BI 2013 – It's a Wrap, Part 2 , Maintaining your BI4 System

[TammyPowlas]

Part 1 can be found here.   For part 2, I attended “A comprehensive guide to SAP BusinessObjects BI platform maintenance and optimization” pre-conference with james.rapp and vishal.dhir of the SAP Customer Solution Adoption team.  Below are some highlights.

First, Jim had us take a survey, asking what BI tool we mostly use, and if we knew about BI4 Elite training and the BI Pattern books.  Only a few people knew about the BI Pattern books BI4 Elite.    Overall the survey was a great idea to engage attendees.

Please note this pre-conference session was 3 hours and below I am listing only small highlights.

The pattern books can be found at this link – one book is free: 

http://wiki.sdn.sap.com/wiki/display/BOBJ/SAP+Business+Intelligence+Platform+Pattern+Books

Figure 1: Source: SAP

Jim reviewed the BI Release Cycle slide shown in Figure 1

Figure 2: Source: SAP

Many of the changes in the BI4 maintenance model were to align with “one SAP”.  Also please see recent blog by SAP on New Patching Policy on BI

Figure 3: Source: SAP

Jim said we should review the Critical Patch Criteria outlined in the note 1661557 (SMP logon required).

Another reference is the BI4 Support wiki on SCN http://wiki.sdn.sap.com/wiki/display/BOBJ/BI4.0+Product+Support+page

Check the BusinessObjects Maintenance schedule at https://service.sap.com/bosap-maintenance-schedule and the Forward-Fit plan at the bottom (SMP logon required)

christopher.vozella also wrote about demystifying BI4 maintenance here

Chris also has a presentation on Demystifying BI4 Maintenance at the upcoming ASUG Annual Conference 

BI4 sizing was also reviewed – several blogs have been written on this already but check the quick link sap.com/bisizing  - the overall message this week was to size your BI4 system properly for the best results.

Figure 4: Source: SAP

Figure 4 discussed performance testing, a little talked about topic in BI.  For more information, check the Performance Testing Wiki:

http://wiki.sdn.sap.com/wiki/display/BOBJ/Performance+Testing+SAP+BusinessObjects+BI+Platform

For some fun with the conference pictures please see this Animoto video at http://animoto.com/play/CkHAILBPLomrFgu0ZQGjAg

If you missed BI 2013 you can “catch up” and attend the BI4 Elite training or join us May 13^th at ASUG’s Annual Conference Pre-Conference session,  BI4.1 hands-on tools in a day – register here.