Business Intelligence

What is the BI?

SAP's Business Intelligence, previously known as Business Information Warehouse or BW, is a packaged, comprehensive business intelligence product centered on a data warehousing platform. Highly compatible with the SAP transaction system, it provides a superior framework for building a data warehouse and reporting solution. This includes Business Content, Business Content is a set of predefined InfoProviders (data providers) and queries which have been built and delivered based on commonly used reporting features observed within like industries.
built-in reporting tools (such as the BEx), BEx (Business Explorer) is an Excel-based reporting tool used to work with data in the BI database. BEx is made up of two components - the BEx browser and the BEx analyzer. The BEx browser provides an organized interface where a user can access and work with any type of document assigned to them in the Business Intelligence, such as workbooks, links, and BI Web reports. The BEx analyzer allows the user to examine segmented data in a variety of useful combinations, for example when comparing financial data for different fiscal years. The BEx analyzer is where query-creation takes place, and the BEx browser is an optional interface that helps the user to organize and personalize their reporting environment.
metadata compatibility and maintenance, extraction tools, real-time integration capability, scalability, and sophisticated administration tools. Like most data warehouses, the BI is a combination of databases and database management tools that are used to support management decision-making.

Why Use the BI?

Advantages of using the BI as a reporting tool are clear. The data providers within the BI are optimally designed for quick response time. Even reports requesting a large number of rows are usually returned within a few minutes. Additionally, moving reporting functionality to the BI reduces the load on the SAP transactional system and improves overall processing performance. The Business Intelligence is a static (read-only) database, which guarantees its stability over time. Data is updated from the SAP ERP system according to a predefined refresh schedule. Because of its static nature and unlike transactional systems, there is no possibility of corrupting the data in the warehouse. This frees you to experiment with creating reports. Data from the BI is currently delivered to your desktop via the Business Explorer (BEx). BEx (Business Explorer) is an Excel-based reporting tool used to work with data in the BI database. BEx is made up of two components - the BEx browser and the BEx analyzer. The BEx browser provides an organized interface where a user can access and work with any type of document assigned to them in the Business Intelligence, such as workbooks, links, and BI Web reports. The BEx analyzer allows the user to examine segmented data in a variety of useful combinations, for example when comparing financial data for different fiscal years. The BEx analyzer is where query-creation takes place, and the BEx browser is an optional interface that helps the user to organize and personalize their reporting environment.
The data - in the form of a query report - can be stored locally (in your computer) or globally (on the sever to be shared with others, assuming you have the appropriate level of authorization). Your query results may also be joined with local information from your own files for those instances when you need to create custom reports with information that is not housed in the BI. Once you have created a report, you no longer need to spend time formatting it; instead, you can spend your time analyzing it!