In this third demo, of the BusinessObjects tools, we look at the ad-hoc query tool called WebIntelligence. This demo show the development of a sales report based on SAP BW and demonstrate typical tasks such as formatting, filtering, graphing, inserting sums, copying report blocks on the web.
By Dr. Berg
Background
Ad-hoc querying has been a sore point in the SAP NetWeaver landscape. We had no capabilities in the first versions of BW, but in BW 3.5 (2003) we got a tool called 'ad-hoc query designer'. This was so clunky that SAP removed it in the BW 7.0 release in 2006, and that was a good decision.
Now we have WebIntelligence from BusinessObjects that fills this void. It is a tool that evolved as a web version of the tried and tested tool called "Desktop Intelligence" and frankly it is a solid solution for those seeking BI self-service for power users and authors. While the 'pixel-controlled' formatting options are not as rich as Crystal Reports, WebI provides enough options to meet the vast basic reporting requirements for organizations.
However, as you will see in the demo it is not an OLAP tool either (that is BusinessObjects "Analysis"), but rather a quick way to interact with data and create basic 'canned' reports that can meet many of the requirements of casual users.
BusinessObjects BI 4.0 WebI Demo
BI-IT 2012 in Las Vegas - Right Now
Meanwhile we are having a great time here in Las Vegas at the BIIT conference and I just finished a 3-hour session on HANA, BO Explorer and BWA. I also have 3 more sessions tomorrow and Thursday.
If you have time, stop by the Meet-The-Expert session at 5:30 on Wednesday 2/29 and we can talk more about HANA and BI tools.
NEWS: Ipad vs. Android for BusinessObjects tools - Live Session at Insider Learning Network - on 3/20
On the 20th of March, I will be hosting a live online Q&A on Insider Learning Network on BusinessObjects reporting for handheld devices. This is a practical discussion of some of the finding from in-depth testing we did at ComeritLabs with all the tools on Android and Ipad tablets. Watch the BI/BW Forum (bit.ly/BI-BWForum) for more details coming soon.
Hope to see you around.
Dr. Berg
Tool Summary
To keep things in perspective, below is a summary chart to see what each tool is intended for, who should be doing the development and the core capabilities. This is by nature subjective, but should provide some basic comparison of the tools.
