By Freya Purnell
Initial customer feedback on the SAP BusinessObjects (BOBJ) 4.0 release has focused on the benefits of the unified user experience, as well as the ability to analyse multiple data sources in a single universe, according to Sanjiv Bansal, specialist solution adviser from the Business User and Platform team, SAP.
Because the BOBJ suite previously brought together tools created by different companies, including Crystal Reports and Xcelsius, the look and feel of each was slightly different.
“With 4.0, the feedback is the user interface is unified, so it is much easier for the user to design reports,” Bansal said.
The single semantic layer in the BOBJ 4.0 releases also means that many data sources can be brought together for analysis in a single universe.
“Both from a user experience perspective and a cost and administration perspective, there are significant benefits from this,” Bansal said.
Some of the key trends in the business intelligence (BI) and enterprise information management (EIM) space are mobility, with user demand to access business data from anywhere growing rapidly, and a need to analyse unstructured data – both of which have been enabled by the 4.0 releases.
While social media might be dominating the consumer space, it is an area of burgeoning importance in the enterprise IT environment. With a wealth of information being transmitted through social media channels, providing businesses with critical insights into what their customers are thinking, the ability to conduct sentiment analysis and, perhaps more importantly, to be able to act on this data are becoming ever more important.
“When products are being launched, for example, it is no longer a matter of making decisions based on your bottom line P&L. If there is a problem with a manufacturer’s product, and customers are talking about it on Twitter, the manufacturer needs to be aware of that unstructured data and bring it into their BI environment,” Bansal said.
“Having proper business validation rules on the type of data, by using the Information Steward in 4.0, allows users to analyse and integrate market trends, with the confidence that they can trust the data.”
The next stage of the evolution of the SAP BOBJ suite will be in providing industry-specific packaged analytical applications – Business Analytical Applications (BAA).
“We currently have 16 BAA solutions, and another 11 on the roadmap, based on the foundation of BI 4.0, which will look at specific industry areas and answering specific questions in those industries,” Bansal said.
“For example, in telecommunications, campaign management and customer retention is a big issue, so we have a packaged solution already in the marketplace for that. Because we know in utilities, we are going to have smart meters in the home, we are also building a BAA solution for smart grid meter analytics.”
Bansal said a 4.1 release of the BOBJ solutions will be out before the end of 2011.
To read more about the BOBJ 4.0 releases, see our article here in the March/April edition of Inside SAP.
