Inside SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

Ingo Hilgefort started with Crystal Decisions in Frankfurt, Germany in the year 1999 as a Trainer and Consultant for Crystal Reports and Crystal Enterprise. With the acquisition of Crystal Decisions by BusinessObjects he moved into the Product Management role for the integration between the BusinessObjects product portfolio and SAP.

... Foreword ... 11 ... Acknowledgments ... 13 ... Preface ... 15 1 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer One Piece of Your Business Intelligence Puzzle ... 19 1.1 ... A Short History of SAP Business-Objects Explorer ... 19 1.1.1 ... The First Start to More Insight Intelligent Question ... 20 1.1.2 ... Intelligent Search ... 22 1.1.3 ... First Release of Polestar ... 23 1.1.4 ... Polestar Becomes SAP Business-Objects Explorer ... 24 1.1.5 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer Continues to Evolve ... 25 1.2 ... Introduction to SAP Business-Objects Explorer ... 26 1.3 ... Introduction to the SAP Business-Objects Business Intelligence Portfolio ... 30 1.3.1 ... Comparison of Tools and Requirements ... 35 1.4 ... Summary ... 37 2 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer Installation and Deployment ... 39 2.1 ... Deployment Options for SAP Business-Objects Explorer ... 39 2.1.1 ... Deployment Options Without SAP NetWeaver BWA ... 40 2.1.2 ... Deployment Options in Combination with SAP NetWeaver BWA ... 41 2.2 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer Software Components and Installation Steps ... 45 2.2.1 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer ... 45 2.2.2 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer Accelerated Version ... 47 2.2.3 ... SAP Business-Objects Open Accelerator ... 48 2.2.4 ... Installation Material, Software Download, and Important SAP Notes ... 48 2.3 ... Data Connectivity Options ... 54 2.3.1 ... Data Connectivity Options Without SAP NetWeaver BWA ... 55 2.3.2 ... Data Connectivity Options for SAP Business-Objects Explorer Accelerated Version ... 56 2.4 ... SAP NetWeaver BWA Configuration Steps ... 59 2.5 ... SAP NetWeaver BusinessWarehouse (BW) Configuration Steps ... 62 2.5.1 ... Enabling SAP Business-Objects Explorer Accelerated Version ... 62 2.5.2 ... Configuring Global Settings in SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator Index Wizard ... 63 2.6 ... Business-Objects Enterprise Configuration Steps ... 64 2.6.1 ... Configuring SAP Authentication for SAP Business-Objects Explorer ... 65 2.6.2 ... Configuration of SAP Authentication for SAP Business-Objects Explorer ... 70 2.6.3 ... Configuring TREX Parameters for SAP Business-Objects Explorer ... 72 2.6.4 ... Configuring Business-Objects Enterprise Security Profiles ... 74 2.6.5 ... Information Space Security ... 81 2.7 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer Accelerated Version Known Limitations ... 82 2.8 ... Summary ... 83 3 ... Using SAP Business-Objects Explorer ... 85 3.1 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer Quick Basics ... 85 3.2 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer and SAP NetWeaver BWA Quick Basics ... 105 3.3 ... Using SAP Business-Objects Explorer with Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets ... 119 3.4 ... Summary ... 123 4 ... Implementation Relevant Topics ... 125 4.1 ... Support for MultiProvider ... 125 4.2 ... Support for SAP NetWeaver BW Queries ... 143 4.3 ... Restricted and Calculated Key Figures ... 151 4.4 ... Calculated Measures ... 159 4.5 ... Facet Groups ... 162 4.6 ... Leveraging SAP NetWeaver BW Hierarchies ... 174 4.7 ... Data-Level Security and Filtering Information Spaces ... 179 4.7.1 ... Using BI Authorizations ... 179 4.7.2 ... Using Data Filtering in SAP Business-Objects Explorer ... 181 4.8 ... Known Limitations and Possible Workarounds ... 186 4.9 ... Summary ... 188 5 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer Usage Scenarios ... 189 5.1 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer and Health Care ... 189 5.2 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer and Retail ... 198 5.3 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer and Insurance ... 205 5.4 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer and Finance ... 211 5.5 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer and Procurement ... 221 5.6 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer and Customer Service ... 227 5.7 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer and Sales ... 234 5.8 ... Summary ... 245 6 ... Advanced Topics ... 247 6.1 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer in the Cloud ... 247 6.2 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer Excel Plug-In ... 251 6.3 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer on the iPhone ... 254 6.4 ... Using Index Designer for Open Accelerator ... 270 6.5 ... Summary ... 295 7 ... SAP Business-Objects Explorer Outlook ... 297 ... The Author ... 301 ... Index ... 303