SAP

·         Version 4.0 as we have seen the product as part of the beta phase certainly provides some key improvements over version 3.1 as far as integrating with BW backend is considered.  Utilizing the BICS based direct  integration of the BO front  end tools  with the SAP BW backend is definitely a step forward

·         Convergence of all the different tools on a single platform via the launch pad is a step forward to make BO 4.0 a single reporting platform. This in contrast to the disparate  stack of version 3.1

·         Launch of the new BO Analysis (earlier called Advanced Analysis) which would be created as a marriage of BEx and the erstwhile BO Voyager is definitely going to occupy the space of a much needed interactive OLAP analysis tool. WebI was being used and sometimes even being abused to fill up that space in the current 3.1 version

·          Enhanced front end features of WebI and Xcelsius is definitely going to provide a lot of additional charting options for better data visualization.

·         The new and transformed version of the universe, the Common Semantic Layer (CSL)   that would allow integration of multi technology data sourcing would definitely be a very powerful tool to integrate disparate sources.

While we can see significant improvements that BO 4.0 is going to come up with, it is still something which has not in General Availability (GA).  However organizations looking at adopting BO on top of their BW landscape may be at different stages of their BO journey and may need to adopt different strategies based on the situation that they are in.  Let me discuss some of the typical situation that organizations are likely to be and

·         The green field: If an organization is implementing BW from grounds up, it should definitely be looking at BO version 4.0 to start the journey given the distinct. I would recommend a pilot phase be planned before implementing it in a big bang manner. This would help establish the basic architecture framework and also give an opportunity to establish best practices for the larger implementation.

·         The End state: In case of those organizations which are already in the middle or nearing completion of rolling out BO on top of their BW landscape could possibly defer the BO 4.0 adoption for some time now. SAP has made some amends to the integration and performance challenges around the integration and today it does work fairly well with certain design principles in mind. Given this picture it would possibly make more sense to be with 3.1 as there are assurances from SAP on protecting the investments on the backend BEx query based integration

·           The 'Mid' state: This is typically organizations which are in Scenario 2 of the Part-I of my blog and which have decided to go ahead with 3.1, done some pilot or a small transformation and is in a dilemma on whether to make course corrections and move to version 4.0.  Although there are no two ways about the overwhelming advantages of a Business Objects 4.0 layer on BW the choice cannot be just based on pure technical considerations. The situation could  be a bit tricky to resolve and I would suggest the organization also looks at the following imperatives for arriving at a decision:

o   The extent to which Business Objects has been  implemented- if it has been a small pilot, a course correction is a relatively easier option

o   Usability - There are certain specific charting and data visualization aspects being offered  as part of the new version 4.0

o   A TCO calculation-costs of upgrade to version 4.0 from version 3.1 at a later point vis-à-vis a direct investment  on version 4.0 now could guide the financial considerations