SAP BusinessObjects Cloud

Transcription

1 Frequently Asked Questions SAP BusinessObjects Cloud SAP BusinessObjects Cloud To help customers Run Simple, SAP is breaking the limitations of the past. On October 20, 2015, we unveiled a new generation of software as a service the SAP BusinessObjects Cloud solution that redefines analytics in the public cloud by providing all analytics capabilities for all users in one product. This document answers a selection of frequently asked questions about SAP BusinessObjects Cloud.

2 Table of Contents 3 What Is SAP BusinessObjects Cloud? 3 What Analytics Capabilities Is SAP Envisioning in SAP BusinessObjects Cloud? 3 Why Is SAP Delivering All Analytics Capabilities in One Product? 4 What Makes SAP BusinessObjects Cloud Different from Other Cloud-Based Analytics Solutions? 4 Is SAP BusinessObjects Cloud Available Today? 4 What Are the Licensing and Purchasing Options for SAP BusinessObjects Cloud? 5 What Is SAP Digital Boardroom? 5 Is SAP BusinessObjects Cloud Multitenant? 5 Where Is SAP BusinessObjects Cloud Hosted? 5 Where Can I Learn More About SAP Data Centers Hosting SAP BusinessObjects Cloud? 5 Is SAP Deemphasizing SAP BusinessObjects BI Solutions and SAP BusinessObjects Lumira Software in Favor of SAP BusinessObjects Cloud? 6 Does SAP BusinessObjects Cloud Change the Road Map for SAP BusinessObjects BI Solutions and SAP BusinessObjects Lumira? 6 Will SAP Continue on the Convergence Strategy for SAP BusinessObjects BI Solutions and SAP BusinessObjects Lumira? 6 Is SAP BusinessObjects Cloud the Successor of SAP BusinessObjects Lumira, Cloud Edition? 6 Does SAP BusinessObjects Cloud Replace On-Premise Versions of SAP BusinessObjects Lumira? 7 Should I Use SAP BusinessObjects Cloud or SAP BusinessObjects BI Solutions and SAP BusinessObjects Lumira? 7 Can I Use SAP BusinessObjects Cloud with SAP BusinessObjects BI Solutions? 7 Can I Use SAP BusinessObjects Cloud with On-Premise Versions of SAP BusinessObjects Lumira? 7 Is SAP Cloud for Planning Included in SAP BusinessObjects Cloud? 7 Does SAP BusinessObjects Cloud Replace the SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation Application? 8 Should I Deploy SAP BusinessObjects Cloud or SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation? 8 Can I Use SAP BusinessObjects Cloud with SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation? 8 Where Can I Find the Product Road Map for SAP BusinessObjects Cloud? 2 / 8

3 1. WHAT IS SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD? SAP BusinessObjects Cloud (formerly SAP Cloud for Analytics) is a new generation of software as a service (SaaS) that redefines analytics in the cloud by providing business intelligence (BI), predictive, and planning capabilities in one solution. Built natively on SAP HANA Cloud Platform, it allows customers to simplify access to a new public cloud experience that they can trust. 2. WHAT ANALYTICS CAPABILITIES IS SAP ENVISIONING IN SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD? SAP envisions SAP BusinessObjects Cloud as delivering all analytics capabilities for BI, planning, predictive, and governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) purposes in one product to help people make better fact-based decisions. The product road map for SAP BusinessObjects Cloud includes providing the best data connectivity to on-premise data sources in the SAP HANA database, SAP S/4HANA suite, and SAP Business Warehouse (SAP BW) application, as well as SAP BusinessObjects solution universes and other key cloud data sources. 3. WHY IS SAP DELIVERING ALL ANALYTICS CAPABILITIES IN ONE PRODUCT? With all analytics capabilities in one product, users are able to do their jobs much more efficiently, without having to integrate data from and jump between multiple different products. For example, a financial planning and analysis professional would ideally be able to access data, analyze it, create reports, run predictive functions, collaborate with others, and plan using just one analytics product, because that s what the job requires. 3 / 8

4 4. WHAT MAKES SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD DIFFERENT FROM OTHER CLOUD-BASED ANALYTICS SOLUTIONS? SAP BusinessObjects Cloud is different from other cloud-based analytics solutions in multiple areas: It integrates all analytics capabilities in one product to enable users to save time and reduce errors by not having to jump between multiple products to do their jobs. It offers a user interface that s like a consumer app, with a modern look and feel that is intuitive and easy to use on any device, so users can start getting value in just a few minutes with a few mouse clicks. It has built-in social collaboration functionality to enable users to work together and take action directly in the context of their analytics in a WhatsApp-like conversation. It connects to heterogeneous data sources SAP and non-sap whether they are on premise or in the cloud. It enables Big Data wrangling and blending to enrich traditional analytics with Big Data analytics without requiring a separate specialized product. It integrates natively with SAP applications deployed on premise to support hybrid scenarios while complementing and using existing investments. Its two-tier data management architecture is powered by SAP HANA to get immediate answers to any question, at any level of detail, at any time. It is built natively on SAP HANA Cloud Platform so that it can be easily and quickly extended to meet the particular needs of your organization. 5. IS SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD AVAILABLE TODAY? Yes. SAP BusinessObjects Cloud is the evolution of SAP Cloud for Planning a product we now refer to as SAP BusinessObjects Cloud for planning. SAP BusinessObjects Cloud for planning has been generally available as SAP Cloud for Planning since February SAP BusinessObjects Cloud for business intelligence became generally available in November Predictive capabilities were released in May The road map for GRC capabilities is being finalized. 6. WHAT ARE THE LICENSING AND PURCHASING OPTIONS FOR SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD? SAP BusinessObjects Cloud is licensed through an annual subscription fee. Infrastructure, maintenance, and support for SAP HANA are all included in the subscription fee. Multiple licensing options are available to match your company s needs. Please contact an SAP representative for more information. 4 / 8

5 7. WHAT IS SAP DIGITAL BOARDROOM? SAP Digital Boardroom is a next-generation digital solution that contextualizes the boardroom experience across people, places, and devices into a real-time enterprise experience. Built on SAP BusinessObjects Cloud, SAP Digital Boardroom uses line-of-business data from SAP S/4HANA to provide a single source of truth about a company s most important business metrics, so business leaders can monitor, simulate, and drive change in the digital economy. SAP Digital Boardroom has been generally available since November IS SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD MULTITENANT? Yes. SAP BusinessObjects Cloud is a multitenant public cloud solution. There is the option to deploy it in a private cloud in SAP data centers. 9. WHERE IS SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD HOSTED? SAP BusinessObjects Cloud is hosted in SAP HANA Cloud Platform in data centers across the world. 10. WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT SAP DATA CENTERS HOSTING SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD? Please go to 11. IS SAP DEEMPHASIZING SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS BI SOLUTIONS AND SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS LUMIRA SOFTWARE IN FAVOR OF SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD? No. Today the vast majority of users of SAP BusinessObjects Analytics solutions use on-premise software, and SAP will continue to support and innovate this deployment model. At the same time, SAP is building out new cloud-centric software to support the cloud-based deployment model. Virtually all organizations will ultimately use a combination of cloud and on-premise deployments, and SAP will innovate on both sides for the benefit of our customers. In addition, SAP is building data bridges between on-premise and cloud solutions to enable data to be consumed wherever is best. 5 / 8

6 12. DOES SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD CHANGE THE ROAD MAP FOR SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS BI SOLUTIONS AND SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS LUMIRA? No. We continue to evolve SAP BusinessObjects BI solutions and SAP BusinessObjects Lumira software with a strong set of on-premise innovations. The SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.2 platform became generally available in March 2016, with key new features like a commentary service, parallel query support, and direct access to SAP HANA in SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence software. SAP BusinessObjects Lumira continues its rapid evolution with new features delivered in November 2015 that improve connectivity with SAP BW, add more formatting options to cross-tabs, provide a formula editor for scripting complex expressions, and more. Further, new features in SAP BusinessObjects Lumira were released in March 2016 around data acquisition and manipulation, enterprise readiness, and analysis. 13. WILL SAP CONTINUE ON THE CONVERGENCE STRATEGY FOR SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS BI SOLUTIONS AND SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS LUMIRA? Yes. We recently provided a public update to our convergence strategy here. This strategy and our focus on simplification remain unchanged with the release of SAP BusinessObjects Cloud. 14. IS SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD THE SUCCESSOR OF SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS LUMIRA, CLOUD EDITION? Yes. SAP BusinessObjects Cloud delivers superior functionality and experience. The product road map for SAP BusinessObjects Lumira includes planned support for the publishing of data sets along with metadata to SAP BusinessObjects Cloud. SAP BusinessObjects Lumira, cloud edition, is planned for retirement in 2016, and paid subscriptions will be transitioned to SAP BusinessObjects Cloud. 15. DOES SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD REPLACE ON-PREMISE VERSIONS OF SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS LUMIRA? No. SAP BusinessObjects Cloud is SaaS only (not available on premise). It can complement existing on-premise deployments of SAP BusinessObjects Lumira (in a hybrid deployment). 6 / 8

7 16. SHOULD I USE SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD OR SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS BI SOLUTIONS AND SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS LUMIRA? If you are looking for SaaS-based BI, you should use SAP BusinessObjects Cloud. If you are looking for on-premise BI, then you should use SAP BusinessObjects BI solutions and SAP BusinessObjects Lumira. 17. CAN I USE SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD WITH SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS BI SOLUTIONS? Yes. SAP BusinessObjects Cloud is designed to access semantic layers and the same data sources available to SAP BusinessObjects BI solutions, including queries from SAP Business Explorer tools in SAP BW and views in SAP HANA. 18. CAN I USE SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD WITH ON-PREMISE VERSIONS OF SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS LUMIRA? Yes. The product road map for SAP BusinessObjects Lumira includes planned support for the publishing of data sets along with metadata to SAP BusinessObjects Cloud. 19. IS SAP CLOUD FOR PLANNING INCLUDED IN SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD? Yes. SAP Cloud for Planning is the first set of capabilities available for SAP BusinessObjects Cloud. As mentioned, we now use the name SAP BusinessObjects Cloud for planning to refer to these capabilities. 20. DOES SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD REPLACE THE SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS PLANNING AND CONSOLIDATION APPLICATION? No. SAP BusinessObjects Cloud is SaaS only (not available on premise) and can complement existing deployments of SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation (in a hybrid deployment). The versions of SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation for both the SAP NetWeaver technology platform and the Microsoft platform have road maps, and for the version for SAP NetWeaver, there is extensive investment planned around integration with the SAP S/4HANA Finance solution. 7 / 8

8 21. SHOULD I DEPLOY SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD OR SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS PLANNING AND CONSOLIDATION? If you are looking for a SaaS-based planning application (or are indifferent as to whether it s SaaS or on premise), you should deploy SAP BusinessObjects Cloud. If you are looking for an on-premise solution or a unified planning and consolidation application, then you should deploy SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation. In particular, you should deploy SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation, version for SAP NetWeaver, if you are looking for a planning solution based on SAP BW with deep integration into SAP S/4HANA Finance. 22. CAN I USE SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD WITH SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS PLANNING AND CONSOLIDATION? Yes. SAP BusinessObjects Cloud and SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation can be used in a hybrid scenario. Native, bidirectional integration is available to move data and metadata between SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation (both Microsoft and SAP NetWeaver versions) and SAP BusinessObjects Cloud without having to use flat files. 23. WHERE CAN I FIND THE PRODUCT ROAD MAP FOR SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD? The product road map for SAP BusinessObjects Cloud is available from A direct link to the road map is here. * * Customer login (s-user) is required. This information is available to current SAP customers only. Your customer login (s-user) is required to access these links. Please contact your local SAP support center for assistance. 8 / 8 Studio SAP 41367enUS (16/06)

9 No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or for any purpose without the express permission of SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE (or an SAP affiliate company) in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices. Some software products marketed by SAP SE and its distributors contain proprietary software components of other software vendors. National product specifications may vary. These materials are provided by SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company for informational purposes only, without representation or warranty of any kind, and SAP SE or its affiliated companies shall not be liable for errors or omissions with respect to the materials. The only warranties for SAP SE or SAP affiliate company products and services are those that are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services, if any. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. In particular, SAP SE or its affiliated companies have no obligation to pursue any course of business outlined in this document or any related presentation, or to develop or release any functionality mentioned therein. This document, or any related presentation, and SAP SE s or its affiliated companies strategy and possible future developments, products, and/or platform directions and functionality are all subject to change and may be changed by SAP SE or its affiliated companies at any time for any reason without notice. The information in this document is not a commitment, promise, or legal obligation to deliver any material, code, or functionality. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates, and they should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions.