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Business intelligence is a collection of hardware and software that all serve the same purpose: to take data and present it to the appropriate people.
BI can help you make business decisions. It won't tell whether it's the right time to go for a walk or propose marriage, but it will give you some helpful information.
BI became a must-have, and the BI market grew as a result.
If you find the BI market a bit overwhelming, you may want to stick with recognizable brands such as QuickSight or Power BI from Microsoft.
Today, we will talk about SAP BI. This article will provide general information on the SAP BI Platform and each solution. We will also examine the product in its entirety to determine its pros and cons and provide you with some essential points.
What Is SAP Business Intelligence (BI)?
Business Intelligence is the complete form of SAP BI. SAP Net Weaver provides better decisions in challenging business environments when combined with data warehouse intelligence and other business tools.
SAP HANA supports various types of SAP reporting tools. SAP BI tools are used to control various mechanisms, such as reporting, scrutiny, and interpretation of data. BI managers now integrate entire external data sources as well as SAP applications that are placed internally into the relevant toolkits - to achieve the best possible results.
Let's begin by introducing the vendor. SAP is an IT multinational that creates enterprise software. We're most interested in SAP's BI solutions.
SAP's Business Intelligence solutions fall into two categories without naming them. These are database/data management solutions and analytical solutions.
SAP BI is a platform that SAP uses to share information with the whole organization. SAP BI allows information to be shared in real-time at all levels - from CEOs to analysts to higher-level executives and from lower-level employees.
This allows for better decision-making within an organization.
This module is a great option to promote business and handle target-oriented activities. The SAP system becomes more efficient and faster when all information is available in just a few seconds.
All organizations need to have a business intelligence system that provides a comprehensive view of their data. This can be accessed easily by anyone with the proper credentials, both inside and outside their organization. SAP BI is easily customizable so that an organization can tailor it to their needs and access information much faster.
Database Management And Database Solutions
Business intelligence is divided into two parts: a user-facing section, in which the end-user (data analyst or business user) interacts directly with the technologies and data pipeline.
This performs three functions to make data available and consumable via the end-user interface.
- Extraction of raw data sources
- Data transformation and storage in warehouses.
- Provide access to data for specific groups of users via the end-user interface.
SAP's database and data management product suite is a great way to store and manage data. This set contains four products: SAP HANA Database is a database management tool or managed database.
Data Warehousing is a service that collects and manages all corporate data in a single location. Enterprise Information Management this is a tool that can be used to manage data, metadata, and data quality.
Cybersecurity Governance Risk and Compliance are self-explanatory. These tools support data security and fraud protection.
Both SAP HANA and Data Warehousing can be combined. The benefits of each solution can be combined by deploying it on-premise, in the cloud, or hybrid. These features go hand in hand with the analytical platform and its instruments.
Analytics Solutions
SAP BI database and data management solution concern data storing and transformation functions, as well as management.
The analytics solution is a collection of tools that improves analytical capabilities and provides access to data. Analytical solutions are the front end of a BI System, providing reports, dashboards, or data discovery tools to analysts.
The Analytics Solutions Platform includes different products that are used for data analysis and business intelligence:
SAP Analytics Cloud: is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business intelligence solution that provides access to all the corporate analytics from one place.
Analytics Cloud platforms is the interface to all SAP BI products. Analytics Cloud performance gives you access to the entire database solution and brings together different analytical tools in one place.
Collaborative Enterprise Planning (CEP): This is a collaborative enterprise planning tool that performs as a corporate planner.
Each department can plan its actions in collaboration with other departments based on data-driven decisions. This is Google analytics Calendar for enterprise planning. Predictive analytics is a tool that allows you to use machine learning algorithms to predict future trends using your data.
Predictive Analytics comes with pre-built models and algorithms.
SAP Business Intelligence: This product is a collection of analysis tools for business analysis, reporting, and visualizing data.
SAP Business Intelligence is a core software product that contains several data access tools. SAP BI instruments can be categorized by groups of end users.
First, there are business outcomes: users or data consumers. This group queries data without having to deal with the database's inner structure. Data advanced analytics (or IT departments) are the second group.
They work within databases to add metadata, explore data, and support queries.
SAP BusinessObjects BI suite: This is an on-premise BI system that allows real-time access to data.
Self-service BI allows business users to work with data without IT involvement. Business models Objects provide a variety of capabilities, including reporting, ad-hoc (instant) report generation, interactive dashboards, and data visualization.
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SAP Business Intelligence: The Pros
SAP has a global market share of over 16 percent, according to BI report statistics. The BI solution list is quite extensive and includes products that are suitable for all sizes of business.
However, the reviews indicate that SAP is most popular with employees. Here are some of the benefits that SAP Business Intelligence has to offer.
Business Intelligence Products Available In A Wide Range
It is not surprising that an established, old company such as SAP would be a pro. SAP provides all the technological components required to implement a data platform at your business and provides reporting tools.
You have a few options depending on the product. For example, you can deploy it on a server or in the cloud deployment. The options of cloud, on-premises, and hybrid deployment are available for almost the entire product range, both in Database and Analytics solutions.
Analytics Cloud is a great way to centralize all your BI tools in one location. You can provide data access based on permissions from this location, so each user is only able to use an interface that touches the data they need to perform their jobs.
SAP Business Objects BI has been around for a while. It has been around for a long time and has accumulated a variety of resources. If a company uses it today, all of these resources are available to them to use as they please.
As a well-established brand, SAP Business Objects BI can invest more money into development and improvements as time goes on.
It also ensures that the software is updated regularly with new features and fixes bugs. The popularity of SAP Business Objects BI makes it easy to find help and assistance. Many developers are also quite adept in the primary languages of the software.
Business Objects BI allows companies to avoid spending time searching for developers who are proficient in the language they need.
Seamless Graphic User Interface
The main reason why business intelligence tools look like cave drawings is that the vendors don't focus on the needs of self-service users or business users.
The result is a large interface designed for data analysts or programmers.
SAP Business Intelligence offers several valuable tools with an intuitive interface. SAP's user interface is easy to understand, even though it requires some skill and time to master (just like any other BI tool).
It's also easier to onboard your users with a web-based interface that allows you to access all of the tools.
Microsoft Office Compatibility And Sharing Functions
It is not enough to have access to the data. Business intelligence is only valuable if you share the knowledge. Two things make it extraordinary.
SAP Analytics solutions have sharing capabilities in almost all of their reporting and dashboarding tools. It allows your employees and executives to share insights easily. Reports can take the form of textual reports, visual storytelling, or dashboards that are shared.
You can also upload the data to Excel or Spreadsheets and share it across the organization in the "traditional" manner.
If data security is your main concern, you can set rules and permissions either through database SQL permissions or by using data management tools.
Versatile Integration
Business Objects can connect with a wide range of data sources, including OLAP and XML. It can connect to a variety of integration points, including SharePoint, Java, and Microsoft Office.
Integration with enterprise applications is a primary reason why many organizations choose SAP as their BI provider.
Solid Administrative And Data Governance
Business objects solutions provides the features and tools needed to manage large-scale deployments, security, and access control.
It integrates with LDAP security providers, Single-Sign-On (SSO) solutions, and a variety of other standards for user provisioning. The level of security is sufficient to limit access at the report level. Business Object API can be integrated by many software vendors to provide data-level security.
A Wider Audience Of Users Can Now Use Self-Service Tools
Data-specific knowledge is required to work with data. Also, engineering skills are needed. While BI additional tools are designed to automate the drag and drop of data from a storage device to a user's screen, they sometimes need human assistance.
This is usually done by BI or ETL developers or a dedicated IT team.
SAP BI provides a set of self-service popular tools (BusinessObjects and Lumira) to help casual users deal with data.
This doesn't mean your BI users will not need help. But it will reduce maintenance costs and the time spent on reporting tasks.
SAP HANA Real-Time Database and Performance
HANA is a database that has many features. The database allows real-time access to data, which ensures quick processing and rapid response times for large data sets.
HANA is compatible with a variety of database management systems. This makes data integration much more accessible across the entire organization.
Data Source Integration
The list of integrations with external sources is extensive and deserves its section. SAP integrates with its two own data stores (SAP HANA and Data Warehouse).
It also includes external services like Apache Hadoop and Hive. This is especially useful when using a BI tool to explore data from big data.
It Offers a Lot of Versatility
Business Objects is a very flexible and scalable solution. Business objects can scale up and down according to the needs of an organization.
It can grow with the business and save money by not having to buy new software when the business grows beyond the capabilities of the old one.
Its many features allow you to perform a variety of tasks without the need to use different software. It is capable of handling multiple complex tasks, and it has set the standard for all other software.
Its ease and assistance are unmatched, even today. The large number of businesses using it is proof of that.
Flexibility
SAP's BI solutions are primarily cloud-based and easy to use. SAP offers different deployment options for its products.
It allows for a degree of flexibility, depending on your preferences. This includes hardware maintenance and system management. The list of pros is pretty impressive, but there aren't any unicorns.
We'll now move on to the cons.
Massive Resources
Business Objects has been a niche brand since the beginning. Business Objects has a lot of resources behind it, so you can be sure that they're here to stay.
According to a study conducted recently, SAP has more than $3 billion of annual revenue and nearly a quarter of the market share 1. SAP has not only the financial but also the technological resources to improve its products and go through the development cycle.
You'll find developers who are familiar with Business Objects' proprietary language due to the overwhelming adoption rate.
Cons of SAP Business Intelligence
Licenses And Pricing Are Expensive
SAP BI software licenses can be expensive, depending on the use case. Capterra.com's 2019 SAP BI pricing starts at $14,000 per year when using BusinessObjects.
The price of your package can rise to $50,000, even before maintenance fees. The absence of a Business Objects free trial is much more frustrating, but you can test the Analytics Cloud for free to see what it has to offer.
SAPS Business Objects Web Intelligence can be a costly undertaking, especially for small organizations with limited resources and funds.
The cost of the software is increasing, and organizations will need to hire individuals who are fluent in the languages and can use them perfectly.
Poor Platform And Customer Service Administration
Many users of trustradius.com have complained about unreliable support and platform administration. SAP has taken steps to improve the support team.
Platform administration is different.
Platform Heterogeneity
SAP is well-known for acquiring a large number of companies. Almost all BI products were acquired from smaller players in the market, such as Business Objects.
SAP bw business objects integration new products can be less than seamless, as is often the case.
Reporting On Performance And Quality
We have to deal with the contrary opinion. While some users consider SAP BusinessObjects performant, we must also address this other view.
Reports are either delayed or disappearing. On trustradius.com as well as financeonline.com, the same comments can be found that state reports are slow to arrive or do not appear at all after an inquiry is made.
Upgrades are Difficult
Some users have said that upgrading software can also be challenging. In particular, migrations are a problem. It is generally believed that data migrations can be a difficult and stressful task.
Companies often delay or cancel them whenever possible. It is something users have complained about in the past and should be taken into consideration.
Despite these disadvantages, the benefits of this software are too numerous to ignore. It is the industry standard for many companies, and with good reason.
Its features and support are unmatched by any other software, which is why it's the first choice for many organizations.
It is a significant investment, but if you can afford it and want a reliable and safe option, Business Objects BI should be something that you consider.
The software will continue to be the industry standard in the future. With so many resources available and so many highly skilled and exceptional individuals willing to share their knowledge, the future looks bright.
SAP Business Objects Training will help prepare more people to handle the software with ease.
Heavy Load Causes The Server To Shut Down
The same issue has been reported by users across TrustRadius. When a certain level of complexity is applied, the main problem is described as servers closing down.
SAP HANA servers also seem to shut down as query volumes increase. It could be an issue on any server. Still, we felt it was essential to address it because it is so blatantly in contrast to SAP BI licensing and pricing.
Business Objects may require multiple servers and a lot of hardware. Our experience has shown us that embedded Business Objects reports for CA Service Desk require four servers.
Hardware costs, server maintenance, and administrative expenses can quickly add up with Business Objects.
Not Business User Friendly
Business Objects has a developer platform. This means that organizations that want to use Business Objects need a team of highly-skilled developers.
The end user cannot create dashboards or reports on their own. The need for a team of IT professionals not only adds to the cost but also delays the end-user in getting the information they need to make informed decisions.
The data is stale when they get it.
What Is The Best SAP Business Intelligence Fit?
Who should be the first to look at an SAP BI proposal? Following the features, benefits, and problems mentioned, several cases can be considered:
Fits well with the enterprise. SAP is mainly used by large companies for several reasons. The main focus of SAP's product line is on enterprise needs.
BusinessObjects Analytics Cloud is an excellent way to distribute content for many different consumer groups. Enterprise Planner and the comprehensive list of integrations with SAP ERP are good options for companies with large amounts of data.
You can get the best solution for your enterprise by adding costs and a full range of services for creating a business intelligence solution.
Integration with multiple sources of data. SAP HANA's source independence allows it to offer some excellent options for integrating with different data sources.
The list of integrations available is extensive. Integration with MS Office, the most popular data storage format, is not a minor feature.
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Conclusion
To stay ahead of the competition, businesses must understand and visualize different patterns and indicators in the marketing world.
It is vital to notice the small changes and hints that can lead to more extensive changes. Rich clients at the user interaction tier can utilize the Java and .NET API provided by Business Objects Web Services.
SAP Business Objects BI has become essential in this constantly changing and advancing world.
You can't go far wrong if you want to make a "safe" choice and can afford it. If you want to run complex queries and need a solution that is highly scalable, Business Objects could be a good choice.
If you are looking for a BI solution that the business user will be able to use, Business Objects may not be the best option. If you do not have a team or can't hire an IT developer, Business Objects may not be the best option for you.
