Factsheet of Platform Manager

Transcription

1 Factsheet of Platform Manager Roles I User management I Architecture I Technical requirements EVACO GmbH Philosophenweg Duisburg Tel.: +49 (0) Mail: info@evaco.de Stand:

2 Table of Contents Introduction... Roles... User management... Method of operation... Development... Testing... Go-live... Rollback... Auditing... Architecture... Technical requirements Legend BO DB IE IIS Business Objects Datenbank Internet Explorer Internet Informations System PM QS QV QVW Platform Manager Qlik Sense QlikView QlikView Workbook EVACO is a Master Reseller for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The Platform Manager by our partner In4BI is exclusively available at EVACO and our resellers since 08/2015. Please feel free to contact us. We would be happy to advise you in a personal conversation. EVACO GmbH Philosophenweg Duisburg Tel: +49 (0) info@evaco.de

3 Introduction Business intelligence and the associated applications are rapidly gaining importance in businesses across industry sectors and across departments. BI applications are constantly changing and are subject to continuous adaptations and must be implemented in the shortest time possible with a high degree of quality. Additionally, they must be documented, managed and published in a structured manner. Here, the Platform Manager provides a BI application lifecycle management toolset in the form of a server-based, holistic solution, which provides an integral framework for (distributed) user groups from the development, through testing up to the publication as a productive application. The process, access and function rights can be assigned on granular level. The Platform Manager supports business intelligence applications in QlikView, Qlik Sense and SAP BO. plan release Platform Manager Manager design test

4 Roles The Platform Manager works with three different roles, which differentiate according to their particular area of responsibility and the related functions in the Platform Manager. These three roles are as follows: Role Function Functional area Developer Checking out and in of the Development and analysis applications Promotion / Testmanager Implementation of the adaptations (Development) Release for testing Versioning Testing of the adaptations Release for production or return to the developer Promotion and analysis Administrator Installation and configuration of the Platform Manager Creation and assignment of users Auditing and Logging Administration Configuration Analysis In the process, a Platform Manager user can also be assigned to multiple roles. User management The Platform Manager offers two options for user management. On the one hand it provides its own user directory, which is maintained by the administrator and can be expanded with new users or user groups. On the other hand, an available active directory can be connected, whereby the management of the users is performed at a central location in the company

5 Method of operation In the following, the workflow is presented in a simplified illustration: Platform Platform Manager Manager Check-out Check-in Promote Promote Development Developer Acceptance Tester Production Development Testing Release Development After the developer has received his requirements for the adaptation of the application, the developer will first check out the current version of the application that is to be modified from the repository of the Platform Manager in his defined work area. Subsequently, the developer can, as normal, perform the desired modifications of the application directly in the program (e.g. QlikView or Qlik Sense) and test these in the program or after publication by QlikView or Qlik Sense on the access point or hub. After the successful implementation of the modifications, the change is saved by means of the Check-in option and the application will be released to other developers. Viewed in greater detail, two processes are initiated by the check-in: 1. Process: The binary file of the application (QVW) is stored in a directory, which was beforehand defined by the administrator. 2. Process: The installed QlikView service preferably installed on the QlikView server takes the QVW and disassembles it into its components in order to store the change information in the database. In order to release it to the test team, the developer must first assign a new version number and then move the application to the test system via the Platform Manager s promote function. This is performed with a single mouse click by the developer

6 Testing Subsequently, the test manager and the test team can open the released application on the test access point/ hub and subject it to thorough testing. Depending on the test result, the test manager can now release the application for the productive system or in the event of change requests return it to the developer. Again, an automated move to the productive system is performed by the Platform Manager. This release workflow can be modified to match the individual requirements of any company and can contain several steps before release of an application. Go-Live Following the release and the subsequent promotion by the test manager, the application is located on the production system in its most current version and can be used by the users as normal. Rollback Should an error have been missed during testing or when the calculation of a key figure afterwards appears to be incorrect, the promotion manager can recover a previously released version of the application by executing a rollback. The rollback can be performed with little time expenditure in just two clicks. Auditing All user actions that are performed during the presented workflow are logged in the Platform Manager and can afterwards be viewed in detail and as a result are traceable

7 Architecture The following diagram addresses the technical architecture of the Platform Manager: via IE11/Chrome/... Share(s) Interactive user Workspace/ Development location(s) PM Storage PM WebService (IIS) Acceptance location(s) PM Database Production location(s) Platform Manager Server PM QlikView 11/ Qlik Sense Service Qlik Infrastructure The Platform Manager Server is the central repository which provides web access for the users, the database with the meta information on the application versions as well as the version memory of the application. By using the Internet Information Service (IIS) installed on the Platform Manager Server, the users can access the Platform Manager s interface via a web browser and utilise the functions that correspond to their specific role. The Platform Manager Server additionally has access to the released directories of the present environments, in order to transport applications through the Platform Manager via the release process to the next environment. Furthermore, this directory release on the development environment can be made available to the developers as a joint workspace

8 Technical requirements Supported BI systems Software Platform Manager Server* Server Datenbank** Shared directories Software Platform Manager QV/QS service Server Software Local workspace QlikView Qlik Sense SAP BO Windows 2008R2 Server (64bit) or higher Local admininistration rights IIS 7 or higher Connection with the BI Servers (QV/QS Servers) > 6 GB RAM > Quad core CPU Oracle 10 (and higher) or MS SQL 2005 Express (and higher) Connection data to the database SQL: PM users must be owner of the platform PM users must have access to the directories The licence must be applied and present Installation file must be present QV/QS Server (at least Windows 2008R2, 64bit) Local admin rights Connection with the Platform Manager Server QV/QS desktop client must be installed Installation file must be present Webbrowser > IE9 or Firefox For developers, a client must be provided * Installing the Platform Manager Server on the same server as the QlikView/Qlik Sense Server is not recommended. ** Should a company-wide database already be in use, then this can be utilised