0814 Migrating from SAP BusinessObjects Desktop ... - ASUG.com

September 10-13, 2012 Orlando, Florida

Migrating from Desktop Intelligence to Web Intelligence Thomas B Kuruvilla, Solution Management, SAP Business Intelligence Olivier Duvelleroy, Solution Management, SAP Business Intelligence

Learning Points  Benefits of upgrading to Web Intelligence  What’s New in Web Intelligence  What’s coming  Desktop Intelligence feature coverage in Web Intelligence  Steps to convert from Desktop Intelligence  What’s coming  Best Practices

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Desktop Intelligence End-of-life announced*  Desktop Intelligence 3.1 is the last commercial version  SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence 4.0 will NOT include Desktop Intelligence

 Desktop Intelligence will continue to be supported on XI 3.x  Mainstream maintenance: Until 2015  Priority-One support: Until 2017

*

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The official End-of-Life statement is available on Service Market Place

Why  Decreasing interest in Desktop Intelligence Question

 Web Intelligence covers majority of features  Web Intelligence provides better value

Consume

Web Intelligence covers the entire decision-making cycle Share

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Analyze and Story tell

Top reasons to upgrade to Web Intelligence  Web Intelligence has a number of feature not in Desktop Intelligence  Modern User experience and New Charts and visualizations  New semantic layer: Dimensional Semantic layer, Multi-Source  Interoperability with best of breed exploration and analysis tools  Copy and Paste  Tool of choice for BI Mobile  Future investments will be in Web Intelligence

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Examples: User Experience and Charting  New interface based on years of usability testing across difference user types

Charting

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Examples: Charting Enhancements    

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Hierarchical Navigation in Charts Better Color Management Zone Formatting New Waterfall Charts

Dimensional Data Access and Reporting Navigate directly into the report hierarchies to find root causes

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Dimensional concepts integrated into rich reporting model

Dimensional charting

Examples: Data Manager

 Provide business users a quick way to understand the data behind simple reports  Enable power users to gain a deep understanding of multiple data sources  Provide Desktop Intelligence users with another superior user experience

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Examples: Additional Enhancements  Simplified Sorting  Improved Sorting Menu  Apply Sort directly to Dimension or Measure  Available for Tables and Charts

 DHTML Query Panel  100% HTML, No download required  .unv and .unx universes

 Allow custom styling in reports  Import/Export CSS style sheet

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Examples: Interoperability Analysis, Edition for OLAP

SBO Explorer

Web Intelligence

Analysis, Edition for MS Office

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Examples: Copy and Paste Reuse report contents

across documents (charts, tables, queries, variables) Copy/paste with simple keyboard shortcuts or drag and drop report elements Re-purpose Interactive Analysis tables as editable Office content Copy/paste with simple keyboard shortcuts or drag and drop report elements

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Examples: More…  Track Data Changes  Report to Report and URL Linking Wizard  Input Controls  Which also allows “What if” analysis

 Server Side Ranking and Sampling  Custom sorts  Query Stripping (for OLAP data sources via: BICS, OLAP universes)  Improved performance by automatically removing unused objects

     

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Supports non-additive measures Prompts: Optional, default values, free/constrained Complex report filters Improved client-side ranking Improved alerters More ‘function’ support (e.g. interpolation)

Examples: Web Intelligence as the source SBO Explorer

BI WorkSpaces (composite dashboard)

SBO Dashboards

Web Intelligence

Ready for Mobility (BI Mobile)

Web Intelligence

DaaWS 14

SAP BusinessObjects Mobile: Leverage existing tools & skills  Mobilize Crystal and Web Intelligence Content  Platform User & content management  Fast to deploy

EASY!

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Key outstanding Desktop Intelligence features  Planned for future releases of Web Intelligence      

Free-hand SQL Custom grouping Excel DP in Web Intelligence Applet Schedule with export to TXT Export to HTML Schedule with export to HTML

 Unplanned features  Visual Basic Data-providers  Export to XML  Multiple VBA macros 16

Steps to convert to Web Intelligence: Upgrade Paths Convert .rep on the same stack Use Upgrade Manager 4.0 to move content XI

XI Report Conversion Tool XI

Upgrade Manager 4.0

Report Conversion Tool 4.0

BI 4

Use RCT 4.0 to convert .rep and move directly to 4.0 17

Report Conversion Tool (RCT) 4.0  Report conversion tool 4.0 allows you to connect to a XI R2 or 3.x system as a source and move the converted .wid reports to a BI 4.0 target system  Overview of the Process       

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Launch RCT Enter the Source CMS Credentials (XI R2 or 3.x) Enter the Target CMS Credentials (BI 4.0) Select the Desktop Intelligence documents Select Options as required Start Conversion Publish converted Web Intelligence documents to target system

Steps to upgrade to Web Intelligence 4.0  Login Screen

Source System: XI R2 BOE 3.x Target System: SAP BI 4.0

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Step 1: Select the .rep document for conversion

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Step Ia: Converting the .rep document

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Step II: Results and Auditing Results

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Step III: Publishing converted .wid documents

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Step IV: Publishing converted .wid documents

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Improvements planned for RCT  Ability to convert instances of schedules DeskI reports to Web Intelligence  Ability to convert local DeskI documents in an non-standalone mode

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What’s Coming

 Important:  Desktop Intelligence is STILL End-of-Life

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Background  We understand your challenges in migrating  We’ve been working closely with customers in their move to BI 4.0  One of the requests from customers moving is the ability to support their .rep content in BI 4 as they continue to convert

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Desktop Intelligence Compatibility Pack (DCP)  Installed over existing Desktop Intelligence 3.1 clients  Enables the DeskI clients to connect to the BI 4.1 CMS  Introduce a Light Schedule functionality using the windows scheduling functionality  DeskI documents will be listed ONLY in the Central Management Console (CMC) for administrative purposes ONLY  Minimum deprecation of DeskI Client functionality  Only Client side consumption of .rep content 28

DeskI XI 3.x

DCP

BI 4

Updates to BI 4 Upgrade Manager

XI 3.x

BI 4 XI R2

Report Conversion Tool 4.0

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 Upgrade Manager will now move selected .rep documents to BI 4  Report Conversion Tool (RCT) will now source .rep documents from BI 4  DeskI documents displayed in CMC for administrative purposes ONLY

Benefits DCP is a additional support provided by SAP for DeskI 3.1 users / customers who are moving their current DeskI investments to WebI 4.0 or later

The Benefits Reduced TCO: With this solution, DeskI documents that require additional time to convert can be consumed from a BI 4.1 deployment using the DeskI 3.1 Client Can de-commission legacy systems earlier and consolidate on BI 4.1

Better User satisfaction: Users can leverage the latest innovations delivered in BI 4.0 or later, as they convert their DeskI documents Gain additional time to convert their complex DeskI reports

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REMEMBER

 DCP is an temporary solution to provide additional time in your DeskI to WebI 4 conversion  DCP will be supported until DeskI 3.1 is supported.

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Best Practices  Internal usage review of the existing .rep files in the organization  Consider archiving any that haven’t been used or accessed in a long time  Determine the most important reports to upgrade

 Education  Inform Desktop Intelligence users of the intent to upgrade to Web Intelligence  Begin training Desktop Intelligence on Web Intelligence usage  Knowledge Accelerator provides an e-learning solution to facilitate user training

 Deploy Web Intelligence  Have Desktop Intelligence users begin using Web Intelligence for all NEW reports

 Begin upgrade of reports, starting with most important. 32

Publishing to BI 4  Document publishing is considered partial, if:  Universe isn't associated with converted .wid in the target system  Open and View of these documents is still possible  Refresh isn't possible

 For this it is advisable to move the .rep dependencies to the target system using Upgrade Manager before your commence your conversion activity

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Useful references and Links  Decide if moving to Web Intelligence makes sense for you  Read this whitepaper for more information about the benefits of Web Intelligence.

 Begin planning the move to Web Intelligence  This whitepaper explains how to plan the upgrade from Desktop Intelligence to Web Intelligence

 Talk to your account manager about licensing options. We want to provide as smooth a transition as possible to our customers and are offering a license upgrade from Desktop Intelligence to the considerably more feature-rich Web Intelligence

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Summary  Desktop Intelligence is STILL End-of-Life  Maintain Maintenance: Until 2015  Priority One Support: Until 2017

 Web Intelligence is the future  Has Majority of Desktop Intelligence features  Has modern user experience and features  Continued investment and innovation

 Desktop Intelligence Compatibility Pack:  BI 4.x will enable moving .rep to BI 4.x CMS  RCT 4.x will now also use BI 4.x as source for .rep documents  DCP installed over DeskI 3.1  Connects to BI 4.1 CMS  Consume .rep documents on client only

 Conversion and Upgrade Management to support your move 35

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