Background

Business Objects is a French enterprise software company, specializing in business intelligence (BI). Since 2007, it has been a part of the international software giant SAP AG and has c. 50,000 customers worldwide. Its flagship product is BusinessObjects XI, with components that provide performance management, planning, reporting, query and analysis, and enterprise information management.

Like many enterprise software companies, Business Objects also offers consulting and education services to help customers deploy its business intelligence projects, and we at Influential are proud to be registered partners with Business Objects and fully experienced in the design and implementation of solutions across its vast software range.

Products

• BusinessObjects XI (XI 3.2 is the latest version)

  • Common centralized services simplifying deployment and management of BI tools via entirely web-based end-user tools

  • Enterprise reporting

  • Query and analysis via Business Objects "Universe" allowing ad-hoc report production by end-users

  • 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.

  • Enterprise Reporting (Crystal Reports) access, format, and deliver information to large populations of users.

  • Infoview

• Data Visualization (Crystal Xcelsius) turns static data (from Business Objects XI, databases, Excel spreadsheets) into active management dashboards and presentations filled with dynamic charts and graphics.

• Business Intelligence On-Demand - on-demand (or SaaS) BI software that is hosted on the web by Business Objects.

As a Business Objects partner, we feel it's imperative that we have a consistent template-based methodologyto ensure that every BI/Data-Warehouse implementation we do comes with a 100% guarantee of success. So, we have developed this approach for researching, designing, proving, implementing and supporting Enterprise reporting & data analysis solutions. This is then underpinned by the universally acknowledged best-of-breed software platform provided by Business Objects for BI… a winning combination!

In 2008-9, we successfully designed a new Business Intelligence solution from the ground up using the Business Objects browser-based product (Web Intelligence) as the reporting front-end, implemented to a global user-base of around 600 people. The project involved:

• Bespoke ETL

  • c. 50 interfaces

  • Self-validation of data and auto-flagging of any anomalies

  • Robust processing ensuring high-availability

• Database design (c. 1000 tables/views)

  • Oracle 10g

  • PL/SQL & Perl data processing layer

• Business Objects Universe design (c. 5,000 columns across c. 200 tables)

  • Influential "template-based" deployment

  • User Security and access control built in

• Business Analysis (interviewed c. 150 users)

  • Captured requirements using standardized Influential methodology

  • Categorised and documented to ensure 100% fit with user reporting requirements

• Business Objects Report writing (c. 500 reports) and scheduling (using the 3rd-party InfoScheduler tool)

  • Completely replaced legacy reporting across multiple disparate systems

  • Massive increase in user-productivity due to 100% confidence in data and presentation

We continue to support this particular operation from our UK HQ on an ongoing basis and it is perceived as a hugely successful project that has delivered real financial benefit, cost/time saving, accuracy benefits and is therefore a sector-leading reporting solution.

Influential Software Services Ltd – your premier Business Objects development partner...

If you would like to contact us about anything to do with Business Objects or related topics, please do not hesitate to get in touch.