SAP Business Intelligence Quick Start Guide

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Enterprise data sources for BI reporting tools

There are many data source options for SAP BusinessObjects 4.2. You can get data for reporting from nearly all possible real-world sources. In the following diagram, there is a typical scenario for data sources for SAP BusinessObjects 4.2:

In this book, we will focus on the following important data sources:

SAP HANA
SAP Business Warehouse (BW)
SAP BusinessObjects Universe
Files

In general, Universe and semantic layers are used interchangeably. Both are common business terms meaning a collection of corporate data. In our case, in addition to Universe, SAP HANA views and SAP BW queries also qualify as semantic layers.

A semantic layer in SAP BusinessObjects BI enables the following:

A single user experience across all data
Consistency
Ease of consumption by applications and tools
Business user, who is self-sufficient

Semantic layers in SAP BusinessObjects are represented by Universe objects that are created with the Information Design Tool ( IDT) and stored in the SAP BusinessObjects BI platform repository.

Most reporting tools have access to a wide range of data sources. There are regular updates to the reporting tools, so consult the official documentation for each tool in the release you are deploying. Some of these tools let users prepare data, and others add the ability to merge data from different sources. Here is a table detailing the abilities of these tools:

By leveraging the Universe as a Common Semantic Layer (CSL), you can enable a consistent business user experience. CSL allows heterogeneous access to all data sources (for example, OLAP and relational databases) and supports native metadata such as OLAP hierarchies.

In most cases, direct access (via Business Intelligence Consumer Services (BICS)) to SAP HANA and SAP BW is the preferred option.