Case Study. BusinessObjects Cloud on SAP HANA Enabled Real-time Reporting and User Friendly Dashboards

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1 Case Study BusinessObjects Cloud on SAP HANA Enabled Real-time Reporting and User Friendly Dashboards

2 BusinessObjects Cloud on SAP HANA Enabled Real-time Reporting and User Friendly Dashboards Industry: Manufacturing Location: USA Employees: 3,000 Revenue Range: 10-20M US Operations About the Client The client is a German-based printing company with a global presence, specializing in décor printing. Reporting executed manually Limited visibility of backlog summary exception report from SAP ECC No flexible reporting of operational reports from transaction system Need to be able to combine SAP and non-sap data for informed business decision Lack of visibility of Key Performance Indicators to make proactive business decisions More effort to develop new custom reports in SAP ECC Created SAP HANA data model on SAP HANA Cloud Platform based on business reporting requirement Upload SAP ECC Production and Scheduling data to SAP HANA Cloud Platform Developed intuitive Analytical Dashboards on SAP BusinessObjects Cloud for Analytics consuming data from SAP HANA Cloud Platform Executive dashboard enabled realtime visibility of Backlog Summary Exception Report on the cloud Allowed for effective management of Production Backlog KPIs Empowered management to take corrective action on production schedule to meet customer commitments Increased operational effectiveness due to improved data visibility

3 Moving to cloud reduced backlog from 3-4 months to 21 days The client, a leading décor printer that prints wood, stone, and creative décors, utilized multiple applications including SAP; however, they lacked effective analytic capabilities to support the US business. All reports and dashboards were manually generated through Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) data dumps, as the US business could not wait for reports to be created. As a result, the client experienced: Incomplete data that lacked consolidated views of overall sales and operation performance across product times Information was not in real-time The limited flexibility of reporting did not offer insight of order totals and production levels against supply targets Client had partial visibility of the backlog summary exception report from SAP Complete lack of visibility of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for proactive business action Not only were the reports manual and inaccurate, but end users could not easily access these reports as the Access database tool was primarily used to create reports. As the organization was headquartered in Germany, the US division faced constraints as they had to wait for the HQ IT department to invest in implementing the needed capabilities. Despite this concern, the client still felt the need for: A cost effective Business Intelligence (BI) tool that would enable quick business insight and better user adoption A scalable architecture/data model to stage common and consistent data for the enterprise with real-time information view With all of the pain points identified, the client sought an analytical solution that would enable its end users to be selfsufficient and allow them to reduce their backlog from 3-4 months to 21 days.

4 Technology: SAP BusinessObjects Cloud (BOC) Public Edition, SAP HANA Cloud Platform (HCP) Delivered: Exception Reports and Dashboards Time to Deliver: 3 weeks effort Description: Data model that had been manually created in Access was recreated as an Analytical View in HCP. This view was then made available to BOC to feed the developed report and dashboard Challenges Faced & Resolution Provided (Lessons Learned) Client required a data transformation that took the summation of a model column that was populated by a calculated key figure outside of the data source. At the time, that capability was not available in that particular release of BOC. Resolution: An analytical view was created in HCP that delivered the needed transformation. Now the data model exists in HCP, where HCP is acting as both the semantic and data storage application in lieu of a data warehouse. The HCP and BOC systems required to be on same interoperability release levels for seamless integration Resolution: Microexcel and the client provided feedback to SAP on some of the challenges within the software and SAP made those corrections in the next software release. Client expected no IT involvement. Resolution: Though the UI for report building and modeling is intuitive, the initial data modeling required a bit more BI savvy for the end user. Once the model was delivered, Microexcel trained the client s Access developer on how to create and extend the data model, so they will be self sufficient. BusinessObjects Cloud produced the most cost-effective and rapid adoption of new reporting

5 1 2 3 SAP BusinessObjects Cloud reduced their backlog from 3-4 months to just 21 days. SAP BusinessObjects Cloud on SAP HANA significantly improved data loads and enhanced query performance via the rearchitected data model. Enabled better visibility into sales and operational analysis and an increase of operational effectiveness due to improved Orders vs. Backlog Product visibility. 4 7 Dashboards enabled real-time visibility of the Backlog Summary Exception Report, and allowed effective management of Production Backlog KPIs. 5 6 Management was enabled to take corrective action on the production schedule to meet customer commitments, improving customer service. Vital statistics to demonstrate the Released, Reserved, and Closed orders by product type were now accessible as well. Within just a few weeks, the client was able to present meaningful and real-time sales and operation summary reports in a board meeting. 8 Overall the Cloud solution ensured a lower cost of installation, maintenance, and use, and no further investment would be required as Microexcel provided training to the client for self-sufficiency. The client can now create BI reports with a few clicks of a button.

6 For more information, please visit or About Microexcel Microexcel Inc., is a global leader in providing innovative and comprehensive software solutions and services. Founded in 2001, Microexcel merges people and technology to deliver the most value and return on investment for customers. With headquarters in Secaucus, NJ, and offices worldwide, Microexcel provides full services and support to clients in the areas of Microsoft, SAP, Quality Assurance and Testing, IT Infrastructure, Open Source/ Liferay, Staffing, and Interactive Services. Microexcel ISO 27001:2013 and ISO 9001:2015 certified and is also a New York and New Jersey state Certified Minority Owned Business Enterprise. 400 Plaza Drive, 1st Floor Secaucus, NJ 07094, USA O: , F: USA : New Jersey New York California Illinois Utah India : Bangalore Hyderabad Pune Middle East : Dubai Doha South Africa : Gauteng Microexcel Inc. All rights reserved. ME.SAPBOC.MAN501.Jan17