BO Explorer

Comprehensive Guidelines to Speed Data Analysis Using the In-Memory Analytical Engines from SAPDr. Bjarne BergCOMERIT 2012 Wellesley Information Services. All rights reserved.

In This Session Get strategic advice for leveraging data warehousing and analytical engines from SAP to increase the speed and efficiency of data processing and analysis including: SAP NetWeaver BW AcceleratorSAP BusinessObjects ExplorerSAP HANASAP BusinessObjects Analysis

Explore ways to deploy OLAP tools within SAP BusinessObjects Analysis via Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, or the Web interface and get criteria to map each approach to your analytical requirementsDemo the key differences between the Microsoft and OLAP editions of SAP BusinessObjects AnalysisYou will come away with a deep understanding of what these solutions can do and when to use them1What Well Cover IntroductionSAP BW Accelerator OverviewBO Explorer OverviewSAP HANA Capabilities and Impact to OrganizationsSAP BusinessObjects Analysis CapabilitiesOther Performance ConsiderationsA Roadmap for getting to Next Generation BIWrap-up2Why In-Memory Processing? 3FocusImprovement20121990216 Addressable Memory2614x52.27MB/$0.02MB/$Memory6083x304.17MIPS/$0.05MIPS/$CPUTechnology620MBPS5MBPSDisk Data Transfer 124x1000 x100Gbps100MbpsNetwork Speed264 248x Source: 1990 numbers SAP AG, 2012 numbers, Dr. BergDisk speed is growing slower than all other hardware components, while the need for speed is increasing.

Source: BI Survey of 534 BI professionals, InformationWeek, 2010What Well Cover IntroductionSAP BW Accelerator OverviewBO Explorer OverviewSAP HANA Capabilities and Impact to OrganizationsSAP BusinessObjects Analysis CapabilitiesOther Performance ConsiderationsA Roadmap for getting to Next Generation BIWrap-up4In Memory Processing General Highlights BWA

BWA = SAP BW AcceleratorIt is hard to build a fast dashboard with many queries and panels without SAP NetWeaver BW AcceleratorThis provides in-memory processing of queries that is 10-100 faster

It Is All About Performance, Performance, Performance

What we simply do is place the data in-memory and retrieve itmuch fasterThere is also some limited OLAP functionality that can be built into SAP BW Accelerator 7.3, but most data processing still occurs in the BI Analytical engine

You can also place non-SAP data in-memory, using SAP BusinessObjects Data Services6How Does SAP BW Accelerator Work in Reality?7In SAP BW Accelerator 7.2 you can handle more of the analytics processing, such as top-5 products sales, which was previously done in the BI analytical engine

SAP BW Accelerator is accessed by queries and also by any jobs that use the application programming interface (SAPRSDRI_INFOPROV_READ) or the data read transaction (LISTCUBE), when aggregate flag is selected or any of the OLAP interfaces to third-party tools

SAP BW Accelerator 7.0 performs aggregation and data selection for the query, all other processing is done by the BI analytical engine (i.e., as the OLAP processor)Therefore, not all query processing will be dramatically fasterCompression and TREX8The TREX engine is NOT the same as the traditional implementation of the search engine

BWA comes with its own TREX engine that collects the data

During the index build, the data is also compressed using advancedmathematical methods

The result is therefore a muchsmaller sized index than the originalInfoCube

SAP BI Accelerator (BIA) was renamed to SAP BW Accelerator in 2009883 Steps of InfoCube Index CreationFirst master data is processed (Y, S, and X) tables.

Second, the fact tables are grouped and indexed. This occurs by merging the E and F tables into one F table prior to indexing it. This is done automatically and does not change the basic cube.

Third, the dimension tables are indexed. This include all D tables (potentially 16).

The process starts with a database lock on each table. The next step is a data transfer to a temporary BWA file and transferring the data to BWA. The final step is to write the indexes to memory and activate it for queries.

9The Rule of 50% and ImpactsBuying hardware is not as easy as you may think

First you need to make space for temporary index files. The recommended size is about 50%.Second you need to have one fail-over blade in case of hardware issues.

10Example-1: Your sizing program says you need 48Gb of memory You need 48GB + 48Gb for temp indexes and 48Gb failover = 144Gb (66.66% overhead)

Example-2: Your sizing program says you need 192 Gb of memory You need 192GB + 192Gb for temp indexes and 48 Gb failover = 432Gb (44% overhead)11Performance is Near-Linear: Benchmarks

SAP BW Accelerators strength resides in its near-linear scalability

Performance is measured in terms of: BW Accelerator index creation time Multi-user throughput per hour Average report response time Average number of records touched by each reportSAP BW Accelerator reads data from InfoCubes. DSOs and InfoObjects are still read from base/physical tables (even when the InfoObject is indexed as part of master data).12BI Analytical Engines Query Executing PrioritiesQuery ExecutionWithout SAP NetWeaverBW AcceleratorQuery ExecutionWith SAP NetWeaver BW AcceleratorInformation Broadcasting /PrecalculationQuery CacheAggregatesInfoProviderInformation Broadcasting /PrecalculationQuery CacheSAP BW AcceleratorAggregates can be replaced with SAP BW Accelerator, while the memory cache is still useful.Query Performance Improvements Real Example of 70 Queries13The slowest queries that spent most of their time on the database side benefitted the most

Overall 36 of 70 queries were at least twice as fast. Before BWA, the average query execution took 58.8 seconds; after BWA the average query took 17.9 seconds (295% faster overall).

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The major improvement is to make query execution more predictable and overall faster

SecondsNumber of QueriesNumber of QueriesSecondsQuery Performance Improvements OVERALLHINT: BWA will not be used if a query has a key figure set to NO1, NO2, or NOP(no aggregation)1414Workbook Performance Improvements with BWA15

Workbooks require embedding of JavaScripts; can contain multiple queries; and may have macros, lookups, and internal logic

It is therefore hard to estimate the real performance benefits of implementingSAP BW Accelerator

In this real example of 20 slow workbooks, theaverage performance improvement for workbooks was 363% faster1515Performance Information BWA Indexes Build TimesCreating new indexes (refreshes) can be time consuming. The build time depends on:

a) The size of the records (length)b) The number of recordsc) The number of SAP BW Accelerator processors d) The network transfer speed

In this example, 23 InfoCubes with over 232 million records were indexed in 90.56 minutes

16On average, 2.56 million records per minute were indexed!

1616Most Customers Have Found BWA Admin to Be Minimal17

The Admin work is done through a single interfaceThe admin interface is available under the transaction code RSDDBWAMON/RSDDBIAMON Health checks for SAP BW Accelerator are available under the transaction code RSRVMost companies plan for a maximum of 2-5 days of SAP BW Accelerator training. You need a maximum of 1-2 administrators (1 for backup).RSDDBIAMON BWA Administrator Tools18Restart BIA server: Restarts all the BWA servers and servicesRestart BIA Index Server: Restarts the index serverReorganize BIA Landscape: If the BWA server landscape is unevenly distributed, redistributes the loaded indexes on BWA servers

Rebuild BIA Indexes: If a check discovers inconsistencies in the indexes, delete and rebuild the BWA indexes.Selective Usage of SAP BW Accelerator19You can turn off the SAP BW Accelerator usage for certain roles. This reduces the stress on the hardware for non-essential users.

You can also turn off the BWA uses forindividual users in transaction code SU01

You can see if anyone is using the BWA indexes in the table RSDDSTATBIAUSE and some details are also available in RSRT after patch 16. RSDDBIAMON BWA Administrator Tools and Control20Connectivity checks Checks if BW is still connected physically to the BW systemSystem Check Checks if the blades and file system is operating normallyLoad Monitoring Keeps track of performance of the load process (read, writes, compression, and time spent)

You can turn off the BWA index query availability for InfoCubes through the transaction RSDDBIAMON2.21The BWA interface allows you to compare the data in SAP BW vs. the indexes. This means that you can easily check if they are outdated (service pack 12 required)

Other tools include the ability to run queries to see if the numbers in the two databases match.

Health-Checks and ReconciliationYou can check your installation using the function module TREX_CHECK_BIA_INSTALLATION or using the transaction code RSDDBIAMON.22The Analysis and Repair options include proposals and time estimation tools that you may useThe interface can propose delta-indexes for periodic updatesYou can estimate the runtime of indexing the fact table of an InfoCube before you place it into a process chain or a manual jobYou can estimate the memory needed before adding new records into memory

Proposals and EstimationsYou can use the ABAP program ZZ_SET_QUERY_NOHPA_FLAG to turn off BWA access for single queries in the RSRREPDIR table (SAP Note: 1161525 for BWA 7.0)23The simple way to fix most issues is to delete all indexes and rebuild them during a weekend

Think of this as the ultimate reset button. You can also rebuild master data indexes

The SAP BW Accelerator Reset ButtonIn TREXADMIN you can see the number of records in the BWA indexed Infocube. Select the RFC Server, Execute. Click on tab Index Admin. For each InfoCube select BIA as the Index ID. The records are equal to the # of documents.Estimations of this, based on statistics, are also available in: RSDDV - BIA Indexes SE16 - RSDDTREXDIRIncreasing Index Creation PerformanceTo increase index creation performance, you can change the global parameters in SAP BW AcceleratorPay particular attention to the number of parallel processes available (max 10 per available physical processors)Make sure the memory buffers are set large enough to accommodate large InfoCubesReview consistency check recommendations in SAP Notes 1052941 and 1161967

24You can check global parameters in RSRV and you can change global parameters in RSBATCH and RSDDBIAMON. Planning a 6-Week BWA ImplementationAn SAP BW Accelerator project can be completed in six weeks

However, due to hardware lead-times (normally 4-6 weeks), most projects should plan a 12-week duration

The time waiting on hardware should be used on performance tuning of existing queries and dashboards

We will now look at the major tasks of implementing an SAP BW Accelerator solution26SAP has integrated key sizing parameters for SAP BW Accelerator in the new Quick Sizer. You can give it a try at: http://service.sap.com/quicksizer (requires login credentials for the SAP Service Marketplace)

Sizing Is Critical, but Good Tools Are AvailableCustomers with existing BI systems and data loaded can get good sizing and compression estimates by running the SAP program available in SAP Note 917803.

27 Training for SAP BW AcceleratorSAP BW Accelerator training is included in the SAP courses: BW-310, BW-360, and in the online course BW361

In the past, SAP has also offered a two-day workshop called BI Upgrade & Accelerator (WNASAP BW Accelerator)

TestingMake sure you identify real benefits and benchmark with pre- and post-performance after SAP BW Accelerator is implemented

This requires that all critical performance data is captured before SAP BW Accelerator is installed

You should document the post performance and build times as early as possible so that you know what the performance of complex dashboards will be and how the indexing will fit into existing process chains

28You can see what InfoCubes are indexed by going to RSDDV and clicking the button BIA Indexes.The New SAP BW 7.2 Features Modeling in BWA

In BWA 7.2 you can complete many of the joins and aggregation that was previously conducted in the BI analytic engine, and was therefore hard to performance tune

It also reduces the data being transferred to the app server and therefore is much faster as wellImage source: SAP AG, 2011, SDN2929The New SAP BW 7.2 Features Faster Performance

The major benefit of BWA 7.2 is that you can move more of the calculation over to the accelerator and materialize the result in-memory. This improves the reads, and calculations in the OLAP/ BI analytic engine on the BW side are substantially reduced.

The following calculations are now included: SUM MINMAXCNT (count all detailed values) CN0 (Count all values not zero or null) AVG (average)AV0 (Average for all values not zero or null)Image source: SAP AG, 2011, SDN3030Prerequisites for SAP BW Accelerator 7.2For SAP BusinessObjects ExplorerBWA needs to be upgraded to BWA 7.20BW should be upgraded to minimum SAP BW 7.0.1 EHP 1; SPS 5(Source SAP AG BWA 7.2 Installation guide, and SAP Notes 1392524 and 1148111)

SAP Technology RIG RecommendationsIf the system is on SAP BW 7.0 or 7.0 EHP1, then use SAP BW Accelerator 7.0If the system is on SAP BW 7.0 EHP1 SPS 5 or higher AND you are using BO Explorer (accelerated version), then use BWA 7.20If the system is on SAP BW 7.3, then use BWA 7.20 (Source Marc Bernard, SAP AG, 2011)

31The SAP BW 7.2 Limitations and Query Settings There are still some limitations. For example you cannot use the exception aggregation for single key figures in SAP BW Accelerator if it uses:Virtual key figuresConversion before aggregationFormula calculation before aggregationNon-cumulative key figuresKey figures with elimination of internal business volume

You also get more detailed control on each query as to how it reads the BWA. Think of it as similar to Query read modes (more details at SDN: http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/70950003-f7ef-2d10-b1bc-ee483800b25c?QuickLink=index&overridelayout=true3232The New SAP BW 7.2 Performance ExampleQueries with large OLAP processes, such as average and counts, benefit the most from the new BWA 7.2 system

SAP has published the following performance example:

90-95% FASTER!!Source: Sapphire, SAP AG, 2011,3333What Well Cover IntroductionSAP BW Accelerator OverviewBO Explorer OverviewSAP HANA Capabilities and Impact to OrganizationsSAP BusinessObjects Analysis CapabilitiesOther Performance ConsiderationsA Roadmap for getting to Next Generation BIWrap-up34Why the Rapid Adaptation of BusinessObjects Explorer?35One of the driving forces for BO Explorer has been the rapid implementation of blade solutions running on-top of SAP NetWeaver BW. To date, according to SAP, over 1,000 of these systems has been installed.

BO Explorer OverviewYou can connect in several ways to data sets

36Source: SAP, Aug, 2011BusinessObjects Explorer does not require SAP NetWeaver BW. You can accelerate all data sources.

External data may be indexed by the SAP BusinessObjects Data Services and stored on dedicated SAP BW Accelerator bladesSAP BW data may be indexed on SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator blades for fast in- memory processing (also through SAP HANA)External data may also be accessed as non-accelerated via SQL/MSU universesExcel spreadsheets may also be accessed

BO Explorer Big Picture

BWA = SAP BW AcceleratorCreating Indexes from External Data

Using the Accelerator Index Designer in SAP BusinessObjects Data Services, you can also index data from external data files and databasesIt is important to note that the SAP BusinessObjects indexes are on dedicated bladesFor SAP BW Accelerator you should always have one spare blade for failoverIf a blade fails, the system can reload the indexes from the SAP BW Accelerator file system (i.e., GPFS)For the BO Explorer blade, you can use only one blade

38BO Explorer OverviewAccelerated (BWA) or non-accelerated solutions

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BO Explorer Non-BW DataUsing the SAP BusinessObjects Data Services tool, you can access non-SAP data and model it in the BWA Cube Designer tool40

Version 4.0Version 3.2 and 4.0BO Explorer Improved FeaturesMany customers looked at earlier releases of BO Explorer and noted several limitationsMany of these limitations are now remedied. These include:The possibility to import your own Excel filesCreate your own calculations at the user levelYou can group related dimensions for simplicity of analysisSecurity in improved and row-level data security can be implementedYou can personalize the view by filtering informationUsers may navigate hierarchies instead of flat data

PS! Currently the BO Explorer solution is licensed based on number of blades and the number of named users.Ad Hoc SearchThe core idea of BO Explorer is that users can search the BI data like they would using Google, Yahoo, Bing, or other search engines

Users should not have to know how the data is structured, what query to execute, or how to display the data

BO Explorer takes a first stab at presenting the data in a usable formatFrom there, users may navigate and change the display

The users may save their settings and the display at any time

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Ad Hoc Search Example1. First we searched onsales and found threepossible choices

2. We selected sales Information and searched after the term "Texas

This shows the sales amount by state as a table, the gross margin as a graph and as a table

Any display can be exported to Excel, saved as an image, emailed, or bookmarkedA Step-by-Step Demo: Searching

Step 1. We load the BO Explorer Web interface into a browser

Step 2. We Search for sales

Step 3. We get the searchresults and a list of information spaces

The search result list is sorted based on an internal relevancy score.4444A Step-by-Step Demo: The Initial ViewStep 4. The system looks at the data and formats it based on implied hierarchies (i.e., time, geography, customer) as well as measures. Users may navigate and change measures, graphs, and tables.

45A Step-by-Step Demo: Searching in a Result Set & MeasuresStep 5. Again, we are interested in sales around Texas, and can search the initial result set

Step 6. By changing the Measure from margin tosales revenue all graphsand tables change

4646A Step-by-Step Demo: Changing Charts and Drill DownStep 7. We can change the chart by selecting from the left menu options

Step 8. While the firstdisplay was based on thebest guess, we can nowdrill down to the different product lines

The best graphingoptions, based on ourdata, is highlighted by a star:

4747A Step-by-Step Demo: More Graphing OptionsStep 9. There are many graphingoptions and some are more useful than others

Proportional view is best when you are looking for size relations. i.e., what are the largest contributors to sales?

Try several graphing options before deciding on your view.

Most of the time, the reccomended graphs works best for the data set, but not always4848A Step-by-Step Demo: Explore More FilteringStep 10. By clicking on Explore more you are promted to filter on the characteristic you selected

Filtering data makes the images more meaningful. It is harder to analyze 50 states and scroll through the data.

Since we clicked Explore more in the state box, we can now select only the states we are interested in 4949

Ad Hoc Search Example1. First we searched onsales and found threepossible choices

2. We selected sales Information and searched after the term "Texas

This shows the sales amount by state as a table, the gross margin as a graph and as a table

Any display can be exported to Excel, saved as an image, emailed, or bookmarkedA Step-by-Step Demo: Searching

Step 1. We load the BO Explorer Web interface into a browser

Step 2. We Search for sales

Step 3. We get the searchresults and a list of information spaces

The search result list is sorted based on an internal relevancy score.5151A Step-by-Step Demo: The Initial ViewStep 4. The system looks at the data and formats it based on implied hierarchies (i.e., time, geography, customer) as well as measures. Users may navigate and change measures, graphs, and tables

52A Step-by-Step Demo: Searching in a Result Set and MeasuresStep 5. Again, we are interested in sales around Texas, and can search the initial result set

Step 6. By changing the Measure from margin tosales revenue all graphsand tables change

5353A Step-by-Step Demo: Changing Charts and Drill DownStep 7. We can change the chart by selecting from the left menu options

Step 8. While the firstdisplay was based on thebest guess, we can nowdrill down to the different product lines

The best graphingoptions, based on ourdata, is highlighted by a star:

5454A Step-by-Step Demo: Explore More FilteringStep 10. By clicking on Explore more you are promted to filter on the characteristic you selected

Filtering data makes the images more meaningful. It is harder to analyze 50 states and scroll through the data.

Since we clicked Explore more in the state box, we can now select only the states we are interested in 5555A Step-by-Step Demo: Filter ResultsWe now see the (product) lines are sold in only three states

Always see if any items have been removed in a filter before you look at the data, i.e., 15,061,789 is not the sales revenue for the firm, only the revenue for three states.Filter values are displayed here:

5656A Step-by-Step Demo: The Visualization PanelStep 11. You can also zoom in on the data by only showing the visualization panel

In the Visualization Panel, you can view all the fields and measures as a complete table

Notice: The table only contains data from the three states we filtered on

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A Step-by-Step Demo: Top 10 AnalysisStep 12. In the visualization panel, we can perform top 10 analysis by a single click. All other values are summarized in an other category and graphed

The ability to quickly group and summarize data is a great feature. This is normally done in the BI analytical engine of SAP NetWeaver BW, and can be very slow.

5858A Step-by-Step Demo: Other Display OptionsStep 13. You can view the data in relative size by using a comparison graph

Line graphs are usually preferred if you have 3-20 data points

Areas on the graphs can be highlighted by clicking on one or more data points

59A Step-by-Step Demo: Sorting and New CalculationsStep 14. Any data panel can be sorted in many ways

Measures used on any graph can be calculated on-the-fly.

Step 15. We can also add our own measures

In our example we are adding the measure Margin Per Unit as total margin divided by quantity sold

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A Step-by-Step Demo: Mini-OLAP ExampleStep 16. In this mini-OLAP example we are: Looking at some key cities in a few states (filter) Only looking at data for 2003 and only for Sweats and T-Shirts (filters) Examining the profit margin per unit sold (customized calculation) BO Explorer is not an OLAP tool, but can support basic drill-down features, and thereby complex unstructured analysis.

6161A Step-by-Step Demo: Downloading a Data SetStep 17. Any result set displayed in BO Explorer may be saved to a PC as a comma-delimited file

You can select to save the data set filtered by the navigations or only the data from the visualization panelData saved this way can be opened in Excel or imported directly into Access and other databases.

6262A Step-by-Step Demo: Configuring MeasuresStep 18. Measures in the data set can also be configured to be filter columns for user navigationOther options include MaxMinSumAverageThis is how you determine how data will be accessed and how measures will be displayed.

6363HINT: Connectivity, Network, and Non-Logical CalculationsYou sometimes can get the following message from the system:

This normally means that the connectively to the system is either too slow, or broken. This is an issue that is more common for very slow connections such as older Wi-Fi networks

You can also get this error message if the result set you requested is not available (i.e., non-logical calculations)

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64BO Explorer Indexing from QueriesYou can use BEx queries to create complex indexes that are stored simply as a flat table in the index (de-normalized). First you must enable the query for BO Explorer indexing using the program: RSR_QPROV_CHECK. This checks if the query can be used for indexingQuery display settings are not supported and deltas are not available. PS! The read mode for the query is executed as read everything.Query limitations for Explorer indexing Technical name cannot be over 20 charactersQuery cannot have two structuresQuery cannot use local aggregation or calculations before aggregationIntegrated planning queries and queries with input variables cannot be usedQueries with temporal hierarchy joins cannot be used

The Many BO Explorer Access MethodsBO Explorer is normally accessed through a browserHowever, you can always download the results from a search into Excel and perform analysis from thereYou can save the result set as an image and load it on portal sites, handhelds, or send as emailFinally, you can access the BO Explorer directly from a handheld device that supports basic Web browser functions

Source: Dan Kearnan, SAP AG (2010)

SAP BusinessObjects ExplorerSAP BW Accelerator 7.2 and HANA for BO FeaturesIn earlier releases of SAP BW Accelerator you could not index DSOs; with version 7.2 this is now availableAlso, prior to SAP BW Accelerator 7.2, the solution was only used for rapid in-memory data fetchesBI analytical engine processes such as data sorts, calculated key figures (CKF), restrictive key figures (RKF), top-5 conditioning, etc., were still costly overheads to the query executionWe now have a new calculation engine and a new aggregation engineThis means that the benefits of in-memory processing is no longer confined to data fetches and queries can be made to run even fasterYou can now performance tune some BI analytic engine functions with SAP BW Accelerator, not only data reads. PS! SAP HANA can also support SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

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Source: SAP AG, Nov. 2011Budgeting for BO Explorer with BWAYou have to plan for:BO Explorer licenses (per blade as well as per number of users)Hardware costs (approx. $14K-$22K per chassis + $5-10K per blade and a rack, if you do not have a spare place for the chassis. Add in two network cards and a file system.)Good planning numbers for production environment (only):Small HW costs ~ $40K to $60KMedium HW costs ~ $60K to $250KLarge HW costs ~ $250K to $500K+Add consulting fees for 2-3 people for 7-10 weeks. The actual time needed depends on how much of the infrastructure you already have in-place and how you plan on rolling out the solution)

Remember to plan for three years of vendor support costs.

69Source: SAP AG , Nov. 2011Required and Optional ComponentsInstalling BO Explorer can be confusing. Some components are required, while others are optional.

SAP BusinessObjects Data Services if you use external dataIndex designer plug-in if you use external accelerated dataSAP BW Accelerator 7.20 if you use accelerated data revision 5

You can find detailed requirements at:Accelerated version: https://cw.sdn.sap.com/cw/docs/DOC-120755 Non-accelerated version: https://cw.sdn.sap.com/cw/docs/DOC-120756

SAP BW Accelerator, SAP BusinessObjects Data Services, and BO Explorer 3.2 can run only on SUSE Linux 64-bit OS for blade servers (requirements (PAM) for 4.0 should be taken from service.sap.com)SAP-Certified blade vendors: IBM, SUN, Dell, Cisco, Teradata, Fujitsu, HPSome Limitations Authorizations and MultiProvidersWhen you create the index, the conversions, hierarchies, texts, and authorization indexes are made. However, if the Analysis Authorizations are on the MultiProviders, they cannot be used in the indexYou can fix this by placing the Analysis Authorizations on the basic cubes insteadWhen creating snapshots, you can only filter on a single characteristic and MPSI is not available for BW reporting(see other limitations in SAP Note: 1332392)

When you create an index on a MultiProvider, a part provider can be used. This creates a single index for BWA and SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, but part providers can only be consumed by BO Explorer (not BW) [SAP Note: 1593642]BO Explorer Index snapshots can be taken of a MultiProviders (MPSI), however, this can take a long time to create if the data volume is large. Delta capabilities can be done in a different rollup step (RSDDTPS_INDEX_MPRO)

Some Ideas AuthorizationsIf you use Authorization based on hierarchy nodes (0TCTAUTHH) , it is not used by SAP BusinessObjects Explorer. Also, if you have based your authorization on custom user exit coding, BO Explorer cannot leverage this either. Hint: Create an active directory group and add all users to this group. Since BO Explorer does not use SAP security, you can use the AD group for single-sign-on.To setup the security in RSDDTPS_AUTH, try the following:

Source logic from: M. Umarwadia and M. Walsh, SAP TechEd 2011

Some Features of BO Explorer 4.0You can also use universes created by the Information Design Tool (IDT) and access these in SAP BusinessObjects Explorer73Spreadsheets can be added in the Information Spaces and you can use BO Explorer to access this (in a non-accelerated manner)

Other Features of BO Explorer 4.0 TemplatesBO Explorer 4.0 now provides templates for customers to personalize their own displays74This feature assists users in having their own visualization and preferences stored in templates that can bypass any default displays/views by the system.Other Features of BO Explorer 4.0 Servers and CMCYou can manage all servers in one location within the Central Management Console (CMC)75

Your BI applications and tools, including SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, can now be accessed through the BI Launchpad.

An Implementation Milestone Plan ExampleSince some vendors build the hardware as made-to-order, it is important to get the purchase order placed as soon as possible.

76Register and Take a Free Test Drive with SAP HANAYou can register for a free test drive at: https://bi.ondemand.com/session/new

You can also upload your own data and try the tool to see if it is something for your organization. There is even quick guides, videos, and wizards to get you started.77

What Well Cover IntroductionSAP BW Accelerator OverviewBO Explorer OverviewSAP HANA Capabilities and Impact to OrganizationsSAP BusinessObjects Analysis CapabilitiesOther Performance ConsiderationsA Roadmap for getting to Next Generation BIWrap-up78SAP HANA In Memory OptionsSAP HANA is sold as an in-memory appliance. This means that both Software and Hardware are included from the vendorsCurrently you can buy SAP HANA solutions from Cisco, Dell, Fujitsu, IBM, and Hewlett-PackardSAP HANA currently indexes the data from a variety of sources, including ERP and BW and store the result on a dedicated serverThe future of SAP HANA is to replace the databases of ERP and BW and run these on the in-memory platformSource SAP AG,2011SAP HANA has the potential to radically change the way databases operate and make systems dramatically faster.

79Tools and Access MethodsYou can connect to SAP HANA with a direct access method, or you can use universe-based accessFor example, SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, edition for MS, OLAP edition, and BO Explorer can all establish a direct link to SAP HANAOther BI client products can leverage the universe-based approachYou need special licenses to use SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 on top of SAP HANA and JDBC configuration may be requiredAdministrators use: SAP HANA studio, Information designer, data service designer, DB clients, and Excel 2010.End users methods: SAP HANA database clients, BI clients, and Excel 2010.

80SAP HANA Sources and Target Interfaces

ERP

Database HANA ApplianceIn Memory Computing EngineSybase Replication Server

SAP BW

3rd PartySemantic LayerSAP BusinessObjects 4.0DashboardsCrystalWebIntelligenceAnalysis - OfficeCrystalExplorerSybase UnwiredOthers3rd Party ApplicationsCustom Web Development3rd Party ApplicationsMS-Excel (certified)SQL (JDBC / ODBC)DBSQLBICSSQL (JDBC / ODBC)MDX (ODBO)BusinessObjects Data ServicesReal-timeA great benefit is the real-time loading of SAP HANA from ERP. This can provide real-time analytics to end-users.

Currently, HANA currently does not use the complete MDX set, it supports EXCEL 2010 standard MDX81SAP HANA Product StrategyWhile we can index SAP BW data today via SAP BusinessObjects Data Services, the next generation of SAP HANA is intended to make it possible to run SAP BW on top of HANA A big decision for companies in the future will be to decide how much real time, operational reporting from ERP should stay in SAP HANA/ERP and what sort of analytical data should be stored in a SAP HANA-enabled BW systems.

Source: Uddhav Gupta- SAP Solution Management, DataWarehousingPlatform, TechEd, 201182SAP HANA Loading the Application and PerformanceYou can load the application based on the logs in the source system, ETL-based (Extract Transform and Load) loads, and SAP trigger-based replicationTool PurposeBusinessObjects Data Services 4.0 ETL-based replicationSybase replication server & Load Controller Log-based replicationSAP Landscape Transformation (LT) Trigger-based replication

Log based replication is possible on IBM DB 2 LUW/UDB and planned for MSFT SQL Server Enterprise Edition, Oracle Enterprise Edition, and Sybase ASE (as of Dec. 2011) .

83Persistence LayerLooking Inside SAP HANA In-Memory Computing Engine (IMCE)Disk StorageData VolumesPage Mgmt.BusinessObjects Data ServicesLogVolumesLoggerAAAAMetadata ManagerAuthorizationManagerTransactionManagerRelational Engine

-Row Store-Column StoreLoad ControllerSQL ScriptCalculationEngineReplication ServerSQL ParserMDXSession ManagerInside the Computing Engine of SAP HANA we have many different components that manage the access and storage of the data. This include MDX and SQL access, as well as Load Controller (LC) and the Replication Server.84Enterprise Data Warehouse SAP BWSAP HANA Virtual Marts and ApplicationsVirtual data marts and new applications were built that run on SAP NetWeaver BW, which is again enabled by SAP HANA in-memory processing

ERP

Database HANA (in-the works)Virtual Data Marts

Applications

DatabasesVirtual Data MartsVirtual Data MartsVirtual Data MartsBI Solutions

FilesThis provides much tighter integration with the source system (less data latency) and much faster query response time for high-volume analysisApplications developed by SAP near-termProfitability analysis Dynamic cash managementStrategic workforce planningSmart meter analytics (power companies)

Applications developed by SAP mid-termPlanning & consolidationCustomer revenue performance mgmtPredictive segmentation & targetingTrade promotion managementMerchandise & assortment planningSales & operations planning (SOP)Demand signal repository85SAP HANA Information ComposerIn the Web-based Information Composer users can upload their data into the SAP HANA database and create their own Information Views

In the Information Views, users can combine objects inside SAP HANA, create their own calculations, and access their results in SAP BusinessObjects tools

The three types of Information Views:Attribute View DetailsAnalytic View Analysis Calculation View Query built on attribute views, DB tables, and analytic views

The SAP HANA Information Composer is intended for power users and authors, while the SAP HANA Information Modeler tool is intended for the technical IT person. 86SAP HANA Studio Information ModelerInformation Modeler is easy to work in. However, it requires some data modeling skillsSQL skills are also important when creating models and packagesOnce Packages are developed, they can be accessed by the end user interfaces.

8788BWHANA Characteristics - Attributes Dimensions - Attribute ViewsKey Figures - MeasuresVirtual Provider - Calculation Views (sort of)InfoCubes - Analytic ViewsSecurity Object - Analytical PrivilegesFlat leveled hierarchies Several attributesBasic hierarchies - Normal parent-child relationships

An analytic view can be exposed as a transient InfoProvider in BW. Transient means that the analytic view is translated to an InfoProvider at query runtime. This, in turn, means that any changes in the analytic view will automatically and immediately be visible in the corresponding transient InfoProvider in BW.

It is possible to build BEx queries on top of such an InfoProvider and to use that query in all sorts of ways. Furthermore, it is possible to map an attribute in the analytic view to a characteristic in BW - within the context of the transient InfoProvider. (mapping, is - unlike the analytic view transient InfoProvider mapping - persisted and applied every time. Transaction code is RSDD_HM_PUBLISH). Mapping to characteristics in BW has the advantage that hierarchies, navigational attributes and other features related to the BW characteristics (e.g. security) can be reused. Basically, this combines data / tables in the BW-managed schema with data / tables in the arbitrary schema Quote: Thomas Zurek, VP, VP for R&D of SAP BW and analytic parts of HANA,Decoder Ring SAP BW & HANA - Information Modeler Terminology89Attributes adds details and can be modeled using attributes viewsCan be regarded as Master Data TablesCan be linked to fact tables in Analytical ViewsA measure e.g. weight can be defined as an attributesTable joins and properties:- Leftouter,rightouter, full outer or text table- Cardinality 1:1, N:1, 1:NLanguage ColumnContent Views and Functions is shipped with HANA

Analytical ViewsThis is logically very close to an InfoCube in BW. However, the analytic views does not store data, this is found in the column store table or view based on analytical view structure

Calculation ViewThis can be used to define table output structure. You can even write SQL statements to make sure a set of fields match requirements of other output structuresAttribute, Analytical and Calculation ViewsSQL scripts unlike SQL procedures are read only, they cannot change data. The data preview option provides a type of listcube capability as found in BW

90Data Store Objects (DSO) In HANAMain IndexDelta IndexHistory IndexInsert Only Index

Read delta, between snapshot 1 and 2Index ReadData LoadActivationThe DSO in HANA is a closed object where you can do:

Index reads (snapshots)Delta reads for updatesActivate dataQueryingPS! a table, an analytic or calculation view in a HANA schema can be accessed via a BW DataSource. This is based on DB connect using a second DB connection to the underlying HANA DBMS. Source: T. Zurek, SAP AG

SAP HANA Studio Information Modeler Displaying DataThe Information Modeling tool in SAP HANA also allows the developer to access the information and provide some basic graphing, pre-delivered templates, and navigation optionsThere is even a distinct value tab, that provides a data profile of the various columnsThis is not indented as an end-user interface (use SAP BusinessObjects BI tools instead), but it can add significant value to the designers and developers.

Thanks to: Naresh Ganatra, Nov. 2011Image source: SAP AG, 2011, SDN91Row- vs. Column-Based IndexingAn index based on rows would require a substantial amount of data to be read. This is good when we are looking for complete records and want all this data It is not a very efficient way of accessing BI data when we are looking for only a few of the attributes, or key figures, in the records

While SAP HANA supports row-based indexing and you can leverage this for certain occasions, most indexes for SAP BI and analysis would probably be better served by column-based indexes

Source: SAP AG, Dec. 201192Row- vs. Column-Based Indexing (cont.)As we can see, there are only 7 unique states and 3 unique customer classes in the data. This allows SAP HANA to compress this data set significantly

By including the Row ID in the column-based index in SAP HANA, the ownership of the values in the index can still be mapped back to the record

Column-based indexes on fields with repeated values often leads to better compression ratios and thereby lower size of the indexes (as we can see, there are few values repeated in the rows).

93SAP HANA Vendors and Appliance OptionsThe vendors that provide SAP HANA solutions include Cisco, Dell, IBM, Intel, HP, and Fujitsu as of Jan 2012SAP HANA generally consists of:The database and database clientsHANA studio (P2 repository)Load controller and Sybase replication serverThe host agent and LM structure filesOp. Sys. configuration, SAPCAR & SAP JVMThe update manager for SAP HANA

Fujitsu

HP DL 580 G7Dell R910IBM System x3950 X5

Cisco UCS C460 M294SAP HANA Sizing the ApplicationA lot depends on actual compression rates, but here are some first stab quick rule-of-thumb for size estimation

Working memory RAM = (Source Data Footprint / 5) * 2

SSD (Disk) Disk persistence = 4 * RAMDisk log = 1 * RAM

CPU: 0.2 CPU cores / active userTo do accurate sizing you should contact your service partner and the hardware vendor you are working with and plan to spend some time getting the numbers right. 95SAP HANA Sizing the ApplicationWhile sizing should be done for each customer individually to get accurate numbers, SAP has provided a t-shirt sizing model for customers who want to get some high-level sizing guidelinesSource: Christiane Stagge, SAP AG, Dec. 2011

To do accurate sizing you should contact your service partner and the hardware vendor you are working with and plan to spend some time getting the numbers right. In general, it is preferable to oversize the system and thereby save time on potential future add-ons.96Ideas for SAP BW On HANA Project Orange at SAP worked on getting BW onto HANA and provides several choicesIn this scenario, you could use BW in a hybrid fashion with traditional BW schemas as well as the new HANA store organization and separate these through workspaces.Source T. Zurek, SAP AG,2012

97SAP HANA Test DriveYou can see demos and do a test drive at: https://www.experiencesaphana.comThis site contains a lot of great information and you can also try the Information Composer and see recorded demos.

98

SAP HANA Training and Certification AvailableSource SAP AG, Jan 2012As of Jan 2012, SAP has three e-learning courses and two instructor led courses available.

You can also take the certification for SAP HANA certified application associate. This has 80 exam questions.99As of Feb 28, 2012Training Schedule HANA

100What Well Cover IntroductionSAP BW Accelerator OverviewBO Explorer OverviewSAP HANA Capabilities and Impact to OrganizationsSAP BusinessObjects Analysis CapabilitiesOther Performance ConsiderationsA Roadmap for getting to Next Generation BIWrap-up101

The SAP BusinessObjects Analysis OLAP Tools (Web and MS Office)We are now looking specifically at the OLAP tool previously known as Voyager and Pioneer

The tool is now called simply Analysis*Voyager is now SAP BusinessObjects Analysis. Source SAP AG,2011102

103SAP BusinessObjects Analysis Excel InterfaceThe SAP BusinessObjects Analysis tool exists in an MS Office edition and a Web edition

The MS Office edition supports both Excel and PowerPointSource SAP AG,2011

104SAP BusinessObjects Analysis PowerPoint InterfaceThe tool has a query panel and can embed live BI analysis in the Microsoft Office applications Excel and PowerPoint.

SAP BusinessObjects Analysis Some Office Requirements105The panel allows for filtering, slice and dice, and navigationBEx query views and queries can be used (both BW 3.5 and 7.0), but your BW system has to be on version 7.xYou need Microsoft Office 2003 or higher to be able to use SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, MS Office edition (min)

You need 2007 version (minimum) to use the PowerPoint functionality, but no GUI is required

105SAP BusinessObjects Analysis Web VersionThe OLAP (Web edition) is great for analysts that wants to interact with the data and also add their own calculations, formatting, charts, and filteringThe output from this analysis can be shared with others within a department or logical grouping of employees who need to see the information106

This is not a basic reporting tool, but an analysis tool.

106SAP BusinessObjects Analysis OLAP Navigating the BasicsYou can have up to four analysis items open on the same pageThis is not a basic reporting tool, but an analysis tool with a very high degree of flexibility to create your own analysis workspace.You can have many analysis sheets open at the same time (3 is default)You can use the task toolbar to toggle between DataProperties Outline

107SAP BusinessObjects Analysis NavigationThe tool bars are consistently used in the whole Web applicationThrough tabs and simple selection screens the users can easily access, select, and navigate the dataUsers can also add their own formulas and calculations in the Web interface and store the definitions

Most power users will find this intuitive and easy to learn108

SAP BusinessObjects AnalysisNo Java is required on SAP NetWeaver BW.Lean vs. Complete DeploymentTypically SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, MS Office edition is installed in the SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise BI 4 environmentBy doing so, users do not need a SAP GUI and can share workbooks, PowerPoints, and connection

Smaller lean installations can skip the SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise environment and access SAP BW directly, but every users must have a SAP GUI installed on each machine and connections must be made for each client machine110The Components of BI 4.x PlatformThe complete components of the BI landscape consist of a variety of software:

Source systemsBI 4.x systemPortal systemClient software - Microsoft Office - Web Browser - Other

Access to SAP BW Data The BEx Query Designer The core idea is to: write once and publish many ways. While you can access InfoProviders directly (no query), this bypasses the BI analytic engine and most of the support from this component such as RKF, CKF, hierarchies, etc.

The BEx Query Designer is the starting point for almost all reporting in the SAP landscape.

This concept assures that data is the same in different reporting environments and that objects are reusable.112113The BEx Query Designer Getting up to Speed BEx queries are a fundamental access method for BI and SAP BusinessObjects. Understanding the query designer is a critical skill set.Learning to use the BEx Query Designer is simple

Most developers should take the BW 305 course at SAP before starting their BI project

113What Well Cover IntroductionSAP BW Accelerator OverviewBO Explorer OverviewSAP HANA Capabilities and Impact to OrganizationsSAP BusinessObjects Analysis CapabilitiesOther Performance ConsiderationsA Roadmap for getting to Next Generation BIWrap-up114SAP BusinessObjects Analysis vs. Other SAP Tools All SAP tools have strength and weaknesses. This is a subjective summary of each of the major tools115

115What Well Cover IntroductionSAP BW Accelerator OverviewBO Explorer OverviewSAP HANA Capabilities and Impact to OrganizationsSAP BusinessObjects Analysis CapabilitiesOther Performance ConsiderationsA Roadmap for getting to Next Generation BIWrap-up116ResourcesSAP HANAhttps://www.experiencesaphana.com/welcomeOSS note 1666670 Thomas Blog (GREAT!) http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/u/8448Information Composer Step-by-Step http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/28717

BO Explorer Product Web site http://www.sap.com/solutions/sapbusinessobjects/large/business-intelligence/data-exploration/accelerated/index.epxBO Explorer Collaboration Workspacehttps://cw.sdn.sap.com/cw/community/sap/sapbusinessobjectsexplorerSAP BW Accelerator main page on SAP SDNhttp://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/bwa7 Key Points to Take HomeIn-memory processing is the future and it is already at your doorstepYou should have this on your long-time budgetBO Explorer is a great tool for unstructured, ad hoc analysisBO Explorer is a specialized tool, it does not replace the other SAP BusinessObjects toolsThere is a place for OLAP, ad hoc, and formatted reportsSAP BW Accelerator is still here for SAP BW data (primarily)Installing and operating these platforms are not difficult, but require specialized skillsAccelerated dashboards and BI analytics is a must-have for the next 18-36 months!

118119Your Turn!

Dr. BergBberg@Comerit.comDisclaimerSAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, SAP NetWeaver, Duet, PartnerEdge, and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Wellesley Information Services is neither owned nor controlled by SAP.120