INTRODUCTION TO SAP BO

SAP BusinessObjects is an enterprise software company, specializing in business intelligence (BI), which was acquired in 2007 by SAP a German company. Business Objects/SAP BO is the most widespread BI tool from SAP. With SAP BO, you can access the data in company databases directly from your desktop. You can also present and evaluate this information in a BUSINESS OBJECTS document.

Products include

• Common services for deployment and management of BI tools
• ReportingData Visualization (Dashboard Design/Xcelsius) supports creation of flash dashboards and dynamic charts and graphics with data from BO universes, SQL databases, or Excel spreadsheets.
• Query and analysis tools for self-service reporting, including Lumira (desktop-based client, originally called Visual Intelligence) and WebI (Web Intelligence, for more advanced reporting).
• Enterprise Reporting (SAP Crystal Reports) access, format, and deliver printable information to large populations of users.
• Universe Designer: An administrator tool used to construct Universes or abstracted end-user views of the database; allows pre-defining table joins, object descriptions, and measure object behavior during aggregation. This tool is succeeded by “Information Design Tool” (IDT) in SAP BusinessObjects 4.0
• Enterprise Information Management (EIM) integrates and improves data to create a trusted foundation for business decisions. Creates a basis for querying and analysis through ETL or EII.
• Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) helps users align with strategy by tracking and analyzing key business metrics and goals via management dashboards, scorecards, analytics, and alerting.
• InfoView web portal, which is succeeded by BI Launchpad in SAP BusinessObjects 4.0
• BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation (formerly OutlookSoft) a corporate performance management tool which runs within Microsoft Excel.
• On-demand BI software (Business Intelligence OnDemand), hosted on the web.