Kevin McDonald
Andreas Wilmsmeier
David C. Dixon
W.H. Inmon
Mastering the SAP
®
Business Information
Warehouse,
Second Edition
Leveraging the Business Intelligence
Capabilities of SAP NetWeaver
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Mastering the SAP
®
Business
Information Warehouse,
Second Edition
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Kevin McDonald
Andreas Wilmsmeier
David C. Dixon
W.H. Inmon
Mastering the SAP
®
Business Information
Warehouse,
Second Edition
Leveraging the Business Intelligence
Capabilities of SAP NetWeaver
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Mastering the SAP Business Information Warehouse, Second Edition
Published by
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Copyright © 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
ISBN-13: 978-0-7645-9637-7
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96373ffirs.qxd 7/11/06 5:26 PM Page iv
For
Theodora and Malcolm
Rita, Theresa, and Arne
Karl
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vii
Kevin McDonald is a consultant and entrepreneur. He co-
founded and was the CEO of COMPENDIT, Inc., a consult-
ing services firm acquired by Inforte Corp. in 2004. He was
an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year regional finalist
and was recognized by Entrepreneur magazine for having
created a “Hot 100” fastest-growing new business. He has
instructed, implemented, and designed enterprise decision-
processing systems for dozens of clients. Prior to co-founding COMPENDIT,
Kevin was the Director of New Dimension Technology and a corporate
spokesperson for SAP, where he had worked in both America and Germany.
He was program manager during the successful market launch of SAP Busi-
ness Information Warehouse (SAP BW), and he authored the SAP BW product
map that was first used to define the scope and development direction for the
software.
Kevin started his career at Baxter Healthcare, where he held positions in
both IT and finance functions. He has authored numerous articles about SAP’s
Business Intelligence Solution for The Data Warehouse Institute’s newsletter,
and he has made presentations on business intelligence at DCI’s Data Ware-
house World, HP World, ERP World, TDWI conferences, ASUG, SAP TechEd,
SAP Sapphire, Decision Processing 98 and 99, and Informatica World. Kevin
is an advisor to the Cognos Innovation Center and may be contacted at
About the Authors
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Andreas Wilmsmeier is a managing director of Inforte
Deutschland. Andreas has been a member of the initial SAP
BW core development team, where he has been responsible
for designing and implementing parts of the Staging Engine
(for example, the Staging BAPI). Andreas has been consult-
ing SAP BW clients since the initial customer shipment of
SAP BW 1.2A in early 1998 and has continued to contribute
to the development of SAP BW by providing feedback from
the field and to the development of business content for the financial services
and defense industries.
After receiving his diploma in computer science and business economics,
Andreas started his career in developing data warehouse and Internet solu-
tions. Prior to working for Inforte, Andreas ran the German subsidiary of
COMPENDIT until its acquisition by Inforte in early 2004.
His knowledge of data warehousing, data mining, and knowledge manage-
ment has been showcased at numerous international conferences, including
SAP Sapphire, SAP TechEd, ASUG, Cebit in Hanover, Germany, and Systems
in Munich, Germany. Andreas has authored articles in the SAP Technical Jour-
nal, (now featured on
intelligentERP.com) and the German-language E/3 Mag-
azine. Andreas may be contacted at
David Dixon is a vice president with Inforte’s SAP Practice,
where he is responsible for ensuring the quality of Inforte
solutions and project deliveries. A recognized authority in
business intelligence, he has extensive full-lifecycle project
experience in architecting and implementing complicated
global solutions for Fortune 100 companies. David has also
worked with the SAP SEM and SAP BI development teams
on numerous occasions in support of the latest products.
Prior to joining Inforte, David worked for COMPENDIT, a consulting firm
acquired by Inforte in March 2004, where he was a founding team member.
Prior to joining COMPENDIT, he was a Platinum Consultant with SAP. David
started his career as a Financials and Controlling (FI/CO) consultant with SAP
in 1995, specializing in all of the SAP reporting and analysis applications and
tools. An accomplished speaker, he has presented at industry-leading SAP and
BI events, including SAP TechEd, ASUG, and TDWI. He may be contacted at
viii About the Authors
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Bill Inmon is thought of as the “father of the data ware-
house” and is co-creator of the “corporate information fac-
tory.” He has more than 28 years of experience in database
technology management and data warehouse design. He is
known globally for his seminars on developing data ware-
houses and has been a keynote speaker for every major com-
puting association and many industry conferences, seminars,
and trade shows. Bill has written about a variety of topics on building, usage,
and maintenance of the data warehouse and the corporate information factory.
More than 500 of his articles have been published in major computer journals
such as Datamation, ComputerWorld, and Byte magazine. Bill is currently a
columnist with Data Management Review and has been since its inception. He
has published 39 books.
Bill founded and took public a Silicon Valley company, Prism Solutions, in
1991. Prism Solutions became Ardent Software, which was acquired by
Informix, renamed Ascential Software, and acquired by IBM. The software he
created is still used by hundreds of companies today. More recently, Bill
decided to publish his vast data warehousing information resources on his
Web site at
www.billinmon.com. The Web site has now grown to support mil-
lions of visitors a month. Bill consults with a large number of Fortune 1000
clients, offering data warehouse design and database management services.
About the Authors ix
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Credits
x
Executive Editor
Robert Elliott
Development Editor
Kevin Shafer
Technical Editor
Bryan Katis
Production Editor
Angela Smith
Copy Editor
C.M. Jones
Editorial Manager
Mary Beth Wakefield
Production Manager
Tim Tate
Vice President and Executive
Group Publisher
Richard Swadley
Vice President and Publisher
Joseph B. Wikert
Compositor
Maureen Forys,
Happenstance Type-o-Rama
Illustrator
Jeff Wilson,
Happenstance Type-o-Rama
Proofreading
Jennifer Larsen, Word One
Indexing
Johnna VanHoose Dinse
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About the Authors vii
Foreword xix
Acknowledgments xxi
Introduction xxiii
Chapter 1 The Origins of Business Intelligence 1
Evolution of Information Processing 1
Data-Storage Advancements 2
Transaction Processing Dominates 3
Extract Files Appear 4
The Data Warehouse Is Conceived 6
What Is Data Warehousing? 6
The Data Model 7
Different Physical Tables 8
Integration and Transformation Processing 9
Metadata 10
Granular Data 11
Historical Data 12
Timestamping 12
Data Relationships 13
Generic Data versus Specific Data 13
Data Quality 14
Volumes of Data 15
Removing Dormant Data 15
Architected Solutions 16
Corporate Information Factory 16
Government Information Factory 22
Contents
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Evolution of SAP 24
Evolution of SAP Reporting and Analysis 27
SAP BW and the New Dimension Applications 29
The Road to Business Process Integration 30
Summary 34
Chapter 2 The SAP NetWeaver Integration Platform 35
The Architectural Roots of SAP NetWeaver 35
NetWeaver Overview 38
Application Platform (Technology) 39
Application Server Architecture 39
Front-End Technologies 44
Mobile Infrastructure 46
System Landscape 48
Security 54
Administration 55
Process Integration 56
Integration Builder 58
Integration Repository 58
Integration Directory 58
Integration Server 59
Runtime Monitor 59
Information Integration 60
Business Intelligence 60
Master Data Management 60
Knowledge Management 65
People Integration 67
Portal Framework 67
Composite Application Framework 74
Summary 76
Chapter 3 SAP Business Information Warehouse Architecture 77
SAP BW Architectural Components 78
Metadata and Document Management 79
Metadata Management 79
Document Management 80
Elementary Metadata Objects 81
Obsolete Metadata Objects 84
Design, Monitoring, and Administration 85
Design 86
Monitoring 90
Administration 90
Data Acquisition and Transformation 93
Most Important Metadata Objects 94
Staging Engine 103
DataSource Manager 104
Data Storage 107
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Master Data Manager 107
Data Store Object Manager 109
InfoCube Manager 109
Aggregate Manager 109
BI Accelerator 109
Information Lifecycle Manager 110
Data Access and Analysis 110
InfoProvider Interface 111
ODS BAPI 111
OLAP Cache 112
Analytic Engine 112
Analysis Process Designer 113
Information Distribution 113
Information Distribution Interfaces 113
Broadcasting 115
Presentation 115
Presentation Metadata Objects 115
BEx Analyzer and BEx Web Analyzer 119
BEx Query Designer 119
BEx Report Designer 119
BEx Web Application Designer 119
BI Patterns 120
Visual Composer 120
Planning 120
Analytic Engine 120
Planning Functions 121
Planning Sequences 121
Summary 121
Chapter 4 Information Modeling 123
Information Modeling Prerequisites 124
Understanding the SAP BW Metadata Model 127
Master-Data Data Model 127
The InfoCube Data Model 131
The DataStore Object Data Model 134
Developing an Information Model 134
Multidimensional Modeling 136
Additional Information Modeling Options 164
Summary 170
Chapter 5 Enterprise Data Warehousing 171
Business Intelligence Strategy 172
Architecture 175
Layers of an EDW Architecture 176
Topology 179
System Landscapes 185
Contents xiii
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Data Integration 186
Master Data Integration 187
Transaction Data Integration 189
Data Quality 189
Modeling the Layers of an EDW 191
Modeling the Data Staging Layer 191
Modeling the Operational Data Store 191
Modeling the Data Warehouse Layer 192
InfoMart Layer 194
Modeling Support for Data Integration 194
Modeling with Global Keys 195
Modeling with Qualified Local Keys 196
Concatenation Versus Compounding 198
Mapping Approaches 198
Modeling Support for Data Historization 199
Tracking History of Transactional Data 200
Tracking History of Master Data 201
Governance 202
Standards 203
Organization 204
Processes 206
Training 207
Project Marketing 207
Summary 208
Chapter 6 Data Acquisition and Transformation 209
Data Acquisition 214
Classes of Data 215
Data Flow and Integration 218
Dimensions of Data Acquisition 221
OLTP Technology Considerations 224
Architecture 228
Metadata Flow 228
Data and Control Flow 231
Example of an Application-Specific Extractor 234
Client-Specific Data Extraction Options 235
Architecture 239
Data and Control Flow 240
Architecture 241
Data and Control Flow 242
Data and Control Flow 243
Architecture 245
Data and Control Flow 246
Ascential DataStage 246
Architecture 248
Data and Control Flow 250
xiv Contents
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Transformation 251
Data Integration Transformations 252
Application Logic Transformations 254
Reference Objects for Transformations 256
Architecture and Data Flow 257
Persistency Considerations 258
Multilevel Staging Considerations 259
Conversion Routines 263
Aggregation 264
Rule Types 264
Transformation Routines 271
Loading 280
Master Data Texts 282
Master Data Hierarchies 282
Summary 286
Chapter 7 Data Access, Analysis, and Information Distribution 289
Data Access 289
Query Processing Overview 290
InfoProvider Interface 293
DataStore Objects and PSAAPIs 296
Information Analysis 296
Knowledge-Discovery Process 297
Analytic Services 298
Information Distribution 324
Broadcasting 326
Interface Options for Third-Party Presentation Tools 331
The Business Explorer API 341
Summary 342
Chapter 8 Information Presentation 343
BEx Presentation Components 343
BEx Query Designer 345
BEx Analyzer 354
BEx Web 359
Generic Presentation Options 370
Personalization 371
Print Versions — PDF Output 373
Local Calculations 373
Other Presentation Options 377
Crystal Reports Integration 378
BEx Mobile Intelligence 380
Portal Integration 381
Visual Composer 382
Summary 382
Contents xv
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Chapter 9 Integrated Planning 385
Integrated Planning Positioning 386
History and Trends 386
Definition of Planning 390
Architecture Considerations 393
Integrated Planning Technology 401
Architecture 402
Evolution 402
Planning Modeler 405
Integrated Planning Data 406
Information Logistics 407
Information Modeling 409
Data Access and Locking 414
Semantic Rules 422
Planning Functions 426
Controlling Function Behavior 427
Function Types 431
Basic Functions 435
Advanced Functions 438
Integrated Planning User Interface 450
Runtime Capabilities 450
Design-Time Capabilities 453
Integrated Planning Process Control 460
Status and Tracking 461
BW-BPS Coexistence 463
Best and Worst Practices 466
Delta Change Modeling 466
Enterprise Design 470
Summary 477
Chapter 10 Business Analytics 479
Analytic Application Architecture 482
What Is Business Content? 485
Business Content Progression 489
Horizontal Growth 489
Vertical Growth 490
Using Business Content 492
Myths 493
Usability 494
Challenges 496
Customer Relationship Analytics 501
Analytic Engines 502
Customer Behavior Analysis 502
Supply Chain Analytics 505
SCOR Model 506
Supply-Chain Cockpit 510
xvi Contents
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Demand Planning (DP) 512
Network Design and Production Planning 519
Financial Analytics 521
Corporate Performance Management 522
Enterprise Planning 528
Financial Consolidation 535
Summary 540
Notes 541
Chapter 11 Administration 543
Application-Oriented Administration 544
Process Chains 546
Data Management Processes 554
Application Management Processes 570
Monitoring 573
Troubleshooting 581
System-Oriented Administration 582
Information Lifecycle Management 583
Authorizations 588
Transports 597
Upgrades 601
Summary 604
Chapter 12 Performance Planning and Management 605
Performance Planning 607
Managing User Expectations 608
Information Modeling 609
Process Design 623
System Landscape Design and Setup 623
Performance Management 631
BI Statistics 632
Optimizing Query Performance 635
Data Loading and Data Management 648
Information Lifecycle Management 651
System Performance 652
Summary 659
Appendix A Acronyms 661
Index 669
Contents xvii
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Today’s challenging business environment calls for a flexible approach to busi-
ness processes that integrates and embeds analytics. In 1997, SAP started devel-
oping its own enterprise data warehouse and business intelligence solution, the
SAP Business Information Warehouse. Nine years later, these capabilities find
themselves at the center of SAP NetWeaver. This new breed of software not
only provides mature business intelligence capabilities; it openly enables orga-
nizations to flexibly model, expose, and optimize business processes.
The Business Intelligence capabilities of NetWeaver now play a central role
in nearly every solution brought to market by SAP. SAP NetWeaver enables
customers to accurately forecast and strategically analyze information for bet-
ter customer service, optimized business operations, and improved corporate
performance. By embedding these analytic capabilities and advanced tech-
nologies, SAP customers may realize maximum benefits as quickly as possible
while maintaining the flexibility to change their business processes over time.
The writing and publishing of this book’s second edition reflects the success
of and the growing adoption of SAP NetWeaver. Thousands of customers are
already using the business intelligence capabilities in productive applica-
tions — sourcing data from SAP and non-SAP systems alike, some with thou-
sands of users and terabyte-sized databases.
Mastering the SAP Business Information Warehouse links theoretical enterprise
data warehousing concepts to customer requirements, and details the options
for implementing powerful analytic engines. It speaks to data warehousing spe-
cialists, as well as those who have implemented ERP solutions. The authors of
this book all have long-term experience in data warehousing, reporting, and
analytic applications. Their perspective on SAP comes from years of implemen-
tations and working with our development teams on enhancing the offering.
Foreword
xix
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Integral to the success of any business scenario is the availability of
resources and guides that describe how to successfully deploy professional
solutions. You need this information from people who have been in the
trenches, who have implemented successful projects, and who can speak from
experience, not simply theory. This book provides you with the best of three
worlds: an understanding of business intelligence, application of these con-
cepts to SAP NetWeaver, and the authors’ own expertise in setting strategies
and deploying solutions.
So, sit back, enjoy this book from cover to cover, and use it as a reference
during your implementations.
—Dr. Heinz Haefner
Senior Vice President SAP
NetWeaver Development
SAP AG, Walldorf
xx Foreword
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From the first edition: First, we would like to thank Bob Elliott and Emilie Her-
man of Wiley for their guidance and patience through the authoring process
and for providing us the opportunity to share what we have learned about
SAP in this book. The copyediting team at Wiley has helped create a common
voice and a consistency throughout the chapters that we may not have been
able to accomplish on our own. We would also like to thank our co-author, Bill
Inmon, who joined the authoring team shortly after the project started. He pro-
vided the needed stimulus to take the project to completion.
Writing a book about a software component that has hundreds of people
dedicated to evolving the product as quickly as possible presented an interest-
ing challenge. There were many individuals and teams at SAP AG, SAP Por-
tals, SAP America, and SAP International that provided invaluable feedback
and support, without which this book may never have happened. The list
below does not come close to acknowledging all the people who supported us
in our lives, careers, and on this project.
A special thank you goes to Klaus Kreplin, Dr. Werner Sinzig, and Lothar
Kallweit for their guidance and mentoring through the years. The SAP BW
development and product management teams, namely Heinz Häfner, Lothar
Henkes, Claudia Weller, Gunther Rothermel, and from the marketing depart-
ment, Sabine Eggl, provided great support in straightening out the SAP BW
architecture sections in the book. We’d also like to thank Mark A. Smith for his
eleventh-hour briefing on the SAP Business Intelligence Solution and his
insight over the years as we have often debated the future of the industry.
For the second edition: First, we would like to thank Bob Elliott, Kevin Shafer,
and the rest of the Wiley team for providing us with the opportunity and sup-
Acknowledgments
xxi
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port needed to write a second edition to this book, as well as to Bryan Katis for
allowing us to convince him that he had time tech edit this edition. We could
not have completed this edition without his near-daily support.
Writing this book presented an interesting challenge. Much like an artist
painting the horizon, every time we wanted to get closer to our subject matter,
it kept moving away from us. There were many individuals at SAP helping us
to accurately detail our horizon. A special thank you goes to Marc Bernard,
Scott Cairncross, Heinz Häfner, Tobias Hagen, Lothar Henkes, Rainer Höltke,
and Stefan Sigg. The SAP Regional Implementation Groups (RIGs) have
rounded out our thoughts in several areas related to system administration
and performance. Finally, thank you to Chris Reitz for sharing his EDW project
experience and contributing to Chapter 5.
A very special thank you to Julia for her support, Theodora for keeping her
little fingers off the keyboard, and Malcolm for sleeping through the night; and
to Rita, Theresa, and Arne for their support and patience throughout the
authoring process. Stefan Krauskopf and Mohammad Mazhar — we couldn’t
have done it without you. A lifetime’s worth of thank you to Karl H. Dixon for
his teachings, written examples, and the loving memories he has left his fam-
ily and friends.
A final thanks to the readers of the first edition for your kind words and insightful
suggestions.
xxii Acknowledgments
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While we have seen only a few IT shops that rely exclusively on SAP software,
the percentage of business processing conducted via SAP software has steadily
increased. More and more corporations have successfully implemented SAP.
These organizations may have started their projects in isolated divisions, but
over the past decade, larger portions of the business are being run on SAP soft-
ware. We see many organizations adopting IT philosophies that have SAP soft-
ware as the default solution. It is not uncommon to hear a CFO comment, “You
better have a very good reason not to use the SAP software we already paid
for.” These organizations have moved beyond automating and integrating
business processes and want to optimize their business performance, reduce
the slack in their supply chains, and realize the potential value of their cus-
tomer relationships.
Parallel to the ERP and business process reengineering evolution was the
evolution of informational processing, now commonly referred to as business
intelligence. The explosive growth in data captured by organizations (in part
because of the rapid adoption of Internet technologies) has made available an
increasing amount of business information. This, combined with the increased
pace in the way business is conducted, has created significant demand for effi-
cient decision-making processes. The data warehouse was conceived to enable
such processes.
SAP has brought to market NetWeaver software that has created a tremen-
dous opportunity for organizations to lay a common technical foundation on
which flexible business processes may be defined, executed, and altered as part
of larger composite applications. The line between transaction processing and
decision processing has disappeared. SAP NetWeaver was the eraser. Organi-
zations that implement SAP NetWeaver will find they are able to quickly
deploy business processes that span systems and company boundaries, that
Introduction
xxiii
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embed predictive analytics and apply prescriptive business rules, and that
increase the velocity and effectiveness of decision-making.
Why did we write this book? At the time we wrote the first edition, many
books on SAP focused on step-by-step instructions for accomplishing a given
configuration task and spoon-fed readers with checklists, transaction codes,
and code samples. Our goal was to bridge the gap between these low-level
books and the high-level books that focused on data-warehousing architec-
tures but did not necessarily explain how SAP software could be used to real-
ize such architectures. Our goal, then, was to create a reference that exposed
the various implementation options available in SAP BW by defining the fun-
damental architecture and concepts to enable readers to understand and use
those options. With the second edition, we have updated the content to cover
the BI capabilities of NetWeaver2004s.
This second edition should inspire readers to implement these options in
order to strategically analyze information and accurately forecast optimized
operations, better customer service, and improved bottom-line performance.
SAP BI has richness in functionality that extends beyond the capacity of any one
person to know in detail every option available in the software and the potential
consequences that implementing one option may have on another. The prod-
uct’s maturity and importance to SAP NetWeaver compelled us to update the
first edition and once again share our knowledge from within the industry.
We have taken the approach that technology is there to serve business and
have counterbalanced technical sections with commentary on how a particu-
lar option may be used to drive business value. Mastering the SAP Business
Information Warehouse looks at options for modeling, deploying, populating,
accessing, analyzing, presenting, planning, and administering data and infor-
mation in SAP NetWeaver. This book is our contribution to accelerating the
search for actionable information.
Who Should Read This Book
We are assuming that you, the project team member, are familiar with mySAP
ERP, although you may not be as familiar with data warehousing, business
intelligence, or SAP NetWeaver.
Business and IT professionals of large organizations who are considering
implementing SAP will also find this book useful, as the BI capabilities in
NetWeaver are the underpinning for every business solution that they sell.
How This Book Is Organized
As we note in the “Acknowledgments” for the second edition, writing about
SAP software is extremely difficult because it is constantly changing. Not only
xxiv Introduction
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is functionality added in new releases, but features, functions, and even entire
products are renamed, repositioned, or morphed into new offerings. This is
very much the case with SAP BW. SAP BW is now referred to as a capability
(or, more specifically, as a business intelligence capability) of SAP NetWeaver.
We have (as a matter of convenience and comfort to the reader) continued to
use the term “SAP BW” when addressing BI capabilities. As we wrote the sec-
ond edition, we made difficult choices on what to include and not include as it
relates to the broader NetWeaver platform. We decided to add a chapter dedi-
cated to detailing the platform. The content in the second edition has been
updated to reflect NetWeaver2004s and the embedded SAP BW version 7.0.
This book may be thought of as consisting of four parts, meant to reflect the
process an organization goes through during an implementation of the soft-
ware. We begin with an introduction to business intelligence and SAP
NetWeaver, which is meant to provide a backdrop for readers who may come
from more of a mySAP ERP implementation background than a data ware-
housing background. Chapter 1 is an introduction to business intelligence and
how enterprises tackle such challenges as:
■■
Extracting data from online transaction processing systems
■■
Eliminating poor data quality
■■
Structuring data in such a way that history may be recorded and
recalled
From these needs arose the idea of combining both traditional data with
documents to offer organizations a collaborative platform for analyzing infor-
mation and optimizing business performance. Today, this is called business
intelligence.
While business intelligence is not new, the toolsets available to realize such
are constantly changing. We have entered a time when technical integration is
a worry of the past, and semantic and process integration are at the forefront.
In Chapter 1, we examine SAP’s offerings. You will quickly see what SAP real-
ized around 1996: that ERP systems are not designed for analytical processing.
We explain the challenges of reporting and analyzing data in the ERP system.
Readers familiar with data warehousing, the evolution of SAP, and infor-
mation processing may wish to start reading the book at Chapter 2, where we
discuss SAP NetWeaver and all of its capabilities. In this chapter, we define the
major architectural components and set the context for the business intelli-
gence capabilities described throughout the remainder of the book.
From data extraction to the analysis of information and creation of Web
applications, readers will start to understand the breadth and depth of func-
tionality in SAP while reading Chapter 3. We also map SAP to the corporate
information factory (CIF). You will quickly see the characteristics SAP has in
common with non-SAP data warehousing platforms, as well as the unique fea-
tures found in NetWeaver.
Introduction xxv
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The second part of this book focuses on metadata and the options available
to information modelers as they work to deliver value data. Chapter 4 explains
the information model and how this collection of metadata objects (which
describe business processes, business objects, information containers, and
their mutual relationships, as well as how the scope, granularity, and seman-
tics of information available in the system) are important parts of a proper
deployment of a business intelligence solution.
New to the second edition is Chapter 5, where we define and compare the
layers found in enterprise data warehouse implementations. We look at the
characteristics of each layer, including the staging area, ODS, Data Warehouse,
and InfoMart, and detail the differences among them. The modeling options,
as well as example topologies, are also elucidated. We end the chapter with a
section on governance and the organizational design needed to support an
enterprise data warehouse.
The third section of the book focuses on the services available in the SAP BW
used to realize such an information model (Chapters 6 through 10). These
include the following:
■■
Extraction, transfer, and loading (ETL) services
■■
Data storage services
■■
Information analysis and distribution
■■
Services supporting integrated planning and information presentation
Chapter 6 leads readers through identifying the SAP sources of data, extract-
ing data from these sources, applying the transformations required, and storing
the transformed data in a way that best supports reporting and analysis. In
other words, this chapter presents the functionality provided by the ETL
aspects of the business intelligence capabilities of NetWeaver. This is often the
most time-consuming part of building a data warehouse solution. In the CIF
framework, this is referred to as “sourcing and manufacturing of data and
information.” The options described in Chapter 6 will enable readers to take an
information model and instantiate it in SAP software. Chapter 6 also describes
how to integrate and transform data so that it may be stored in the various con-
structs (such as DataStore Objects, InfoCubes, and Master Data).
Chapter 7 picks up the information logistics process where Chapter 6 leaves
off and highlights the main services provided in SAP BW that access data, turn
it into meaningful business information, and deliver it to the analysis services.
The chapter has been organized in three main sections: SAP BW information
access, analysis services, and distribution services. We also have included a
section on the application programming interfaces (APIs) options, with which
custom applications or third-party tools may interface. A significant section of
this chapter has been dedicated to the analytic process designer and the pre-
dictive analytics capabilities found therein.
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Chapter 8 describes the Business Explorer tools, including BEx Report
Designer, BEx Analyzer, BEx Mobile, and BEx Web Application Designer.
Chapter 9 is an entirely new chapter that covers the concepts of integrated
planning. Here we discuss the concepts of planning, including some of the
best and worst practices we have seen. The chapter covers three main areas of
planning: process, data, and technology.
Because NetWeaver is a platform for building analytic applications, we have
reformulated and dedicated a chapter to business analytics in the second edi-
tion, whereas the first edition included two chapters (one on Business Content
and one on analytic applications). This reformulated Chapter 10 details the
architecture and three different examples of analytic applications. The three
analytic applications covered are customer relationship analytics, supply chain
analytics, and financial analytics. We use the analogy of building blocks to help
describe Business Content, in the sense that Business Content includes the
extraction for data sources, transformation of that data, storage in a schema,
and the queries and applications that access and present the information. These
building blocks are foundational to analytic applications. The usability of Busi-
ness Content is assessed and the challenges to its growth critiqued.
The last section focuses on the administration and performance options for
the software component (Chapters 11 and 12). In this section, administration
tasks — both process-oriented tasks and system-oriented tasks — are described.
Chapter 11 begins by describing process-oriented tasks, which consist of
application processes such as scheduling, monitoring, and troubleshooting of
data loads, as well as archiving. System-oriented tasks consist of security mea-
sures, transports, and upgrades. There are many different application processes
besides data loading, such as index maintenance, building aggregates, and
batch scheduling of reporting jobs. All these application processes can have
complex dependencies.
Also in Chapter 11, SAP BW security is explained from a design perspective,
detailing the decisions to make when building authorizations, such as making
them user-based versus role-based, or object-centric versus data-centric. We
continue the administration section by describing the options in the change
management system with specific attention on the transportation of metadata
from a development system to quality assurance and production. We conclude
Chapter 11 by looking at the considerations for a multilayered application
environment when performing an upgrade.
From an end user’s perspective, the data warehouse is only as good as the
last query. Performance should be carefully planned and given constant atten-
tion. However, because of the discontinuous, unpredictable user behavior
characteristic of an information consumer, this may prove to be a challenging
task. In Chapter 12, we describe the performance management process and the
BI Accelerator. We have divided this discussion into two parts: performance
planning and performance management.
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During the system development process, performance planning is essential.
Performance planning lays the foundation for overall system performance. It
involves reviewing information models; designing an appropriate informa-
tion logistics model and system landscape; implementing efficient transforma-
tions; defining parallel, collision-free data loads and data maintenance process
chains; and managing user expectations.
Performance management, on the other hand, is part of production system
administration. It entails monitoring all processes and resources in the system.
We describe how the system may be tuned by defining aggregates, adjusting
operating system parameters, determining database management system set-
tings, and configuring hardware. Like many of the options that we describe in
the book, performance planning and performance management deal with
trade-offs. The trade-offs in this case are among disk and memory space, flex-
ibility, loading time, and retrieval time.
Throughout the book, we have included images, lists, notes, and tips to help
you implement your own solutions. This book is not a step-by-step list of con-
figuration settings, and it is not intended to be a substitute for hands-on learn-
ing. You do not become a black belt in karate by reading a book. The same is
the case with mastering SAP. We encourage you to log in to a test system, con-
figure the services described in this book, and assess the trade-offs.
What’s on the Web Site
The accompanying Web site for this book can be found at www.wiley.com/
compbooks/mcdonald
. It contains updates to the technology and the book.
From Here
In the third century B.C., Greek writer Plutarch may have put it best when he
wrote, “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, yet a spark to be lighted.” It is our
hope that readers of this book will discover the options available in SAP
NetWeaver and uncover a new means to improve business performance. We
hope you enjoy the book as we open with Chapter 1 and an introduction to
business intelligence.
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