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Document Sample
Reporting
Strategies in
SAP BW
Don Silva
National Competency Center
SAP America
Reporting Strategies - Overview
Purpose
To discuss decision points and methodologies when defining the
source, purpose, frequency, availability, dissemination,
standardization and user base of information managed in the SAP
BW system.
The BW should:
Support Decisions at all Levels of User
Be scalable
Be a comprehensive Toolset
Have fast Deployment
Have the ability to be accessed anywhere
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 2
SAP NetWeaver and Business Intelligence -
Information Integration
SAP NetWeaver delivers complete business
integration at all levels
Information Integration makes both structured and
unstructured information available in the enterprise in a
consistent and accessible manner:
Users demand ubiquitous access to information
wherever it resides. That information must be served in a
consistent manner and its integrity guaranteed.
Knowledge management with user-centric services
provides a single access point to SAP's content
management system and third-party repositories -- with
integrated search, taxonomy, classification, content
management, publishing, and related workflow
processes.
Business intelligence -- This capability enables you to
integrate, analyze, and disseminate relevant and timely
information. It is delivered through SAP Business
Intelligence, which provides a robust suite of business
intelligence tools to help you create and deploy
customized, interactive reports and applications,
supporting decisions at every level.
Master data management -- This capability promotes
information integrity across a business network in a
heterogeneous IT environment. It enables the sharing of
harmonized master data formerly trapped in multiple
systems and ensures cross-system data consistency --
regardless of system location or vendor. This capability
is delivered through SAP Master Data Management.
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 3
SAP NetWeaver and Business Intelligence -
Information Integration
Business Intelligence with SAP NetWeaver
One of the core components of SAP NetWeaver is SAP Business Information Warehouse (SAP BW), which covers the
following functional areas:;
Data warehousing, which forms the application-neutral foundation for Business Intelligence. SAP BW supports the
complete data warehousing process, from data integration, data transformation, consolidation and cleansing to data
provision for analysis.
A business intelligence platform that serves as the technological infrastructure to support information access and
comprehensive analytics.
Business intelligence suite that transforms data into insightful information and serves a wide variety of users for
decision-making.
As part of the SAP NetWeaver architecture, SAP BW draws from and utilizes the capabilities of the other components
for business intelligence usage. The sum of the functionality of SAP BW and the contribution of other components of
SAP NetWeaver form a BI platform that represents the next major step in the evolution of business intelligence.
SAP NetWeaver is the technical foundation for all SAP applications as well as partners' products and solutions. With
Analytical Applications that run on top of SAP NetWeaver and business content that goes across all functional areas of
SAP BW, SAP offers a comprehensive solution: mySAP Business Intelligence.
For more information on SAP NetWeaver and Business Intelligence go to sdn.sap.com
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 4
Reporting Strategies -
Methodology,
Strategy,
What the Experts say…………..
Decisions
Bill Inmon: “When organizations discover the data warehouse, in many cases they think they have
found the answer to their prayers when it comes to getting at corporate information. A first reaction
of many organizations first discovering the data warehouse is the thought that any and all reporting
should be done from the data warehouse. Built properly, data warehouses unleash information into
the corporation as never before. That fact is that there are different kinds of reports and that - as
useful as the data warehouse is - not all types of reporting should come from the data
warehouse.”(1)
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 5
Reporting Strategies -
Value,
Action,
Success
What the Others say…………..
John Ladley: “We know our information is valuable, but how do we measure it?” Many
organizations want to know how to present the potential value of information and knowledge to
upper management. They need to do this proactively, …….”(2)
John L. Doran: “Business intelligence is more than just a reporting environment; preparing and
planning for more skillful ways to leverage data is essential for a successful business intelligence
environment. Providing frameworks that support actionable decision making will provide the right
ingredients for success.” (3)
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 6
Reporting Strategies -
Tell me what I
should be doing!,
What is the best
way to build
What the Customers say………….. reports?
Can I do this?: How do we reduce the number of reports from over 5000 to something more
manageable?
Who should do this?: How do we help users get the information they need without every one
being a super user?
How should I this?: We need all of our source data in the BW, Is this OK?
How should I present this?: I need information accessible out in the field, will Web reports give
me what I want?
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 7
Reporting Strategies - Definition
What is a “Reporting Strategy”?
Reporting: The act of returning or presenting information with conclusions or recommendations.
The dissemination of Information to achieve some stated goal, answer questions or meet
predefined requirement, for the reader or information user.
Strategy: A careful plan. The logical, purposeful methodology to achieve some stated goal or end
Reporting Strategy (SAP BW): The decisions agreed to and implemented within an organization,
entity or unit to gather, validate, store and disseminate information to various users based on a set
of predefined requirements
A Reporting Strategy should answer:
How to support decisions at all levels of user
Define tool sets that support the required reports.
How to make the organization ready for the information available
Help users decide on integration with or replacement of 3rd party data warehousing tools
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 8
Reporting Strategies - Observations
Observations
The reporting of information stored in the BW is sometimes managed as just a
replication of existing legacy reporting requirements. There is too often a
misconception or lack of understanding of the performance improvements, data
flexibility, measurement capability and hardware implications behind simply replicating
existing reports in an OLAP system.
The following discussions should be a starting point to examine effective processes to
“RIGHT INFORMATION, AT THE RIGHT TIME, TO THE
determine the
RIGHT PERSON, FOR THE RIGHT DECISIONS”
The discussion will follow 4 categories
1. The Right Information
2. At the Right Time
3. To the Right Person
4. For the Right Decisions
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 9
Reporting Strategies – Sample Scenarios
Strategy A
Replicate All Current Existing Reporting In the BW
Environment
Scenario: There are minimal available resources to gather requirements for reporting to be delivered in
the BW environment, Can we just replicate what we already have and evaluate it later after we have
the BW live and in production?
Diagnosis: No time for requirements gathering. The shortest route to reporting is OK.
Things to consider: The existing reporting may no longer be what is truly needed. There will be more
information available that could not be efficiently reported on before. Have the source system for data
changed (say a new SAP R/3 implementation)?
Will the end user base and process business owners find value in replicating existing reporting or
DECISION
POINT YES
are the looking different information now? Is there new information available?
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 10
Reporting Strategies – Sample Scenarios
Strategy B
Use SAP R/3 BW delivered content for all reporting.
Scenario: There is a need for BW functionality but not enough knowledge to create an BW report. Can
we just take what was delivered and make our business users use that? We can see if they like it and
change
Diagnosis: No time for requirements gathering. No knowledge on how The shortest route to reporting
is OK.
Things to consider: The existing reporting may no longer be what is truly needed. There will be more
information available that could not be efficiently reported on before. Have the source system for data
changed (say a new SAP R/3 implementation)?
DECISION
Will the end user base and process business owners find value in the standard delivered reporting?
POINT YES
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 11
Reporting Strategies – Sample Scenarios
Strategy C
Define all requirements during the planning phase of
the BW implementation
Scenario: SAP BW is chosen as the Enterprise Wide Business Intelligence information tool. SAP
ASAP for BW is the project implementation methodology. ASAP requires that the reporting
requirements are documented as part of the planning phase.
Diagnosis: Using ASAP accelerators for how to gather and document requirements and suggestions
on who should participate makes the process flow smoother.
Things to consider: Using predetermine accelerators and resourcing suggestions is a great starting
point. If there are other issues/concerns that are not addressed in his methodology enhancements
can certainly be made to fit your particular business needs.
Is there experience resources, internal and external, available to determine
requirements? Is there time to determine all requirements?
DECISION
POINT YES
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 12
Reporting Strategies – Sample Scenarios
Strategy D
Use SAP R/3 BW delivered content where it is feasible and define gaps
and create custom reporting.
Scenario: SAP BW is chosen as the Enterprise Wide Business Intelligence information
tool. SAP ASAP for BW is the project implementation methodology and the business
content delivered with the BW will be activated and delivered as the Phase I deliverable.
The reporting requirements have been documented but there are some additional objects
that you would like see in your reports.
Diagnosis: Gap analysis will determine if the business content will be sufficient to insure
that your requirements will be met for your deliverables.
Things to consider: If the enhancements to delivered business content are minimal, this
should easily fit into your timeline. If the enhancements are so many that the content is
not really meeting any of your requirements and must be created by you, timeline issues
and available resources must be taken into consideration.
DECISION
POINT YES
Is there experience available to perform Gap Analysis?
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 13
Reporting Strategies – The Right Information
Source
SAP/R3
Legacy System
External Data
Other Sources
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 14
Reporting Strategies – The Right Information
Source
SAP/R3
Legacy System
External Data
Other Sources
The source of the information has important implications for reporting. While the SAP BW
can import data from various Non-SAP systems, the SAP R/3 product suite has
extractors delivered with business content and information can be easily selected,
extracted, transformed and loaded in the SAP BW with minimal extra effort (dependent
on individual data design)
One important consideration in any reporting decision will be if complex extraction
DECISION coding has to be created, tested and maintained, does the cost of this effort outweigh
POINT YES
the benefit of the information itself?
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 15
Reporting Strategies – The Right Information
Source
SAP/R3
Legacy System
External Data
Other Sources
Information loaded via Flat Files and ETL tools are delivered functionality in SAP BW.
Extra effort in configuration may be required. Ascential DataStage is certified ETL tool.
DECISION
Is the Legacy Data easily accessible? Is the data easily mapped to SAP BW field
YES
POINT requirements? Is the data clean or will extensive transformations need to
be considered? Is there already an ETL tool available or will one have to be
secured?
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 16
Reporting Strategies – The Right Information
Source
SAP/R3
Legacy System
External Data
Other Sources
Information such as The Group Gartner industry survey data or Dunn and Bradstreet can
be loaded into SAP BW. Also Data Mining functionality and tools are available through
3rd party vendors such as TeaLeaf.
Is the External Data easily accessible? Is the data easily mapped to SAP BW field
DECISION requirements? Is the data clean or will extensive transformations need to
YES
POINT be considered? Will an Data Mining tool have to be secured?
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 17
Reporting Strategies – The Right Information
Source
SAP/R3
Legacy System
External Data
Other Sources
DECISION
POINT YES Are there other sources of data needed?
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 18
Reporting Strategies – The Right Information
Need or Requirement for Information
Based on Information Availability
Based on Existing Reports
Based on Corporate Benchmarks
Based on Regulatory Requirements
What the others say:
John L. Doran, DM Review:
…data visibility …
Provides greater
insight for decision
Making…John Doran
“Business stakeholders must move beyond simple report generation and toward
identifying valuable unknowns, drawing conclusions and optimizing results that lead to
action. These are the true drivers behind business intelligence investments. “ (3)
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 19
Reporting Strategies – The Right Information
Need or Requirement for Information
Based on Information Availability
Based on Existing Reports
Based on Corporate Benchmarks
Based on Regulatory Requirements
The availability of information is a key step to reporting on the information. This may seem a
elementary concept but imagine if you are using SAP R/3 as the source of the data and not all
components are implemented. Or better still the information is no longer created but there is
some requirement for usage of the data. Now what can be done ? Also consideration needs to
be given to the level of detail needed and/or available. In some cases summarized data is not
sufficient for the active information consumer and detail data is not needed for the C-Level
executive analyzing benchmark reporting once a month. A validation and review of
requirements is essential for proper requirements gathering.
Is the required information available? What system is the information available in?
DECISION
POINT YES Is this information requirement currently valid? How Granular is the information
required to be? To the line items level or can it be summarized?
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 20
Reporting Strategies – The Right Information
Need or Requirement for Information
Based on Information Availability
Based on Existing Reports
Based on Corporate Benchmarks
Based on Regulatory Requirements
Using existing reporting for requirements gathering is a good starting point for discussion, but
should not be the end goal for deliverables.
Timing and resource restrictions can sometimes put the utilization towards the data modeling
deliverable and away from the reporting deliverable. There is value in making these parallel
activities (at least in blueprinting) so that data model decisions are validated with current
requirements and current requirements are validated for appropriateness.
There most likely were limitations to the current reporting capabilities that the OLAP
environment can resolve with the functionality delivered in the BW (ex – filtering verses hard
coding data selections and formulas that transform results at the time of query execution).
DECISION
POINT YES Are the existing reporting requirements useful as a starting point for requirements gathering Can
It be determined what transformations to data was done? Can the number of reports be
consolidated ad the slice and dice functionality fulfill the different view required?
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 21
Reporting Strategies – The Right Information
Need or Requirement for Information
Based on Information Availability
Based on Existing Reports
Based on Corporate Benchmarks
Based on Regulatory Requirements
C-Level executives often are mandated to present information in scorecards or to
report on benchmarks as set forth by the executive board. These initiatives need to
be developed along with the strategic and tactical reporting requirements to insure
the appropriate data design is implemented. The use of cockpits, delivered and
custom is important in satisfying the high level information user.
DECISION
POINT YES
Are there corporate initiatives that require Benchmarks, scorecards or cockpits?
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 22
Reporting Strategies – The Right Information
Need or Requirement for Information
Based on Information Availability
Based on Existing Reports
Based on Corporate Benchmarks
Based on Regulatory Requirements
Regulated industries such as Utilities, Federal Agencies, and Financial Institutions
often require that formatted reporting be used. The location of certain information
must be exactly the same each time the data is refreshed a presented. Formatted
reporting tools, like certified 3rd party supplier Crystal Reports, can fulfill this
requirement..
DECISION
POINT YES
Are there requirements for formatted reporting? Is the appropriate 3rd party tool
available or need to be secured?
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 23
Reporting Strategies – The Right Time
Availability
When is the required information available?
How difficult is it to Extract and Load?
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 24
Reporting Strategies – The Right Time
Availability
When is the required information available?
How difficult is it to Extract and Load?
The requirement for data is dependent on when the information required is made
available for extraction in whichever system the information is created in. Global
Operations that have a 24/7 production environment sometimes pose a tight
window to extract data. Functionality for real time data extraction being delivered in
our future release may satisfy this requirement. Batch reporting for large processes
(POS, MRP) can demand dedicated processing windows and leave tight
timeframes to create data and post data that is to be extracted.
DECISION
POINT YES
When is data available and how wide s the window for extraction? Are there any
hindrances to the availability of the data? SAP system such as APO, SEM CRM?
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 25
Reporting Strategies – The Right Time
Availability
When is the required information available?
How difficult is it to Extract and Load?
The SAP BW delivers extractors for R/3 in business content. Custom extractors
can be very complex and have challenges with the ability to capture delta
information. Data dependencies, master data and transaction, sometimes require
complex scheduling to insure integrity of extracted data, Process Chains, 3rd party
scheduling tools help to insure dependencies are met.
What are the dependencies of the data being extracted? Are there impacts to the
DECISION
POINT YES availability of the data.?
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 26
Reporting Strategies – The Right Time
Frequency
How often is information to be added, refreshed or
changed?
When is window of opportunity to extract?
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 27
Reporting Strategies – The Right Time
Frequency
How often is information to be added, refreshed or
changed?
When is window of opportunity to extract?
The update of data is dependent on the intended use of the BW. Active users will
most likely use the data on a frequent even daily bases (and even through out the
day if possible), Analysts will use the data overtime (say weekly) to determine
trends and perform other analysis and the C-level executive are probably infrequent
users that want exception reporting and to be prepared to report on responsibility
center results after a periodic financial closing.
DECISION
POINT YES
How often does the data need to be updated? For Whom?
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 28
Reporting Strategies – The Right Time
Frequency
How often is information to be added, refreshed or
changed?
When is window of opportunity to extract?
The BW most often is updated in off production hours or quiet times. As stated
before the type operation (global, 24/7, heavy usage of batch processing) and the
processor capability can determine the frequency of data updates. In some
instances the BW must be available at certain times (say 8:00 am each morning)
thus making daily updates occur on a very tight schedule.
DECISION
POINT YES
What is the data volume expected? How much time for update available?
When can data updates begin, When do they have to end?
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 29
Reporting Strategies – To the Right Person
Level/Type of User
Who are the users?
How active will user be with information?
What is the security level for data access?
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 30
Reporting Strategies – To the Right Person
Level/Type of User
Who are the users?
How active will user be with information?
What is the security level for data access?
Users can be defined as
Authors and Analysts
Executives and Knowledge Workers
Information Consumers.
Has a survey of users been done? How many users are in each category?
How many users in total?
DECISION
POINT YES
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 31
Reporting Strategies – To the Right Person
Level/Type of User
Who are the users?
How active will user be with information?
What is the security level of data access?
Authors and Analysts - create reports and use information actively but maybe not on a daily bases. They need
data that provides insight into the business. They need advanced analysis functionality and Ad Hoc Reporting
capabilities. Can also includes the Project Team member, Power User and Ad Hoc user.
Executives and Knowledge Workers - use summary, high level, personalized data with the option for in-depth
analysis. Usage can be active but not necessarily daily. They need data that is converted into information that
is accessible in predefined analysis paths via intuitive user interface.
Information Consumers - are probably the most active users. They will normally use the data daily (or at least
frequently). They need specific data , that is often actionable, on a timely bases. Includes End User.
DECISION
YES
POINT Has a survey of users been done? How will users use the data provided?
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 32
Reporting Strategies – To the Right Person
Level/Type of User
Who are the users?
How active will user be with information?
What is the security level for data access?
Authorization profiles and roles have been delivered in business content. This can
be used with nor without further changes. Or, these can serve as a model for
creating custom profiles and roles. Data can be secured at a very detail level (by
field or transaction) or at a very high level (wide open). Discussions on the
sensitivity of the data must conducted to determine appropriate security level. and
decide Who has access to What. Please be cautioned that the lower the level of
security the greater the effort to maintain. Expensive overhead
DECISION
POINT YES
Who can see What?
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 33
Reporting Strategies – For the Right Decisions
Report Dissemination
What state/format is information to be delivered?
What tool/mechanism is information to be made available?
What the others say:
Mike Kelly, DM Review:
“ Where large numbers of users of different levels throughout the extended enterprise need not
only Web reports, but also the ability to perform free- form analysis on the data and reports
they receive, analysis computation must be transferred to client machines. This forms the
basis of data publishing architecture. “ (4)
…information consumers
Can have one click access
To web reports…Mike Kelly
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 34
Reporting Strategies – For the Right Decisions
Report Dissemination
What state/format is information to be delivered?
What tool/mechanism is information to be made
available?
On demand query execution provides the user with the ability to dynamically
retrieve the most current information made available from the Info Provider. This
enable highly interactive results analysis.
Static information is managed information. It is normally recalculated and pushed
out to a delivery point.
DECISION
POINT YES
How is the data to be delivered?
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 35
Reporting Strategies – For the Right Decisions
Report Dissemination
What state/format is information to be delivered?
What tool/mechanism is information to be made
available?
Web reporting is the future and the future is now. Data access can be Web based
and access through the browser and/or the SAP Enterprise Portal. BEx reports use
Windows based components and require SAPGui for delivery. SAP BW delivers a
comprehensive toolset for query design, reporting and analysis.
Decisions on desktop and browser standards play a part in any discussion on Data
Delivery and Access. Mobile devices should also be discussed. 3rd party delivery
tools and software must be considered if it is part of the Corporate Information
Management Strategy.
DECISION
POINT YES
What Data access tool or mechanism will be used? Is there a corporate
standard for data delivery?
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 36
Reporting Strategies – For the Right Decisions
Strategic vs. Tactical
Is information Operational in Nature?
Is information Analytical in Nature?
Is summary or detail data appropriate?
What the experts say:
Bill Inmon, Bill Inmon Associates: “FORCING THE ISSUE
There is an interesting question that follows from the observation that operational reporting
is very different from informational reporting. That question is - what happens to the data
warehouse environment if you try to force ALL reports out of the data warehouse?
If the data warehouse architect ends up trying to force all reports out of the data warehouse,
the consequences are:
the data warehouse is FORCED to be designed to the lowest level of granularity of the corporation.
“Just Because the This may or may not be an acceptable design constraint,
Data warehouse can
be forced to support updates will need to be done in the data warehouse. While this can usually be done by the dams that
Operational reporting
manages the data warehouse, this in many ways runs contrary to the way that data warehouses are
Doesn’t mean it ought
run,
To….” Bill Inmon the timing of adjustments and transactions being entered and reflected inside the data warehouse
becomes an issue, usually to the detriment of the other operations occurring inside the data
warehouse. “ (1)
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 37Is the report strategic?
Reporting Strategies – For the Right Decisions
Strategic vs. Tactical
Is information Analytical in Nature?
Is information Operational in Nature?
Is summary or detail data appropriate?
What the experts say:
Bill Inmon: “FORCING THE ISSUE
There is an interesting question that follows from the observation that operational reporting
is very different from informational reporting. That question is - what happens to the data
warehouse environment if you try to force ALL reports out of the data warehouse?
If the data warehouse architect ends up trying to force all reports out of the data warehouse,
the consequences are:
the data warehouse is FORCED to be designed to the lowest level of granularity of the corporation.
“Just Because the This may or may not be an acceptable design constraint,
Data warehouse can
be forced to support updates will need to be done in the data warehouse. While this can usually be done by the dams that
Operational reporting
manages the data warehouse, this in many ways runs contrary to the way that data warehouses are
Doesn’t mean it ought
run,
To….” Bill Inmon the timing of adjustments and transactions being entered and reflected inside the data warehouse
becomes an issue, usually to the detriment of the other operations occurring inside the data
warehouse. “ (1)
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 38Is the report strategic?
Reporting Strategies – For the Right Decisions
Strategic vs. Tactical
Is information Analytical in Nature?
Is information Operational in Nature?
Is summary or detail data appropriate?
Analytical Reporting will take information over time in comparison to some goal,
measurement or benchmark. This information is normally in summary format and is
often accompanied by charts and graphs. This information provides insight to the
performance of the entity.
Is the report strategic? Can summary data be used? Is the report currently
DECISION
YES
POINT available on the transaction system or is a custom report required to be
created? Is the data required to be real time?
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 39
Reporting Strategies – For the Right Decisions
Strategic vs. Tactical
Is information Analytical in Nature?
Is information Operational in Nature?
Is summary or detail data appropriate?
Operational reporting will use detail data to show the results of current operations.
This is also transactional reporting. This information is usually required frequently
(say daily). Performance improvement on the productive system is often the major
reason for deciding to store and report on transactional data in the BW. Cross
application data models can be maintained with less manual report coding efforts
than creating these reports on the source. This information is actionable.
DECISION
POINT YES
Is the report tactical ? Is detail data required? Is the report currently
available on the transaction system? Is the data required to be
real time?
NO
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 40
Reporting Strategies - Sample Requirements Matrix with
Additional Considerations
Criteria Decision Point R/3 Legacy BW
Data created/stored in R/3 Type report:
Data integration from other sources Operational
not required
ex: payroll register.
Legal w/special format
List or Mailing Label
Data unavailable in BW Frequency of use – low
customization required Operational report available in
R/3 or legacy system Data
Integration from other system
not a requirement
Customization effort – high
Data integration needed from General rule of thumb
Cross Functional R/3,
New Dimension products, and
Non-R/3 system Environments
Performance issue in R/3 OLTP system Heavy information access is
required in an OLTP system that
already have performance issue
based on post tuning
performance measurements
Matrix created by Amelia Lo, SAP Labs LLC
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 41
Reporting Strategies - Sample Requirements Matrix with
Additional Considerations
Criteria Decision Point R/3 Legacy BW
Data created/stored in R/3 Type report:
Data integration from other sources Operational
not required
ex: payroll register.
Legal w/special format
List or Mailing Label
Up to the minute info needed General rule of thumb
Up to the minute info needed Low volume and for analytical
– use remote cube a
possibility (be aware of
performance impact)
Operational Window in R/3 or Customization effort – high
Legacy systems are very narrow
Extract loading time - long
Matrix created by Amelia Lo, SAP Labs LLC
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 42
Reporting Strategies - Sample Reporting Tool Matrix
Report Navigation: Aggregati Freque Precalcu Reco Report References on
Description/ Drilldown/ on: ncy: lation:O rds Type SAP Net
Reporting Static; Summary/ Daily/ LAP Acce
Work,
Characteristic Online/ Detail Wkly/ Cache, ssed
Web
Offline Mthly/ RA,
App.,
Qrtrly Dwnload
InfoSet,
Schedr,
R/3 Rpt,
Wrkbks
ABAP
Query
1 Volume (by Static/ Summary Mthly/ Precalc TBD Web How to…
characteristic Offline Qrtrly App./ Reporting
Work Agent/BW
Online
Documentation
2 Volume (by Drilldown/ Summary Mthly/ Precalc TBD Web How to…
characteristic Online Qrtrly App./ Reporting
Work Agent/BW
Online
Documentation
3 Volume (by Drilldown/ Detail Daily Precalc TBD Web How to…
characteristic Online App./ Reporting
Work Agent/BW
Online
Documentation
Matrix created by Bryan Katis, SAP Labs LLC
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 43
Reporting Strategies - Sample Reporting Tool Matrix
Report Navigation: Aggregati Freque Precalcu Reco Report References on
Description/ Drilldown/ on: ncy: lation:O rds Type SAP Net
Reporting Static; Summary/ Daily/ LAP Acce
Work,
Characteristic Online/ Detail Wkly/ Cache, ssed
Web
Offline Mthly/ RA,
App.,
Qrtrly Dwnload
InfoSet,
Schedr,
R/3 Rpt,
Wrkbks
ABAP
Query
4 Volume (by Online Detail Daily No TBD R/3
characteristic Precalc Report/
ABAP
Query
5 Master Data Drilldown/ Detail Mthly/ No TBD Web BW Online
reporting Online Qrtrly Precalc App./ Documentation
Work
6 Reporting on Online Detail Daily No TBD Classic BW Online
field in a table Precalc Info Set Documentation
- Classic Info
Set
Matrix created by Bryan Katis, SAP Labs LLC
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 44
Reporting Strategies - Sample Reporting Tool Matrix
Report Navigation: Aggregati Freque Precalcu Reco Report References on
Description/ Drilldown/ on: ncy: lation:O rds Type SAP Net
Reporting Static; Summary/ Daily/ LAP Acce
Work,
Characteristic Online/ Detail Wkly/ Cache, ssed
Web
Offline Mthly/ RA,
App.,
Qrtrly Dwnload
InfoSet,
Schedr,
R/3 Rpt,
Wrkbks
ABAP
Query
7 Evaluation of Drilldown/ Detail Daily Precalc TBD Web How to…
exceptions - Online App./ Reporting
based on daily Work Agent/BW
data Online
Documentation
8 Evaluation of Static/ Detail Weekly Precalc TBD Web How to…
exceptions - Offline App./ Reporting
based on Work Agent/BW
weekly Online
summary or Documentation
trends
9 Reporting from Drilldown/ Detail Daily No TBD Web BW Online
off site locations Online Precalc App./ Documentation
Portal
Matrix created by Bryan Katis, SAP Labs LLC
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 45
Reporting Strategies - Sample Reporting Tool Matrix
Report Navigation: Aggregati Freque Precalcu Reco Report References on
Description/ Drilldown/ on: ncy: lation:O rds Type SAP Net
Reporting Static; Summary/ Daily/ LAP Acce
Work,
Characteristic Online/ Detail Wkly/ Cache, ssed
Web
Offline Mthly/ RA,
App.,
Qrtrly Dwnload
InfoSet,
Schedr,
R/3 Rpt,
Wrkbks
ABAP
Query
10 Reporting from Drilldown/ Detail Daily Precalc TBD Web BW Online
intracompany Online App./ Documentation
network Portal
11 Data Validation Drilldown/ Detail Weekly No TBD Query How to…
- InfoCube to Online Precalc using Validate
PSA Remote InfoCube Data
Cube by comparing
and with PSA Data
MultiPro
vider
12 Reports from Drilldown/ Detail Daily Precalc TBD Web How to…
an Information Online App./ Create an
Cockpit Portal Information
Cockpit/BW
Online
Documentation
Matrix created by Bryan Katis, SAP Labs LLC
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 46
Reporting Strategies - Sample Reporting Tool Matrix
Report Navigation: Aggregati Freque Precalcu Reco Report References on
Description/ Drilldown/ on: ncy: lation:O rds Type SAP Net
Reporting Static; Summary/ Daily/ LAP Acce
Work,
Characteristic Online/ Detail Wkly/ Cache, ssed
Web
Offline Mthly/ RA,
App.,
Qrtrly Dwnload
InfoSet,
Schedr,
R/3 Rpt,
Wrkbks
ABAP
Query
13 Static/Precalua Static/ Detail Daily Precalc TBD Web How to…
ted Data Offline App./ Reporting
Work Agent/BW
Online
Documentation
14 Data Validation Drilldown/ Summary Wkly/ Precalc TBD Web How to…
- InfoCube to Online Mthly/ App./ Reporting
PSA Qrtrly Work Agent/BW
Online
Documentation
15 Regulated Static/ Summary Wkly/ Precalc TBD Crystal Crystal
Reports Offline Mthly/ Reports Decisions
Qrtrly
16 Regulated Online Detail Daily Precalc TBD Crystal Crystal
Reports Reports Decisions
Matrix created by Bryan Katis, SAP Labs LLC
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 47
Decision Tree
Data
BI Y
available in
N
BI
Decision Tree
All Data
Originate in
Report
Y SAP N
Development Does report
Partial Data
originate
exist
Y N Y in SAP N
Can external
Require ? data be loaded
into BI
modifications N
N Y
Y
Transactional
*Use as-is or
in SAP Transactional Analytical/Managerial Analytical/Managerial Develop
Does interface to BI
BI Business
Content
Y exist N
Can BI BI
Activate BI Content be
Content Y enhanced N
Consider
‘Generic’
BI extract from SAP
BI
Use available
data in BI
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 48
Reporting Strategies – Closing
Conclusion
The discussion on the proceeding pages should be considered a starting point for a
workshop or focus group to enable decisions on information that should be reported on
from the BW environment to accomplish getting:
“RIGHT INFORMATION, AT THE RIGHT TIME, TO THE RIGHT
PERSON, FOR THE RIGHT DECISIONS”
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 49
Reporting Strategies – Closing
References
1) OPERATIONAL AND INFORMATIONAL REPORTING
by W. H. Inmon, Bill Inmon Associates
2) Beyond the Data Warehouse: The Value of Information
By John Ladley
Published in DM Review Online in May 2003 :
3) Business Intelligence Building Blocks: Decision Frameworks
By John L. Doran
Published in DM Review Online in June 2003
4) Data Publishing Architecture for the Extended Enterprise
By Mike Kelly
Published in DM Direct in May 2003
“RIGHT INFORMATION, AT THE RIGHT TIME, TO THE RIGHT PERSON,
FOR THE RIGHT DECISIONS”
SAP AG 2002, Title of Presentation, Speaker Name 50
