SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence is the ad‑hoc reporting and analysis tool in the SAP BusinessObjects BI platform. It’s designed for business users and analysts to create, view, explore, and distribute interactive reports from a variety of enterprise data sources without heavy developer involvement.
With SAP® BusinessObjects™ Web Intelligence® software, companies can perform sophisticated ad hoc reporting and analysis. Powerful functionality and an intuitive user interface enable your people to:
- Turn data into insights
- Improve decision making
- Enhance productivity
- Share knowledge across the enterprise
Let us look at the key capabilities of SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence.
| Key Capability | Details |
|---|---|
| Ad hoc report creation | In a browser (HTML5) or Rich Client: drag and drop report building, tables, crosstabs, charts, and formatted layouts. |
| Querying and data providers | Connect to universes, relational sources, SAP BW/BEx, SAP HANA, Excel and other JDBC/ODBC sources. Multiple queries per document are supported and query results can be merged on common dimensions. |
| Semantic layer support | Uses the Information Design Tool to create a semantic layer to hide database complexity and present business terms for users. |
| Interactive analysis | Input controls, prompts, filters, drill, sort, sections/breaks, conditional formatting and on-report variables/functions for calculated fields. |
| Document modes | Reading, Structure (navigate the structure, troubleshoot complex reports), Data mode (manage queries and result sets) and Design mode (design the document and format the output). |
| Scheduling, bursting and publication | Run reports on a schedule, burst to deliver personalized output to multiple recipients, and publish to folders or BI Portal Launch Pad. |
| Export and sharing | Export to PDF, Excel, CSV, TXT, and share links through BI Launch Pad. |
| Security & administration | Integration with Central Management Console (CMC) for user authentication, folder/security rights, and support for row level security enforced either in the universe or at the database. |
| APIs and integration | Java/.NET SDKs and RESTful services for embedding, automation and administrative tasks. |
Typical users and use cases
Some of the typical users and their common use cases for the BI portal are:
- Business analysts building operational and management reports.
- Self‑service reporting for business units who need to explore data and create their own analyses.
- Line‑of‑business distribution of scheduled reports and dashboards.
Architecture & deployment
The key components of Web Intelligence architecture and deployment are:
- Web Intelligence runs on the SAP BusinessObjects BI platform and relies on the CMS repository and services (reporting, scheduling, audit).
- An HTML5 viewer is used for browser compatibility and mobile friendliness.
- Universe design (UNX via Information Design Tool) is important to deliver performant, user‑friendly data models.
Strengths
These are the key strengths of Web Intelligence.
- Strong self‑service capabilities for business users.
- Rich formatting and layout options for flexible report presentation.
- Tight integration with the rest of the BusinessObjects platform (scheduling, security, universes).
- Works with SAP sources (HANA, BW) and many non‑SAP data sources.
Considerations
These are important considerations when working with Web Intelligence.
- Performance can suffer with very large rowsets; best practice is to restrict data at query time and use aggregations.
- Complex, pixel‑perfect operational reports may be better served by Crystal Reports.
- Universe design quality strongly affects usability and performance.
When to Use Web Intelligence
Use Web Intelligence in the situations when:
- Business users need fast, interactive, formatted reports and the ability to build or modify reports themselves.
- You require enterprise scheduling, distribution, and centralized security alongside ad‑hoc reporting.