SAP BI (SAP Business intelligence) is a broad category of applications and technologies for gathering, storing, analyzing, and accessing data.  The reporting, analysis, and interpretation of business data is of central importance to a company in guaranteeing its competitive edge, optimizing processes, and enabling it to react quickly and in line with the market.

With SAP Business Intelligence (BI), SAP NetWeaver provides data warehousing functionality, a business intelligence platform, and a suite of business intelligence tools with which an enterprise can attain these goals.  Relevant business information from productive SAP applications and all external data sources can be integrated, transformed, and consolidated in BI with the toolset provided.

BI provides flexible reporting, analysis, and planning tools to support you in evaluating and interpreting data, as well as facilitating its distribution.  Businesses are able to make well-founded decisions and determine target-orientated activities on the basis of this analysis.  Business information warehouse (BW) has features like and unlike typical data warehouses.  Like most data warehouses, BW is a combination of databases and database management tools that are used to support management decision making.  BW is a comprehensive business intelligence product centered around a data warehouse and optimized for SAP’s R/3 environment.

SAP BW also includes preconfigured data extractors, analysis and report tools and business process models.  It is an integral component of the company’s mySAP Business Intelligence group of products.



SAP BI Course Contents

Enterprise Datawarehousing

General Introduction.
SAP introduction.
Data warehousing/ BW/ BI Introduction
Master data; Attributes, Texts, and Hierarchies.
Standard Naming conventions in SAP and BI

Data Modeling

InfoObjects: Definitions
Types: Characteristics, Key Figures, Time, and Unit.
InfoCubes: Definitions.
Types: Standards, real time, remote.
Design of Info cube: Star Schema concepts. Precautions.
DataStore objects (DSO):
Types: Standards, Real time.
InfoSets
MultiProviders: Scenarios to create Multiproviders.
Infocube VS DSO

Metadata and Document Management

BI Content: Definitions, How to install BI contents,

Defining extraction

For SAP source systems: Creating Generic data Source and maintaining SAP delivered data Source.
Or for files: Creating Data Sources for File Source Systems

Defining transformations

Transformations and different scenarios.

Defining the data flow:

Creating data transfer processes
Creating process chains

Scheduling and monitoring:

Checking process chain runs
Monitor for extraction processes and data transfer processes

Performance optimization:

Creating the first aggregate for an Info Cube
Using the BIA index maintenance wizard

User management:

Setting up standard authorizations
Defining analysis authorizations

Transports:

Real business scenarios on different system environments, Moving objects from one system to another.

BI SUITE: Business Explorer

BEx Query Designer

Queries: New queries, Restricting Characteristics, Formulas and Exception Cells
Query Design: Defining Exceptions, Conditions, Restricted and Calculated Key Figures
Variables: The Variable Wizard, Variable Types and Processing Types, query Properties
Component Properties: Properties of Characteristics, Attributes, Structure, Formula, Key Figures
Structures: Creating Re-usable structures
Functions on BW Server: Copying queries between Cubes, Deleting Query Elements

Web Application Designer

WAD: Functions of WAD, Web Items Window, Template Window, Properties Window
Web Applications: Creating Web Applications, Settings, Stylesheets, Symbols and Properties
Design: Designing the Layout of Web Templates, working with Library for Web Items
Web Items: Tables, Filters, Checkboxes, Dropdown Box and other web items and their attributes

Activities

BEx Analyzer
BEx Web Application Designer
BEx Report Designer

BI Platform

Information Broadcasting
Functions of the Broadcaster: Precalculating and Exporting into Enterprise Portal
User Guide: Distributing Queries and Web Templates, Scheduling Broadcasting Settings
Example Scenarios: Monthly Sales Reports, Ad-hoc Distribution Options.

OLAP

OLAP v OLTP: The OLAP Concept and differences between OLAP and OLTP
OLAP Functions: Aggregation, Currency Translation, Report-to-Report Interface
MetaData Repository: Searching for MetaData

Hot Bonus Topics:

Overview of Planning with SEM-BPS.
Architecture of BPS components.
Planning Models (Planning Area, Planning Level, Planning Functions, Planning Layouts, Packages).
Characteristic relationships, Variables.
Data Slice
Web Interface and Planning Folders.