Getting Personal with Publications in BI Platform 4.0

Transcription

1 September 9 11, 2013 Anaheim, California Getting Personal with Publications in BI Platform 4.0 Gray Mitchell, Consultancy by Kingfisher, Inc. Session Code: 0512

2 Learning Points By the end of this presentation, attendees will: See the basics of developing and configuring a BusinessObjects BI Platform 4.0 publication See the various levels of customization available when writing a publication Learn how to easily configure existing servers for use in bursting 2

3 Definitions Review BI 4.0 Publication terms 3

4 Definition: Publication A publication is a collection of documents intended for distribution to a mass audience. Before the documents are distributed, the publisher defines the publication using a collection of metadata. This metadata includes the publication source, its recipients, and the personalization applied. Source: SAP BI Platform Admin Guide 4

5 Definition: Recipients The completed publications are delivered to recipients. The publisher will specify who these recipients are. These can be Enterprise users, or those that exist outside of the BI Platform. There are two categories of recipients: Enterprise and Dynamic Enterprise recipients are those that have registered Enterprise accounts within the BI Platform and receive the publication based on this account. Dynamic recipients are publication recipients who exist outside of the BI platform. The recipient data, such name and , is stored in an external data source. Dynamic recipients do not have access to the BI Platform. 5

6 Definition: Scheduling Scheduling Setting a single or repeating pattern, either now or in the future for the publication to process and be distributed to its recipients. 6

7 Definition: Destination Destination The location that the completed publication will be delivered to. This location can be either the BI Platform, a file store, , etc. More than one destination can be set for a publication Source: SAP BI Platform Admin Guide 7

8 Definition: Bursting When scheduled the data in documents is refreshed against data sources and personalized before the publication is delivered to recipients. Source: SAP BI Platform Admin Guide 8

9 Creating a Publication Overview of creating a BI Platform Publication 9

10 Summary Information As with all other objects that can be created and stored in the BI Platform, publishers can add a title, description, and add keywords to the publication. These attributes can be utilized when using the Search feature in the CMC or BI Launch Pad 10

11 Source Document Using the same hierarchical folder view as the CMC, a single or multiple source document can be added to the publication. The source document is the object that will be distributed to the recipients upon processing. 11

12 Recipients - Enterprise Enterprise Recipients include individual users as well as groups of users with accounts on the BI Platform. Users can be selected and/or selected using the familiar interface. Tip: Enterprise users have the ability to unsubscribe themselves from publications, given the proper rights. 12

13 Recipients - Dynamic To distribute a publication to dynamic recipients, you use a dynamic recipient source. The source for the Dynamic Recipients is an external data source, either a document or a data store, that contains relevant recipient information that the BI Platform uses to deliver the publication. 13

14 Personalization Personalization is the process of filtering data in source documents so that only relevant data is displayed for publication recipients. Personalization alters the view of the data, but it does not necessarily change or secure the data being queried from the data source. Source: SAP BI Platform Admin Guide 14

15 Personalization Mapping fields for Personalization: Fields within the source document and the DRDP can be mapped to one another so that personalization can be applied on desired fields. This can be accomplished via parameters or filters. 15

16 Formats Publishers can define the format s that the publication s source document(s) will be delivered in. Source documents can be published in multiple formats Each of these instances can be delivered to multiple destinations. If the publication has multiple source documents, each of these documents can be delivered in a separate format. Source: SAP BI Platform Admin Guide 16

17 Destinations Destinations are locations that the BI Platform delivers publications to. A destination can be one of the following: Enterprise location BI Inbox for an Enterprise user address FTP server Directory on the file system Multiple destinations can be set for a publication. 17

18 Destinations The BI Platform will use system information to fill in dynamic placeholders for most of the available destinations. This is useful when sending publications via , as a date and time stamp can be applied to the subject line and easily referenced. Some examples of the placeholders are as follows: 18

19 Delivery Rules Delivery rules are used in publications to determine how the source documents are processed and distributed to the recipients. When the publisher sets up delivery rules on the source documents, the publication will be delivered if the delivery rules, either alerts or conditions are met, and not otherwise. Two types of delivery rules: Recipient Delivery Rules Global Delivery Rules 19

20 Delivery Rules - Recipient Recipient Delivery Rule - If the data in the recipient s meets this delivery rule, the publication will be delivered to the recipient. 20

21 Delivery Rules - Global Global delivery rule - If the data in a designated document meets the delivery rule, the publication is delivered to all recipients. Source: SAP BI Platform Admin Guide 21

22 Recurrence Scheduling is a process which allows you to run an object automatically at specified times. When you schedule an object, you choose the recurrence pattern that you want and specify additional parameters to control exactly when and how often the object will be run. When scheduling an object, you can choose from the recurrence patterns. Source: SAP BI Platform Admin Guide 22

23 Scheduling Server Group For environments with multiple job servers and defined server groups, the desired server group can be selected to handle the scheduled publication, minimizing server resources. 23

24 Advanced Settings Advanced settings that a publisher can set for the publication. Profile Resolution, Personalization, and Report Bursting settings 24

25 Report Bursting Options Publications can range dramatically, from the size of the source documents, to the One database fetch for all recipients all documents in the publication are refreshed once, and then the documents are personalized and delivered to each recipient. One database fetch for each batch of recipients - The publication is refreshed personalized, and delivered to recipients in batches. One database fetch per recipient - The data in a document is refreshed for every recipient. Source: SAP BI Platform Admin Guide 25

26 Best Practices Process and distribute personalized reports to a large audience Learn how to use SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform 4.0 publications to minimize database resources. How to personalize reports according to a dynamic set of recipients. 26

27 Best Practices Examine how various types of Business Intelligence documents can be easily burst through an existing Exchange Server. Learn how you can put a PDF report in every employee s hands come Monday morning. Investigate several SAP Crystal Report features that will take your personalized report distribution to the next level. 27

28 Key Learning You have now seen and learned: The fundamentals for creating and configuring a BusinessObjects BI Platform 4.0 publication Watched a publication being created based on sample data and reports Learned the various options 28

29 Citation Fu, Geoffery. SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform: Administration and Security Instructor Handbook. col 96 ed. Walldorf: SAP AG, Print. 29

30 Thank you for participating. Please provide feedback on this session by completing a short survey via the event mobile application. SESSION CODE: 0512 Learn more year-round at