Web Intelligence

All posts tagged Web Intelligence

Key Takeaways from Formatting Web Intelligence 4.3 Like a Pro Webinar

by John S on January 19, 2022 No comments

Formatting Webi Intelligence 4.3 Like a Pro Webinar Graphic

Did you miss our January 18th webinar Formatting Web Intelligence 4.3 Like a Pro? We have a quick summary of the webinar with the webinar presenters’ key takeaways from their session. Here is the webinar overview:

First impressions matter – even for reports! This session will be covering how to use formatting shortcuts and templates to make a meaningful report stand out and shine, including new ways to format Web Intelligence in 4.3.

Key takeaways from this session:

  1. Properties panel makes formatting easier in 4.3
  2. There are many formatting shortcuts in Webi to make beautiful reports faster
  3. We recommend using a report template for consistent, beautiful reports.

In this webinar Roxanne mentioned a PDF template that we have been allowed to share. This PDF document gives the reader a view of the “SR_Template” used by the AO for Webi reports as seen in the presentation.

Don’t forget you can stream this webinar in its entirety as well as ever other Let’s Speak BO webinar we’ve hosted when you are logged in on SpeakBO.com website. It is completely free to join!

John SKey Takeaways from Formatting Web Intelligence 4.3 Like a Pro Webinar

Smoothing Out the Inevitable: Excelling Data into Web Intelligence

by Bree-Anna Mustad on May 30, 2018 No comments

Smoothing out the inevitable: Excelling Data into Web Intelligence

One would imagine in our ever advancing world of data access in BusinessObjects that no longer would companies so heavily rely upon one of the oldest reporting tools and data sources out there; Microsoft Excel. However, time and time again through webinar presentations or our annual BusinessObjects User Groups, conversations still manage to come down to talking about this one, irreplaceable (it seems) and not going anywhere- data storage/ reporting solution.

In a recent study to global business software systems, about 81% of business and organizations today still heavily rely upon Excel. This percentage is quite high considering each year more and more database management tools are being introduced, or version enhancements to existing systems like SAP BusinessObjects Universe Design Tool, or Information Design Tool, are advancing to heightened levels of usability.

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Still Excel remains a large demographic in business data storage. Not only as an easy to use, not quite so pretty, reporting solution; but also as a method of hard-copy databases floating amidst endless company folders and portals for storing historical, valuable information.

Due to such a large toolset as the SAP BusinessObjects suite, users of reporting solutions like Web Intelligence, also find limitations in accessing the Universe or IDT, in order to extract the data they need in a timely manner. These limitations, although common, due to the construct of a Universe and Administrative permissions, cause an inevitable need to work around the Universe data and simply load straight from Microsoft Excel.

Michael Ward from Creative Technologies Training & Solutions (CTTS), a fantastic expert, instructor and advocate of the beloved reporting tool within BusinessObjects, Web Intelligence, put together a fantastic webinar loaded with tips and tricks on how to best leverage your Excel data into SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence. This webinar is well worth attending and having a notepad. For such a straight forward topic on Excel into Web Intelligence, our viewers we surprised with the variety of methods one can not only import their Excel Spreadsheets, but also refresh, reload, and reconstruct the data within Web Intelligence.

Bree-Anna MustadSmoothing Out the Inevitable: Excelling Data into Web Intelligence

Mobile Business Intelligence with Web Intelligence

by Rajesh Ponnurangam on May 8, 2017 No comments

Couple of weeks ago I presented a topic, “Going Mobile with Web Intelligence”, as a part of our Let’s Speak BO webinar series. During the session we asked the attendees whether they are using Web Intelligence on the Mobile BI app. There were about 60 attendees and only 10% of the attendees were currently using WebI on mobile while 50% of them did not have any plans to use Mobile BI and 40% of them had plans to use WebI on Mobile within the next 12 months.  Although web Intelligence on Mobile BI is less popular, I strongly believe that mobile BI app support for Web Intelligence, which has come a long way since it’s inception, is better than any other BI tool rendering on the Mobile BI app. It is also an easier solution for any organization to start with Mobile BI. In this blog I have outlined 5 major topics discussed during my presentation.

  1. Difference in Visuals - The look and feel for native charts and report parts of Web Intelligence is completely different from what is seen on the BI Launch Pad. I see that as a cool feature since the navigation on an iPad is completely different from the navigation on the BI Launch Pad. Business users can’t use a mouse here and there’s no right click on an iPad. With very minimal effort we can have a visually appealing dashboard just by displaying data on native Web Intelligence charts. In the example below, I have illustrated how an iPad renders a webI report with 8 different charts into 4 charts on 2 pages that can be swiped. Another big advantage we get with the Mobile app is the Card layout structure (placing a report in the Mobile Category), where the reports are automatically adjusted to the screen size.

  2. Intuitive Chart Codes – With the usage of chart codes and conditional formatting, we can transform a normal/boring tabular form of data into a cool score card. These score card options are not a part of native BI Launch Pad, but by using the Format Table options, we can create visual score cards that can be used by analysts to quickly diagnose positive or negative performances

 

  1. Working Offline - In order to view the reports offline, the BI server needs to be enabled with a “true” value for Offline Storage. To enable offline storage, navigate to BI Server - Central Management Console -> Applications -> SAP BusinessObjectsMobile -> Properties -> Client Settings


For a report to work offline, the report will need to be downloaded to the device while there’s an active internet connection

 

Only a few features are supported in the offline version. Before you decide on offline viewing, analyze the report features which are supported offline and then design the report accordingly.

What’s Supported in Offline Mode? - Sections, Chart & report navigations

What’s Not supported in Offline Mode ? - Drill down, Filters, Input Controls, Parameters, Element Linking and Open Doc

  1. Delivering Mobile BI Connection to Users - A large number of organizations adopt remote work strategies and it is extremely difficult and time consuming for the BI admin to set up a connection individually on every user’s iPad. To set up a connection you need the information such as Tomcat URL and CMS Name. Not every user might be aware of this information. The easiest solution is to create a hyperlink with the server information and email the link to users. When the link below is configured with server & CMS names and opened from an email on the ipad, the app opens up with the BI details and the users need to fill in only their BI credentials

sapbi://addconnection?ConnectionType=BOEConnection&name=<con-name>&server_url=<server-name>:8080&cms=<CMS-NAME>:6400&authType=secEnterprise&default=no

There are sophisticated Mobile Device Management tools from SAP and a lot of other vendors such as Airwatch, MobileIron and Mass360 who do a much better job of pushing updates, controlling, and remotely managing a user’s device. Organizations have to come up with a solid strategy for managing Mobile Devices and to answer questions such as “What if a user’s device is lost?”, “How can the device be wiped remotely?” et al

  1. Skillsets required for implementing Mobile BI - In terms of the report development skills, the report writers need to get familiar with certain chart codes and organizing the reports under categories. The display of various report elements is a trial and error exercise because there is no mobile preview option within Web Intelligence. The BO Admins have to get familiar with Mobile Server settings and Client Settings. To access the BI Server from an outside network, the network and BO admins have to work together in troubleshooting Mobile BI connections as well as building a strategy for BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices).

Mobile BI with Web Intelligence is an evolving topic and everything that I have discussed in this blog might take a different turn with the next release of BI 4.2 which is SP04. I am eagerly waiting for SP04’s FIORI based navigation with HTML5 based Web Intelligence reports. Once it is on GA, I will work on a webinar specific to Web Intelligence SP04. Feel free to comment, email or Tweet your questions, feedback and suggestions to me. For more exciting webinar content, register yourself at speakbo.com if you aren't already!

Rajesh PonnurangamMobile Business Intelligence with Web Intelligence

Upcoming Let's Speak BO Webinar: Creating Interactive Dashboards in Web Intelligence

by John Shields on April 5, 2017 No comments

Let's Speak BO Webinar: Creating Interactive Dashboards in Web Intelligence April 18, 2017

Join us in a fantastic presentation where you will learn how to use the functionality in Web Intelligence to create dynamic and interactive reports/dashboards. Jared Hansen will demonstrate how the City of Mesa used dashboard developing techniques in Web Intelligence to create a more cohesive and guided analytical solution.

Register below:

John ShieldsUpcoming Let's Speak BO Webinar: Creating Interactive Dashboards in Web Intelligence

Upcoming Let's Speak BO Webinar: Going Mobile – Design and Deployment using SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence 4.2

by John Shields on March 27, 2017 No comments

Let’s Speak BO Webinar: Going Mobile – Design and Deployment using SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence 4.2 April 4, 2017

Don't miss next week's webinar, Going Mobile – Design and Deployment using SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence 4.2, running on Tuesday, April 4th at 10AM PT/1PM ET!

Webinar description: More often than not, users would like to consume their SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence content on their mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. This presentation will offer attendees looking to display their SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence 4.2 content on mobile devices the opportunity to explore design considerations to enhance the display of both existing and new documents on mobile devices using the SAP BusinessObjects Mobile Client application. Join BusinessObjects Expert, Rajesh Ponnurangam, as he presents Going Mobile with Design and Deployment considerations for Webi.

Register below:

And a little bit of information on your presenter for this webinar, Rajesh:

Rajesh Ponnurangam is a Senior Business Intelligence Consultant with Infosol. He is a SAP certified associate with extensive experience in design and development of Business Intelligence applications for apparel, retail, consumer goods and manufacturing industries. He specializes in Business Objects solutions, SAP HANA and BW data modeling. He has a proven track record in designing strategies for ETL, BI application development, implementation, rollout and support.

If you are not yet a member of the Speak BO community you can register for the webinar and get access to the site via the form above. See you on the webinar - Let's Speak BO!

John ShieldsUpcoming Let's Speak BO Webinar: Going Mobile – Design and Deployment using SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence 4.2