SAP BI / BW

What is Business Intelligence
BI solutions consolidate enterprise data and information including supply-chain and customers, enable reporting and management of key metrics, and analyze data to optimize your business

BI is used at the enterprise level and in departments/functions
- supply-chain
- sales and marketing
- customer service
- finance
- product development
- business operations
- partner relationships

SAP Business Intelligence

Data Warehousing
- It supports the complete process from data load, transformation, data integration, consolidation and cleansing to data provision for analysis and interpretation of consistent information. Includes the following areas:
−- Extraction, Transformation and Load (ETL)
−- Data Warehouse Management
−- Data Modeling

Business Intelligence Platform
- Serves as the technological infrastructure to support information access and comprehensive analytics. It includes the following areas:
−- OLAP
−- Alerting
−- Data mining
−- Open Analysis Interfaces

Business Intelligence Reporting Tools
- It provides a comprehensive set of tools such as query, reporting and multi-dimensional (OLAP) analyses to support collaborative decision-making for analysts, executives and information consumer. It includes the following areas:
−- Query design
−- Reporting and Analysis
−- Web Application Design

Multidimensional model: Classic Star Schema
- Multi-dimensional data models are needed for the creation of data warehousing or OLAP applications, in other words, for analytical applications.
- The classic star schema is the most frequently used multi-dimensional model for relational databases. This database schema classifies two groups of data: facts (sales or quantity, for example) and dimension attributes (customer, material, time, for example).

Example:
Fact table can be associated to multiple Dimention Tables (Customer Dimension Table, Material Dimension Table, Time-Dimension Table)

The SAP BW Star Schema
The multi-dimensional model in SAP BW is based on the SAP BW star schema, which was developed as an enhanced (refined) star schema as a response to problems experienced with the classic star schema. Each dimension table has an SID.

InfoObject
- InfoObjects are the "smallest available information modules" (=fields) In SAP BW: These can be uniquely identified with their technical name.
- As components of the Metadata Repository, InfoObjects contain the technical and specialist information for master- and transaction data in SAP BW.
- InfoObjects are used throughout the system to create structures and tables. These enable information to be modeled in a structured form in SAP BW.
- InfoObjects are used for the definition of reports, to evaluate master and transaction data.


InfoObjects are divided into the following classes:
Key Figures
Key figure InfoObjects provide the values to be evaluated.
Examples:
Quantity ( 0QUANTITY)
Amount(0AMOUNT)

Characteristics
Characteristic InfoObjects are business reference objects, which are used to analyze key figures.
Examples:
Costcenter(0COSTCENTER)
Material (0MATERIAL)

Time Characteristics
Time characteristics form the time reference frame for many data analyses and evaluations. They are delivered with Business Content. It it not possible to define your own time characteristics.
Examples:
Calendar Day (0CALDAY)
Calendar Year (0CALYEAR) or Fiscal Year (0FISCYEAR)

Units
Unit InfoObjects can be specified alongside the key figures. They enable key figure values to be partnered with their corresponding units in evaluations.
Examples:
Currency unit ( 0CURRENCY)
Value unit ( 0UNIT)

Technical Characteristics
These characteristics have an organizational function within SAP BW.
Examples:
Request ID (0REQUID)
Change ID (0CHNGID)

DataStore Object (DSO)
- DataStore Object serves as a storage location for consolidated and cleansed data on a atomic level.
- Unlike multidimensional data storage using InfoCubes, the data in DataStore is stored in transparent, flat database tables.

Types of DSO
- Standard
- Direct Update
- Write-Optimized

InfoCubes
- InfoCubes are the central objects of the multi-dimensional model in SAP BW. Reports and analyses are based on these. An InfoCube describes a self-enclosed dataset for a business area from a reporting view, that is, for the reporting end user. Queries can be defined and/or executed in the basis of an InfoCube.

Types of InfoCube:
- Basic Cube
- Virtual Cube

Basic Cube
- A Basic Cube consists of a quantity of relational tables arranged together in a star schema.
- Fact table:
-- A Basic Cube consists of precisely one fact table, in which key figure values are stored. A fact table can contains a maximum of 233 key figures.
- Dimension tables:
-- A Basic Cube usually has at least three dimension tables.
−-- Units dimension table
−-- Data package dimension table
−-- Time dimension Table.

- Data package and time dimension tables are always present in a Basic Cube.
- The units dimension table only exists if at least one key figure is of type "amount" or "quantity“.
- The dimension tables do not contain the characteristic values but the corresponding SID keys/values.

Business Content
- SAP offers a predefined information model that helps to control and optimize the individual process areas.
- It collects and structures information and prepares it for further use. In doing so, Business Content is based on an information model that is preconfigured and based on roles and tasks stemming from consistent metadata.

Business Content consists of the following objects:
- Extractors
- DataSources (extraction structures)
- InfoObjects
- InfoSources
- InfoProviders (for example, InfoCubes and DSO objects)
- Queries
- Templates (Web-based reporting)
- Roles

SAP BI Enterprise Architecture
- Application & External Reports Layer
- Data Mart Layer
- EDW - Data Staging Layer
- EDW - Data Source Layer
- Sources (SAP R/3, ECC, Legacy Systems)