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Give Business Objects another look
September 15, 2014

Give Business Objects another look

Joel Pick | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

XI R3

Overall Satisfaction with SAP Business Objects

We currently use Business Objects Web as our main enterprise operational reporting tool. We also use it for internal and external sales reports. Our BI reporting teams are on the business side vs. on the IT side. This tool provides a shorter development time and supports our business centric reporting model. This tool also supports the needs for Dashboard metrics reporting used by the operational departments.
  • Speed to market - The BO universe allows us to respond very quickly to business changes and demands. The development of the universe and reports is a business function. This places the business knowledge hand-in-hand with the development.
  • Allows users to modify reports to meet their needs. BO WebI is a very user friendly tool that allows users to take a production report and modify it and then save it for future use
  • MS Office integration. SAP live office allows sections of reports to be embedded and refreshed directly in MS Office products such as PowerPoint. This helps reduce keying errors and time spent refreshing presentations to leadership
  • Support. Like many large organizations SAP relies heavly on the user commuity and documents to support users. If you are a midsized company your best solution is a regional consulting partner.
  • License agreements. You really need a good negotiation team to get the value for the money. Stay away from the named user agreements.
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is more dependent on IT for development.
We had issues with loger development time with Cognos.
Hyperion Essbase Smartview is a good discovery tool but not a good enterprise reporting tool. It is very business centric with the Excel interface, but lack the functionality.
We currently have a strong user base, and the Des Moines area is a strong BO community so it is easier to get talent. The value is very good for the money you pay. SAP is a leader in the industry. though it is playing catch-up in some areas, it has the money to quickly resolve that.
Make sure you assess the type of reporting you need and use the proper tool. Too many tines people purchase one tool out of a suite of tools and then try to force everything into that tool. Also understand your DBMS and design your universes accordingly. Poorly designed universes can have a direct impact on the user experience.
And above all please train your users. Most projects cut back on training which causes a poor user experience.