time would be a good visual representation of the data. My data is very simple, consisting of a weekly period starting on the first Sunday of the week from the beginning of 2016 until the current week. I have stored the weight in kilograms and then a variance from comparing the weight loss (or gain!!!) between weeks.

If you are running SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise or Edge 4.0 or SAP Crystal Server 2011 this article will explain the additional capabilities available to your organisation by moving on to version 4.2/2016.

SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio enables application designers to create analysis applications and dashboards – based on universe data sources – for browsers and mobile devices (iPads, for example).

The other reason we like it is that it is totally customisable but requires application development skills to carry out this customisation and this is what we do very well at The Business Objects People.