SAP BPC 10.0 features & integration:

Q&A with BPC experts
Scott Cairncross, David Dixon & Jarrett Bialek

How is BPC 10.0 changing the way your analysts & finance teams handle annual budgets, forecasts, consolidation, and financial closes? Register now for a Q&A here in the Financials forum on SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (SAP BPC) here on Wednesday, October 3 at 12:30pm-1:30pm ET.

Editor's note: If you missed this Q&A, you can review the discussion by following the thread below, or read the edited transcript we compiled & posted here on Insider Learning Network.

Some of our top BPC experts from BPC Bootcamp – Scott Cairncross, David Dixon, and Jarrett Bialek of TruQua Enteprises – will answer your technical questions about BPC 10.0.

Moderated by Allison Martin, Conference Producer, BPC Bootcamp, Las Vegas, October 29-31, and Amsterdam, 3-5 December

Sponsored by 

Questions:

1) Is there a comparable reference document from SAP on report building to the very old document called "The BPC for Excel function EvDRE Reference Documentation"?  Looking for a document that will provide specifics on report building.

2) Is it possible to auto import master data changes from SAP R3 to BW to BPC?  Example: cost center master data record in SAP R3 has an updated profit center and this field needs to be updated in BPC Func Area dimension.  Our current process does not provide auto updates via the master data import process (BPC NW 7.5)

3) I have only had a limited exposure to BPC 10.0, but is it possible to type members directly into a selection area when building a report vs. only using the drop down menus or search functions?

Oct 2, 2012 -- 1:31PM, KathyKohut wrote:

Questions:

1) Is there a comparable reference document from SAP on report building to the very old document called "The BPC for Excel function EvDRE Reference Documentation"?  Looking for a document that will provide specifics on report building.

2) Is it possible to auto import master data changes from SAP R3 to BW to BPC?  Example: cost center master data record in SAP R3 has an updated profit center and this field needs to be updated in BPC Func Area dimension.  Our current process does not provide auto updates via the master data import process (BPC NW 7.5)

3) I have only had a limited exposure to BPC 10.0, but is it possible to type members directly into a selection area when building a report vs. only using the drop down menus or search functions?

Hi Kathy,

Good to hear from you again!

1) There is a great document for EPM10 Add-in functionality here:

help.sap.com/businessobject/product_guid...

There have not been any updated materials for BPC 7.5 with the same level of detail as the document you are referencing.

2) Yes, you can schedule process chains that trigger these master data updates at regular intervals in BW, or you can develop listeners to trigger these chains upon changes in the source R/3 system, but this will require custom code.

3) Yes, you can use the "Activate Member Recognition" option under Sheet Options in EPM10 to enable direct entry into the report.  Once you enter these members, they will show up as members in the Report Builder screen.  However, there is no way to manually type in these members directly in the Report Builder, you can only use the Search/Filter functions.

Hi there...

1) Are there any new consolidation features (elimination rules, journals, etc) in BPC 10 in comparison with 7.5?

2) How does BPC handle the case of step consolidation? For example when a Group of entities consists of 2 subgroups which have different currency from the top Group currency?Is there a simpler way to solve this, instead of creating dummy entities (which represent the subgroups - store_entity=Y in Group Dimension), transfer their data to main consolidation tree and then translate them in group currency?

Hi Rodrigo, 

1) Yes but you won't get the application specific enhancements. The cubes that BPC NW sits on top of will be "HANA Optimized" InfoCubes but you won't get the benefits that are delivered with the HANABPC component. The HANABPC component can be leveraged only with BPC 10.0, version for SAP NetWeaver.

2) The upgrade process is fully outlined within the upgrade guide on the service marketplace. 

service.sap.com/instguides

Excerpt from the guide is included inline here:

Depending on the number of systems you have and your transport processes, you use one of the following upgrade approaches:

Direct upgrade on the same server

System copy from Planning and Consolidation NW 7.5 production system to a new system

Upgrade SAP NetWeaver from 7.01 to 7.3

For information on the steps involved in upgrading the SAP NetWeaver platform from version 7.01 to 7.3, see the SAP NetWeaver 7.3 ABAP Upgrade Guide.

Upgrade Planning and Consolidation for SAP NetWeaver 7.5 to 10.0

Pre-customize system based on 10.0 requirements, for example RFC destination and service user BPC_SERVICE

Execute migration program to migrate 7.5 data into 10.0

Clean install on server and import data from Planning and Consolidation 7. 5

Install SAP NetWeaver 7.30 and Planning and Consolidation for SAP NetWeaver 10.0 from scratch

Pre-customize system based on 10.0 requirements, for example RFC destination and service user BPC_SERVICE

Backup environment (application set) on 7.5 production system with the Backup & Restore tool (transaction UJBR) 

Restore environment (application set) on new 10.0 system with the Backup & Restore tool (transaction UJBR)

Execute migration program to migrate 7.5 data to 10.0 

3) The SAP Dashboards integration is more seamless. No need for the Analyzer Add-In any longer. 

4) BOBJ can connect directly to HANA and it can connect direcly to BPC which can be on HANA as well. The EPM Connector is still an add-in that is delivered however it is now delivered with the EPM Add-In.