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12 months ago ::
Jun 15, 2012 - 10:33AM
#1
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Welcome to today's Q&A on
improving WebI use & adoption: Q&A with Gabe Orthous on getting great usability
from your SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence reports In dashboards and reporting, high user adoption beats flashy design every day. So what works to optimize usability of your WebI documents and reports? When and how can you make WebI projects more interactive and anticipate business needs from the start? Post your question for SAP BusinessObjects expert and BI 2012 speaker Gabe Orthous. Gabe is posting his advice during this one-hour live online chat, here in the SAP BusinessObjects Forum today, Tuesday, June 26 at 12:30-1:30pm ET. To post your question, select the “Post Reply” button below - login required. (Not yet a member? Join today for free.) Review the advance questions below, and follow the thread below for the opening posts in the Forum and Gabe's responses. Thank you for joining us today! Moderated by Bridget Kotelly, conference producer for BI 2012 Las Vegas, Milan & Singapore
Sponsored by BI 2012 Singapore, 16-18 October 2012 
Moderated by
Forum Moderator
on Jun 26, 2012 - 12:14PM
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12 months ago ::
Jun 20, 2012 - 12:53PM
#2
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Can you enlist advantges / disadvantages of WebI vs Web Application Designer 7.0 ?
When to use each tool ?
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12 months ago ::
Jun 26, 2012 - 9:24AM
#3
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We are new to Business Objects but a long standing SAP customer. As part of our move to BW 7.3 we implemented BO 4.0 (dashboards, Crystal for enterprise and Analysis for OLAP). We are hitting issues with some of the features of Crystal and Analysis for OLAP e.g. connecting to non SAP data / ad-hoc querying of data (it is currently not as good as Bex Analyser). As a consequence we are starting to investigate the use of the semantic layer and webi as a replacement for analysis for OLAP reports. As SAP BW will continue to be our main data source via a BICS connector, what are the watch-outs / downsides of using webi over SAP BW either via a BICS connector or via the semantic layer. Also what impact does Feature Pack 3 have? Again we are starting to evaluate it and when we should implement this feature pack. Any justifications I can get for moving to this later version would help a lot. Many thanks.
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12 months ago ::
Jun 26, 2012 - 11:20AM
#4
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Actually, when you create a Webi report on a datasource based on a BICS connection, all measures in report show #TOREFRESH before any data update, because a BICS connection sets any measure with "Database Delegated" as default setting. Does the new Feature Pack improve or change this feature? If not, is this improvement planned in the future?
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12 months ago ::
Jun 26, 2012 - 11:29AM
#5
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Hi, I'm working BO 4.0 and BI 7.3. I'm creating WebIs with Universes which are connected to BI's queries. I want to use four obligatory key date variables in WebI because in the BI's query is set (current period and previous period) but the Universe accepts one obligatory key date only. I need these key date variables are avaible to create WebI report. Coould you hel me with this issue?
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12 months ago ::
Jun 26, 2012 - 12:27PM
#6
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Welcome to today’s SAP BusinessObjects online Forum on WebI design & usability. We’re looking forward to some great advice today, and I’m delighted to have Gabe Orthous here as our featured expert this hour. For those who don’t know Gabe Orthous already, he’s a senior development manager for the Business Intelligence group at McKesson Revenue Management Solutions, and a coauthor for the forthcoming SAP PRESS WebI book. Gabe recently presented a number of sessions at our BI 2012 conference in Milan, including a session on McKesson’s WebI implementation and designing WebI for high user adoption. Thanks for joining us today, Gabe! Before Gabe jumps in to answer your questions, a quick note to the audience about today’s Q&A … * To post your question, first log in to Insider Learning Network. Then, in the forum, use the "Post Reply" button below to enter your questions. * Gabe will be here for the hour, posting his responses to the questions that you – our members - post on this Forum page. * Note that Gabe will post his answers directly in the Forum thread – there’s no audio or separate webinar login as part of today’s Q&A chat. So welcome to everyone. Please post your questions now, and be sure to refresh your browser to see the latest posts!
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12 months ago ::
Jun 26, 2012 - 12:31PM
#7
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Before you get into answering these questions, can you just open up with your thoghts on 'why WebI?' What do you see as key benefits of Web Intelligence?
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12 months ago ::
Jun 26, 2012 - 12:31PM
#8
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Why Webi? Great question! let me start with Gabe’s top 10 features and functionality:
- No need to install software on client machine (online ad hoc webi)
- Segments users into consumers (Reading) and creators (Design)
- Streamlined user experience – Ribbon based toolbar in BI4. Making the environment consistent.
- Self-service model allows users to create their own reports (no need for IT to create them)
- Powerful Semantic Layer – Universe: No need for users to know SQL.
- Multiple data access, not just SAP but also agnostic data sources
- Robust Infrastructure for navigation using the BI Launch Pad (Infoview) – eg. Monitoring of report usage.
- Rich Internet Application – Webi powered by Java
- Much-improved charting engine allows for awesome dashboards in BI4
- Conditional formatting (alerters) and Data tracking features in Webi.
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12 months ago ::
Jun 26, 2012 - 12:32PM
#9
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Can you enlist advantges / disadvantages of WebI vs Web Application Designer 7.0 ?
When to use each tool ?
Enrique, Webi is a user-centric, simple and intuitive report authoring tool. Interactivity with the user is inherent in the product such as drill filters, hyperlinks, and input controls. A robust web-based architecture using SOA makes it a stable environment. I have not used WAD personally, however I've experienced in previous projects that adoption of that technology has been poor. The main difference for me is self-service, the ability of allowing users to own and create their own reports based on a common semantic layer (universe). [Thank you for your question - Gabe]
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12 months ago ::
Jun 26, 2012 - 12:33PM
#10
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We are new to Business Objects but a long standing SAP customer. As part of our move to BW 7.3 we implemented BO 4.0 (dashboards, Crystal for enterprise and Analysis for OLAP). We are hitting issues with some of the features of Crystal and Analysis for OLAP e.g. connecting to non SAP data / ad-hoc querying of data (it is currently not as good as Bex Analyser). As a consequence we are starting to investigate the use of the semantic layer and webi as a replacement for analysis for OLAP reports.
As SAP BW will continue to be our main data source via a BICS connector, what are the watch-outs / downsides of using webi over SAP BW either via a BICS connector or via the semantic layer. Also what impact does Feature Pack 3 have? Again we are starting to evaluate it and when we should implement this feature pack. Any justifications I can get for moving to this later version would help a lot.
Many thanks.
creekp: I would definitely go with Feature Pack 3 for BI 4 (aka SP4). There have been lots of improvements in this release which eases the issues with connecting WebI with Universes. For example: you can have a universe access SAP ERP in the form of InfoSets, SAP queries and ABAP functions. For additional information please refer to: bit.ly/GGcTGe [Thank you for your question - Gabe]
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