SAP® BusinessObjects™ Cloud
To help customers Run Simple, SAP is breaking the limitations of the past. On
October 20, 2015, we unveiled a new generation of software as a service – the
SAP® BusinessObjects™ Cloud solution – that redefines analytics in the public
cloud by providing all analytics capabilities for all users in one product.
This document answers a selection of frequently asked questions about
SAP BusinessObjects Cloud.
3 What Is SAP BusinessObjects Cloud? 3 What Analytics Capabilities Is SAP
Envisioning in SAP BusinessObjects Cloud?
3 Why Is SAP Delivering All Analytics Capabilities in One Product?
4 What Makes SAP BusinessObjects Cloud Different from Other Cloud-Based
Analytics Solutions?
4 Is SAP BusinessObjects Cloud Available Today?
4 What Are the Licensing and Purchasing Options for SAP BusinessObjects Cloud? 5 What Is SAP Digital Boardroom?
5 Is SAP BusinessObjects Cloud Multitenant?
5 Where Is SAP BusinessObjects Cloud Hosted?
5 Where Can I Learn More About SAP Data Centers Hosting SAP BusinessObjects Cloud?
5 Is SAP Deemphasizing SAP
BusinessObjects BI Solutions and SAP BusinessObjects Lumira Software in Favor of SAP BusinessObjects Cloud?
6 Will SAP Continue on the Convergence Strategy for SAP BusinessObjects BI Solutions and SAP BusinessObjects Lumira?
6 Is SAP BusinessObjects Cloud the
Successor of SAP BusinessObjects Lumira, Cloud Edition?
6 Does SAP BusinessObjects Cloud Replace On-Premise Versions of SAP BusinessObjects Lumira?
7 Should I Use SAP BusinessObjects Cloud or SAP BusinessObjects BI Solutions and SAP BusinessObjects Lumira?
7 Can I Use SAP BusinessObjects Cloud with SAP BusinessObjects BI Solutions? 7 Can I Use SAP BusinessObjects Cloud
with On-Premise Versions of SAP BusinessObjects Lumira?
7 Is SAP Cloud for Planning Included in SAP BusinessObjects Cloud?
7 Does SAP BusinessObjects Cloud Replace the SAP BusinessObjects Planning
and Consolidation Application?
8 Should I Deploy SAP BusinessObjects Cloud or SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation?
1. WHAT IS SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD?
SAP BusinessObjects Cloud (formerly SAP Cloud for Analytics) is a new generation of software as a service (SaaS) that redefines analytics in the cloud by providing business intelligence (BI), predictive, and planning capabilities in one solution. Built natively on SAP HANA® Cloud Platform, it allows cus-tomers to simplify access to a new public cloud experience that they can trust.
2. WHAT ANALYTICS CAPABILITIES IS SAP ENVISIONING IN SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD?
SAP envisions SAP BusinessObjects Cloud as delivering all analytics capabilities – for BI, planning, predictive, and governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) purposes – in one product to help people make better fact-based decisions. The product road map for SAP BusinessObjects Cloud includes providing the best data connectivity to on-premise data sources in the SAP HANA database, SAP S/4HANA suite, and SAP Business Warehouse (SAP BW) application, as well as SAP BusinessObjects™ solution universes and other key cloud data sources.
3. WHY IS SAP DELIVERING ALL ANALYTICS CAPABILITIES IN ONE PRODUCT?
4. WHAT MAKES SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD DIFFERENT FROM OTHER CLOUD-BASED ANALYTICS SOLUTIONS?
SAP BusinessObjects Cloud is different from other cloud-based analytics solutions in multiple areas: • It integrates all analytics capabilities in one product to enable users to save time and reduce errors
by not having to jump between multiple products to do their jobs.
• It offers a user interface that’s like a consumer app, with a modern look and feel that is intuitive and easy to use on any device, so users can start getting value in just a few minutes with a few mouse clicks.
• It has built-in social collaboration functionality to enable users to work together and take action directly in the context of their analytics in a WhatsApp-like conversation.
• It connects to heterogeneous data sources – SAP and non-SAP – whether they are on premise or in the cloud.
• It enables Big Data wrangling and blending to enrich traditional analytics with Big Data analytics without requiring a separate specialized product.
• It integrates natively with SAP applications deployed on premise to support hybrid scenarios while complementing and using existing investments.
• Its two-tier data management architecture is powered by SAP HANA to get immediate answers to any question, at any level of detail, at any time.
• It is built natively on SAP HANA Cloud Platform so that it can be easily and quickly extended to meet the particular needs of your organization.
5. IS SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD AVAILABLE TODAY?
Yes. SAP BusinessObjects Cloud is the evolution of SAP Cloud for Planning – a product we now refer to as “SAP BusinessObjects Cloud for planning.” SAP BusinessObjects Cloud for planning has been generally available as SAP Cloud for Planning since February 2015. SAP BusinessObjects Cloud for business intelligence became generally available in November 2015. Predictive capabilities were released in May 2016. The road map for GRC capabilities is being finalized.
6. WHAT ARE THE LICENSING AND PURCHASING OPTIONS FOR SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD?
SAP BusinessObjects Cloud is licensed through an annual subscription fee. Infrastructure,
7. WHAT IS SAP DIGITAL BOARDROOM?
SAP Digital Boardroom is a next-generation digital solution that contextualizes the boardroom experience across people, places, and devices into a real-time enterprise experience. Built on SAP BusinessObjects Cloud, SAP Digital Boardroom uses line-of-business data from SAP S/4HANA to provide a single source of truth about a company’s most important business metrics, so business leaders can monitor, simulate, and drive change in the digital economy. SAP Digital Boardroom has been generally available since November 2015.
8. IS SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD MULTITENANT?
Yes. SAP BusinessObjects Cloud is a multitenant public cloud solution. There is the option to deploy it in a private cloud in SAP data centers.
9. WHERE IS SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD HOSTED?
SAP BusinessObjects Cloud is hosted in SAP HANA Cloud Platform in data centers across the world.
10. WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT SAP DATA CENTERS HOSTING SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD?
Please go to www.sapdatacenter.com.
11. IS SAP DEEMPHASIZING SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS BI SOLUTIONS AND SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS LUMIRA SOFTWARE IN FAVOR OF SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD?
12. DOES SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD CHANGE THE ROAD MAP FOR SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS BI SOLUTIONS AND SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS LUMIRA?
No. We continue to evolve SAP BusinessObjects BI solutions and SAP BusinessObjects Lumira soft-ware with a strong set of on-premise innovations. The SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.2 platform became generally available in March 2016, with key new features like a commentary service, parallel query support, and direct access to SAP HANA in SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence® software. SAP BusinessObjects Lumira continues its rapid evolution with new features delivered in November 2015 that improve connectivity with SAP BW, add more formatting options to cross-tabs, provide a formula editor for scripting complex expressions, and more. Further, new features in SAP BusinessObjects Lumira were released in March 2016 around data acquisition and manipulation, enterprise readiness, and analysis.
13. WILL SAP CONTINUE ON THE CONVERGENCE STRATEGY FOR SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS BI SOLUTIONS AND SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS LUMIRA?
Yes. We recently provided a public update to our convergence strategy here. This strategy and our
focus on simplification remain unchanged with the release of SAP BusinessObjects Cloud.
14. IS SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD THE SUCCESSOR OF SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS LUMIRA, CLOUD EDITION?
Yes. SAP BusinessObjects Cloud delivers superior functionality and experience. The product road map for SAP BusinessObjects Lumira includes planned support for the publishing of data sets along with metadata to SAP BusinessObjects Cloud. SAP BusinessObjects Lumira, cloud edition, is planned for retirement in 2016, and paid subscriptions will be transitioned to SAP BusinessObjects Cloud.
15. DOES SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD REPLACE ON-PREMISE VERSIONS OF SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS LUMIRA?
16. SHOULD I USE SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD OR SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS BI SOLUTIONS AND SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS LUMIRA?
If you are looking for SaaS-based BI, you should use SAP BusinessObjects Cloud. If you are looking for on-premise BI, then you should use SAP BusinessObjects BI solutions and SAP BusinessObjects Lumira.
17. CAN I USE SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD WITH SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS BI SOLUTIONS?
Yes. SAP BusinessObjects Cloud is designed to access semantic layers and the same data sources available to SAP BusinessObjects BI solutions, including queries from SAP Business Explorer® tools in SAP BW and views in SAP HANA.
18. CAN I USE SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD WITH ON-PREMISE VERSIONS OF SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS LUMIRA?
Yes. The product road map for SAP BusinessObjects Lumira includes planned support for the publishing of data sets along with metadata to SAP BusinessObjects Cloud.
19. IS SAP CLOUD FOR PLANNING INCLUDED IN SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD?
Yes. SAP Cloud for Planning is the first set of capabilities available for SAP BusinessObjects Cloud. As mentioned, we now use the name “SAP BusinessObjects Cloud for planning” to refer to these capabilities.
20. DOES SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD REPLACE THE SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS PLANNING AND CONSOLIDATION APPLICATION?
21. SHOULD I DEPLOY SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD OR SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS PLANNING AND CONSOLIDATION?
If you are looking for a SaaS-based planning application (or are indifferent as to whether it’s SaaS or on premise), you should deploy SAP BusinessObjects Cloud. If you are looking for an on-premise solution or a unified planning and consolidation application, then you should deploy SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation. In particular, you should deploy SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation, version for SAP NetWeaver, if you are looking for a planning solution based on SAP BW with deep integration into SAP S/4HANA Finance.
22. CAN I USE SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD WITH SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS PLANNING AND CONSOLIDATION?
Yes. SAP BusinessObjects Cloud and SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation can be used in a hybrid scenario. Native, bidirectional integration is available to move data and metadata between SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation (both Microsoft and SAP NetWeaver versions) and SAP BusinessObjects Cloud without having to use flat files.
23. WHERE CAN I FIND THE PRODUCT ROAD MAP FOR SAP BUSINESSOBJECTS CLOUD?
The product road map for SAP BusinessObjects Cloud is available from
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