SAP BusinessObjects Paris 2019 Conference

by April 4, 2019

On Thursday 28 March 2019 SAP and GB & Smith jointly organised the SAP BusinessObjects Paris 2019 Conference.

This was an opportunity for the two editors to present their new products for the coming year: 360 Suite from GB & Smith and SAP BI 4.2 SP6/SP7 and a preview of SAP BI 4.3.

A look back at this event where Bilink was present.

After an introduction by the CEO of GB & Smith, the co-founder of BusinessObjects and SAP's Chief Product Expert Analytics, we get to the heart of the matter with the presentation of the latest innovations in SAP BI 4.2.

And in particular in SP6/SP7

Webi :

  • Comments: more user interaction on documents
  • Shared elements: more reusability and ease of maintenance
  • DHTML: the Webi client is now at functional parity with the Java version: no more compatibility and update problems to manage
  • New graphics: gauges, tiles
  • Parallel query execution: faster updates
  • View Time Security: security on a universe now applies when the document is opened and not when it is refreshed
  • Input controls: default value and sorting now available

Fiori :

  • The new portal will have almost all the functionality of the BI Launch Pad as well as being very easy to customise (e.g. deployment of a graphic charter)
  • Animation of graphics
  • Autorefresh: with the ability to exclude requests from the refresh pool
  • Intra-documentary link: this will allow to manage a summary, to give a dashboarding aspect by hiding the tabs and navigating by links

Universe :

  • The UNV universes are still present. No planned stop, but the tool will not evolve anymore
  • The Information Design Tool for IDT universes will benefit from new features and improvements. Following on from the SETs that appeared in SP4 (allowing you to keep a predefined data set, for example for temporal analyses), the tool will continue to be enriched. Thus, in SP7
    • The possibility of extending its functionality (e.g. with a versioning module)
    • JDBC driver optimization: even better performance
    • Optimisation of the conversion of UNV universes

Administration:

  • Simplified maintenance and upgrades
  • Improved access to HANA and BW
  • Server grouping: possibility of dedicating servers to documents or user groups

It should be noted that this SP7 will bring less innovation than the previous versions. It is a quality SP. The next ones will be in this continuity, the novelties will be brought by the SAP BI 4.3

 

Here are some of the new features that will be included in SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3

The focus will be on the hybridity of the platform: on-premise developments will continue, even though the cloud strategy remains a priority for SAP.

This version will be user experience oriented:

    • The new Fiori portal will be present by default and will contain 100% of the functionality of the BI Launch Pad
    • Appearance of a new WebI client which will also be Fiori style
      • existing documents will still be fully functional, only the client interface will change
      • disappearance of the double ribbon
      • 2 new panels will replace those on the left
        • Formatting panel: it will evolve contextually. With a chosen element type, only the possible functionalities will be presented
        • Build panel: will give the possibility to do the analysis directly: cross table, direct choice of the type of graph (disappearance of the "assign data" panel)
        • The right-click remains by contextualising itself. It is also modernised with the appearance of widgets
      • Return of the Deski slide and dice window! This window allowed you to manage filters, sorting, column order, etc. in a single window.
      • Appearance of the Webi Data Model which will allow even more elements developed under Webi to be reused (reuse via SOAP or Odata)
      • Mobility: integration of all Webi documents into the mobile application, where they can be consumed as they are
  • An ever more advanced version for end users and providing them with more autonomy

As is often the case, SAP is taking advantage of this to clean up the existing tools. Thus, the following will disappear with this version: Explorer, Dashboard, Widgets, Design Studio, Lumira 1.X

Availability: the first beta version will be available in September and the RTC version in the last quarter of 2019. Availability to all customers is planned for mid 2020.

GB & Smith :

  • New graphical interfaces for all modules of the Suite
  • Improved performance of 360 Bind
  • New Universe Comparison Tool
  • Extension creation for IDT

This conference was also an opportunity for feedback from La Poste Immo and the Gendarmerie Nationale who have boosted their migration and maintenance by more than 90% on certain tasks!

Bilink confirms these performances, we have the opportunity to use 360 Suite very regularly. The tool provides ease of use, security, integrity and performance, a real "must have" in everyday life.

Please contact us to arrange a presentation with GB & Smith.

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Nicolas Prioux

Nicolas is a Business Intelligence consultant who has developed a strong expertise in the BusinessObjects suite. He regularly works on architecture and performance issues. Nicolas is also in charge of the development of the data visualisation offer for Bilink.
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