BusinessObjects Enterprise
BusinessObjects Enterprise is in fact the name for the platform that powers a series of specialised end user tools from within a proven, scalable and "open-services-orientated" architecture. This suite includes:-
Of the above all but EIM are dealt with on other pages in the Contemporary site, therefore an explanation of what Enterprise information management follows:-
Enterprise Information Management (EIM)
When you are making decisions based upon data, you have to be very sure that that data is accurate, a thought that is very much on the mind of the decision makers in any organisation. The set of elements in EIM is therefore designed to first Integrate data from the various data sources in your organisation, be they data warehouses, data marts or operational transaction systems. Also known under the acronym ETL, this process, most often batch orientated, consists of three distinct phases, Extraction, Transformation and Loading (ETL).
The next element, the Data Quality element, then allows you to profile, cleanse and monitor the resulting data, all on a continuous basis.
The final part of the EIM suite is Metadata and Lifecycle Management which provides a better understanding of the relationships between information and its' usage in your BI environment. Metadata is of course "data about data" describing how that data was created, how it is formatted and who created it. When your organisation is using data warehouses or data marts, it is essential that your systems can also "decode" metadata. BusinessObjects Metadata and Lifecycle Manager provides just this function, allowing you to consolidate, integrate and audit metadata from many tools and sources of data. This operation is essential to EIM, businesses benefiting from true source to report impact analysis / "end-to-end" data lineage, where you can truly identify the "data to report" relationship.
With such a comprehensive set of tools at your disposal you can be sure that your data is:-
Correct, Consistent and Complete.
Portal Integration Kits (PIK)
There are various versions of these "integration kits", but all have the same function, to allow you to integrate data and applications from other portals into one. For example, the Sharepoint Portal Integration kit is designed to allow you integrate content from your .NET based portal, while the Java Portal Integration kits is designed to integrate content from a Java based corporate portal. At the time of writing, the Java PIK supported IBM WebSphere Portal Server 5.0.2.2 or 5.1 (depending on the release version of your BusinessObjects XI) as well as BEA Weblogic 8.1 and Oracle 10g.
Analytic Engines
Today many organisations are looking for ways to improve their performance management strategy and that in the end requires the ability to analyse the data held in the corporate systems. With Business Objects, such engines are used to power the Dashboard Manager, which is itself designed to help organisations improve their performance by proving them with an in depth insight into their business.
With Analytic Engines you can:-
- Segment, Track and Analyse your data
- Find underlying trends and therefore be able to create forecasts
- Monitor your business processes
Three Different Types of Analysis
Set Analysis
There are also different types of Analysis. There is "Set Analysis" which helps you to define track and analyse the different segments that drive business success. Such analysis enables you to understand how each segment adds to overall performance and allows you to create dynamic customised "sets" of data within an overall set. Critical business metrics can then be assigned and shared throughout the organisation through dashboards, which will provide in turn a consistent foundation for decision making.
Predictive Analysis
Predictive Analysis is used where an organisation wishes to make proactive rather than reactive decisions, therefore stopping something from going wrong before it actually does. This is however is not easy, as with an ever increasing amount of data it is very difficult to forecast business conditions and to discover the key drivers to success etc. This is just where the Predictive Analysis engine comes into its own, quickly uncovering what was previously hidden.
Process Analysis
Lastly there is Process Analysis, which as the name suggests analsyses the processes in your organisation. It achieves its aim of assisting with the optimisation of performance by monitoring and analysing all operational processes in a continuous process, alerting you when a process is starting to go "bad". This early warning allows actions to be taken before things get out of hand therefore ensuring that optimum efficiency is maintained.
BusinessObjects XI Platform therefore covers many needs that a modern business has today but as ever careful planning and implementation is required. Therefore if your organisation is considering implementing a Business Intelligence Solution using BusinessObjects, Contemporary with our years of experience are sure to be able to assist.
Frequently Asked Questions
Business Intelligence- what is it and what does it offer my organisation?
Q: What is business intelligence?
A: Business intelligence is really about taking all of the information assets from the business, whether it is held in databases or documents and really, getting the relevant information in the right format out to the organisation that allows them to make better business decisions and drive business efficiency.
Why should I work with a business intelligence partner?
Q: What benefits would an organisation get from working with a business intelligence partner?
A: From our experience there are a number of benefits from working with a specialist in this area. Really getting someone who has done this and worked in this area before is invaluable. Some of the areas that need to be addressed such as data integrations, reporting performance management are things that can only be achieved through people that have done that process many times with many organisations. Many of the organisations that have supplied business intelligence solutions will have adopted processes and methodologies that will support this as an implementation in the project, so it’s not about re-inventing the wheel? It is about having been there before. |
