CIO-Reinvented Blog - By Prashanth Rai

Developers, Developers, Developers seems to be the Mantra, Apparently not at RIM

This is more of a rant and less of a post, I have been trying to download the "Eclipse Plugin" Java Development Environment for the Blackberry for 3 days now.

First their site is BROKEN every time I go to the link "www.blackberry.com/go/eclipse " provided in the official press release (google search also), I get a 404 error with a message -The page you have requested has been moved or no longer exists. Well after some hunting I did get to the right place and then I go through the steps for download, which needs me to fill in some personal details  which I do (ask it to update my profile - it hasn't, I still fill in my designation and address every time - GOD KNOWS WHY) and then download the 180mb odd zip file and when I open the file I get the message "The Compressed(zipped) folder is invalid or corrupted". I figured it could have happened during download, so did the process atleast 10 times and once about 30 min's before writing this post but same result.

I sent a mail to the email addresses they gave me on the site this morning and I got a response "We have logged your request. If you would like to follow up on this issue please reply to this email with your request number as it appears above" and then nothing.

This is a really lousy experience and I am not sure if I should be doing any development on this platform given the kind of approach they have for developers.

What do you think?

Tags: RIM - blackberry - developers - development+environment - rant - IDE - eclipse

Prashanth Rai

Update: Tried it again just now, same result.

Business Objects @ Community Day at SAP Teched Berlin!!! (Live Blogged)

BO continue to be Platform Agonistic

Not just a replacement of Bex report editor, full suite of Business Intelligence applications.

Integration was extremely smooth, good cultural synergy.

Pre Acquisitions focus areas for BO

1. Information management solutions (Data Quality, ETL type activities)
   1. Data integration
   2. Data Quality
   3. Meta data management
   4. Data Marts
2. Core Business Intelligence ( Core business of business objects)
   1. Reporting
   2. Analysis
   3. Dashboard
   4. Search ( What happens to the SAP Enterprise Search initiative ?)
   5. Information Delivery
   6. Predictive (Advanced Analytics)
3. EPM (Getting serious in this space, thru acquisitions)

Discussion focus on section 1 & 2, Point 3 decisions made against pilot / Outlooksoft etc

Section 1 & 2 merged to become the Business Intelligence platform.

Tool Matching

1. Reporting - Crystal Reports the Main platform
   1. 8000 OEM relationships
   2. Highly formatted layouts for forms, corporate & regulatory
   3. Mass Distribution
   4. Embedded in operational/tactical applications
   5. Limited interactivity
   6. Native integration built with SAP
   7. Direct access to BW cubes, BEx queries & ODS objects
   8. Direct access to info sets, Abap Queries/functions and SAP tables
2. Analysis - Web Intelligence / Voyager
   1. Autonomy from IT
   2. Self Service Q&R
   3. Simple, Ease of use web reporting
   4. Not technical
   5. Direct access to BW cubes and Bex Queries
3. Dashboards - Xcelsius
   1. Leverage crystal and WI reports off SAP
   2. Consume BW data objects via webservices
   3. Deploy Dashboards based on SAP & Non SAP data

BIP provides a range of Information Delivery capabilities / flexibility depth. (Mobile / Widget / Thousand of reports to a printer)

Business Intelligence Platform requires separate server environment to allow Central Management etc.

BIP provides Central Management Capability - Global Management (Subsidiary reporting control Management) - Biggest footprint @ current customer - 100000 users.

BIP allows Webservices - Enable BI for SOA/ Embedded SOA

BIP has some capability in unstructured data.

BIP - Single platform for all reporting / information needs across multiple data sources & delivery in multiple tools/formats.

Before:

 

After:

Difference before and after, Access to all information anywhere, Data accuracy, standardized scalable reporting platform, ability to provide tools for all people & accessible anywhere.

All BI staff will focused on BIP, BEx will continue to exist and be supported (till atleast 2016 - 5/1/2) but with out any innovation / growth. Visual composer and SAP Enterprise Portal - Business as usual. SAP EP can include reports from BIP, infact BIP integrates with any other portal also.

Synergies between the two platforms like BIP and netweaver platform ? - Exploring administration synergies to reduce TCO.

There is some integration between Crystal, Web I & Xcelsius - More in the next version.

Integration is available today, Powered by SAP netweaver and 16 other SAP certifications. Directly leverages SAP security model with Single-sign on. Works with the SAP Netweaver Java web application server.

Enterprise Reporting Use Cases

Crystal Reports - SAP ERP

1. Connection Method - Infoset / Open SQL
2. ERP Objects - Transparent tables / HR tables / Custom tables / Infosets / BAPIs

Crystal Reports - BW

1. Connection - BW Query / Infoset Open SQL, ODS
2. BW Object Types - BW Cubes / BW Queries / ODS / Infosets

Future of SAP BI tools:

Protection for your NW BI tools through a long term maintenance agreement

Adopts the Business Objects BIP as core

Fully leverages NW data warehouse (BW)

Recommendation

Work with SAP account team to better understand how the new premium BI solutions can meet you BI needs.

MOVE to BIP

BI Strategic Direction with SAP business objects (Insert PIC)

BEx analyzer replaced with Best of BEx + Voyager new tool - Pioneer.

Tags: sap - sapteched08 - business+objects - BO

Prashanth Rai

SAP Teched Keynote - Zia & Leo (Live Blogged)

Zia Yusuf, kicks off the session.

Special reference to contributors and mentors

1. 470 xabytes of information
2. 1.9 billion trade every 60 mins
3. 50% worlds business transactions touch an SAP system with 75000 customers
4. 1000 people join the SAP community network everyday, 12th largest in the EU
5. 52 countries collab in teched
6. 4500 people attending SAP teched

New initiative - Collboration withh innocentive , open innovation market place. - SAP innovation and technology pavilion. As of Sep22 1002 onboard - Democratization of innovation

 - Leo's turn now

First time addressing the TechEd audience, business and IT dont speak the same language.

Story about of hot air ballon and lost in fog joke, IT - perfectly accurate and completly useless answer, Business - You have no clue where you are and where you are going and you are blaming IT.

Customers to connect , collaborate , co-innovate

Overall perspective.

Transformational Forces

• Good old slides on business network ( Moving from Value Chain to Business network) - Network Shared risk - Better management risk
• Business Network - Relationship driven / Corporate boundaries have beomce fluid.
• Consumerization
• Need the IT environment to manage / support the Business Network
• Asian Paints (Case Study)
  • Paint a heavily commoditised industry
  • Extend the business model - Service Provider
  • Transformation to an End to End service company
  • Asian Paints Web / Phone based collaboration - Ties up with the painter / manages paint / manages payments etc
  • External Painters ranked
  • 400000 houses in first year
  • 25% referred other customers
  • Asian paints orchestrator of the network
  • SAP Infrastrcture for both Paint an Service business
  • ERP / CRM - Composite Apps
  • SMS interface
  • Business Int Analytics to benchmark painter
  • Predictive for future requirements
  • IT Requirements that are key to drive this transformations - Efficiency , Flexibility & Insight (Across the network)

User experience a key focus area of investment

• Harmonized UI - Standardized
• Enterprise search - search box for all enterprise applications
• Atlantic - Duet for Lotus

Weekend upgrade - Enhancement Packages (Applying and Enhancement pack is simpler than a support pack) - Entire suite two enhancement pack a year. Solution Manager  - Business Process change analyzer - Study Impact of enhancement pack. Solution Manager is the corner stone for enterprise support. Solution manager manages the custom code also. Truly harmonized end to end business processes.

Enterprise support - Is not useful - Quote saying "That statement alone makes the difference"

Horizontal Solutions address the functionality needs , but doesnt manage the end to end business view / business use case.

Professional Certification for Business Process Experts  ( Check out BPX community)

Customer Case Study : Hugo Boss AG

• 2003 fundamental shift in Fashion
• Versatile - Fashion truly unpredictable
• Bigger Varieties of brands
• Move from a push model to a pull model
• Standardized the processes
• Connected the network to the fashion manufacturers (flat files / paper)
• Collect and Analyze the POS data at all possible points - Open Architecture BI , Feedback on design trends, Supply chain etc.
• Moved from 4 collections to 52, with one week delivery windows - Flexible architecture.

Closed Loop Strategy to Execution

• Strategy
• Decision
• Monitoring
• Process Requirement
• process Execution
• Events
• Insight

BI XY3 - BI for the Masses

GRC - Composite Apss - Along with Cisco - Governance at Network level

Ian Kimble Demo1 Business Objects 

Demo2 - Galaxy

Ecosystem

Talks about the Innovation Pavillion

SAP Eco hub - Online Solution Market Place (Both SAP and Partner Solution ) - Wonder when the are going to come up with the Onlie Services Market place powered by the community.

Ian Kimble - Demo Eco Hub

View of the Architecture for the portfolio

Request/ Suggestion to Upgrade to ERP 6.0

Tags: sap - sapteched - sapteched08 - keynote - liveblogged

Prashanth Rai