SAP BI 4.0 release (codenamed Aurora) has been the first major release of the BI platform since SAP acquired BusinessObjects. In this release, the semantic layer (universe layer for the uninitiated) has been re-worked completely to expose all business data under a single umbrella. The self-service BI portal (aka Infoview) has been revamped with a new AJAX based design and providing quicker and easier access to content. Publishing and distribution of BI content to mass audience has been made easier. There are also improvements to the lifecycle management (LCM tool) and platform administration (CMC, CCM) from a single console. This is in a nutshell are the changes that Aurora or SAP BO 4.0 bring, allowing BI content to be delivered across different channels ranging from the browser (BI Launch Pad, SharePoint, SAP NetWeaver Portal, Java Portal) to desktop (widgets), MS-Office and mobile.
SAP finally announcedon September 14, 2010 that it was getting onto the pre-packaged analytics bandwagon. SAP announced ten applications in this first release for six industries (Consumer Products, Healthcare, Financial Services, Public Sector, Retail and Telecommunications) in its BusinessObjects offering.
Building on the rapid-marts offering that the then BOBJ used to have and leveraging SAP’s industry and line of business expertise, these new applications are based on the SAP Business Objects XI platform – WebIntelligence, Crystal Reports and Dashboards (formerly Xcelsius). Bill McDermott, the joint CEO of SAP, described it as “complete and ready-to-go” and claimed the applications can be deployed in as less as eight weeks.
I attended the Business Technology Summit in Bangalore last week – 3rd and 4th November. There were 3 tracks on cloud computing, Service Oriented Architecture and Business Intelligence, and I chose a mix of sessions across each.
**Overall impression:**The BT Summit was heavily focused on cloud computing with half of second day having a deep dive into Amazon’s EC2 cloud offering, and several keynotes. SOA and web services, REST and similar architectural sessions were interspersed but definitely not a first-class citizen. BI came a poor third with a poor choice of sessions, and more of a rehash of what is out there for everyone, rather than something on the cutting-edge including use of appliances and columnar databases, as also in-memory databases and use of Flash and AJAX for interactive BI front-ends.
While developing a Business Objects security model, you need to focus on the different types of security:
Functional Security - this would govern access to specific application features, e.g. editing reports, drilling down, ability to schedule reports etc.
Data Security - this governs access to specific data - rows or columns or cells as per authorization
Infrastructure Security - governs physical and electronic access to systems
The infrastructure security is the first to be designed. This typically happens when the architecture is being drawn up. It is important to get as much early visibility into the various ways the system is likely to be used, not only in the present but also in the foreseeable future, so that adjustments and capacity for future planning can be done to the extent possible. This also helps in deciding on the type of data security that would be required initially, though this can change over time.
