Blogs
Introducing Interactive Analysis Desktop Edition
 
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The desktop edition of Interactive Analysis is what was previously known as Web Intelligence Personal. It provides for the self-service of data analysis on the part of data savvy individuals. As one of these individuals, you would normally have a good idea of what the data means for your specific needs within an organization and do not have the time to wait for IT to create your reports. Through the use of the desktop edition of Interactive Analysis, you are able to analyze data from multiple sources in both online and offline capacities. Once you have completed your analysis, you can then share your insights with other members of your organization. The end result is a streamlined process of data analysis that can be achieved either singularly or in collaboration with others.
For those that are familiar with Web Intelligence, you will recognize the interface and the features of the Interactive Analysis client. Those that have not yet used Web Intelligence will be able to take advantage of the intuitive nature of the interface and the one-click analysis functions as a starting point to interactive analysis. From there, more advanced ad hoc query and analysis features will become useful as you begin to dig deeper into the data to make connections and start piecing together a story from your analysis sessions.
Some of the more useful aspects of the desktop edition of Interactive Analysis are:
The ability to use an existing report as a starting point for your analysis
You can easily use one of the existing reports as a starting point for you own analysis. For example, you could have a report that shows the margins by product category...
...and you could easily turn this into a report that shows the margins by product line within each category.
This was done by simply adding a section on "Category" and replacing "Category" inside the table with "Line". So, we can now see, for example, the margins for the "Jackets" line within the "Boatwear" category.
The available one-click analysis features
There are a myriad of different one-click analysis features that will allow you to quickly filter and analyze the data down to the parts that are more applicable and interesting to your purposes. For example, you have the ability to quickly insert breaks, sort the results, perform one-click calculations, insert a new row or column, and enable the track data changes features - which quickly shows what data has changed since the last refresh of the report.
In addition, you have the ability to quickly:
Add an Alert
Apply a Ranking
Set the Ability to Fold and Unfold Sections
Quickly Drill
Filter the Data
and Add One of the New Input Controls
The ability to create new reports from multiple data sources
It is also easy to setup queries against multiple data sources. Starting from an existing report you just need to click on "Edit Query" and then on "Add Query".
Once you click on "Add Query", you will see a window that lets you choose whether you want to add a query from an existing Universe or from another type of data source.
If you were to choose "Other data source", you would then get to choose whether you wanted to your additional data source to be a Text or Excel file OR a Web Service.
If you were to choose "Universe", then you would get the option to choose your Universe and create your new query via the normal Query Window. You can see from the screenshot below that I know have two query tabs for "Query 1" and "Query 2".
An additional benefit of utilizing multiple data sources is that you can use the results of one query to filter another. This is done by using the query on query feature. When defining a query filter in the presence of a multiple query report, you will see the option to use the "result from another query".
The ability to perform your analysis offline
Finally, it is very important to note that any of your analysis within a report can be done in an "offline" capacity. This means that, out of the steps that I performed above, all of them were performed offline except for the adding of the additional Universe-based query. All of my analysis outside of this one feature was performed without being connected to an SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise deployment. This is great for when you need to perform analysis "on the go".
Coy Yonce
is a Product Manager with SAP and an evangelist for all SAP BI Clients
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- Interactive Analysis
2010-01-14 03:23:16 B. Miessen Business Card [Reply]
I did not noticed this product release, but now I have and I have to mention that there are quite a lot of client tools available now with the same functionality and features;
- Desktop Intelligence
- Web Intelligence Rich Client
- Interactive Analysis
Nevertheless I thought it would be nice to give Interactive Analysis a try, but I can not find this package in the SAP BusinessObjects download area at SAP's Service Marketplace. Also it is not available in the BOE XI 3.1 Client Tools download. Is it part of the BO Edge package perhaps? Or where else can I find it?- Interactive Analysis
2010-01-14 07:08:20 Coy Yonce
Business Card
[Reply]
Hi,
Interactive Analysis is a version of Web Intelligence that is built for those customers that do not want or need to take advantage of the full BI platform for achieving their adhoc query and interactive analysis needs. For example, you can use IA to connect to a personal data source like Excel or MS Access to perform information analysis against those data sources. The IA client can connect to the BI platform if the customer has it available; however, it is not the key value proposition of the product. This product is really geared towards those customers that have a need to perform information analysis, but do not need to manage their BI content through a BI platform like BusinessObjects Enterprise or Edge.
You can find the product download on SMP under the name: SBOP INTERACTIVE ANALYSIS. You can also download a trial version on the following page: http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/boc/iade.
I hope that this gives you the information that you require. Let me know if you have further questions.
Coy- Interactive Analysis
2010-01-15 01:05:21 B. Miessen Business Card [Reply]
Thank you for the information. As a SAP BO consultant I think this product might come in handy if I want to give a client a quick glanse of Web Intelligence without having to set up the entire BI platform. So for demo purposes and proof of concepts it suits me well, I suppose. I will give it a try...
Unfortunately I still cannot find the product download on SMP under the name you mentioned, lots of SAP BO products there, but not this one. So I will download it from http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/boc/iade and use the license key from SMP.
Kind regards
- Is this Webi Rich Client Lite?
2009-10-27 13:52:25 Ramakrishnan Subramanian Business Card [Reply]
Alex,
Is this webi rich client lite? Based on the features that my conclusion so far and it gets a bit confusing with different product names?
Thanks
Rama- Is this Webi Rich Client Lite?
2009-10-28 08:29:20 Coy Yonce
Business Card
[Reply]
Hi Rama,
Actually, Interactive Analysis is simply a repackaging of Web Intelligence. As such, there are no differences in the available query and analysis functioality. Ther are some things added to IA for the purposes of providing feedback and linking to online tutorials.
Let me know if you have any further questions.
Regards,
Coy
- Interactive Analysis
2009-10-27 05:51:04 John Skrabak Business Card [Reply]
Could really be useful, but I would like to know, like Vitaliy, what's teh licensing scheme? As a BOE Premium licensee, is this availalble at no cost, or an additional licensing fee.
Come on Coy, if you post a product announcement, you need to monitor questions and respond promptly....:)- Interactive Analysis
2009-10-27 08:21:32 Coy Yonce
Business Card
[Reply]
Point taken John. I appreciate the comment.
The licensing model for IA is a named user license. There are some discounts available based on volume licensing; however, I'm not sure of the specific discounts that are available.
IA is really meant for those partners and customers that do not necessarily need the entire BOE platform deployment in order to provide ad hoc query and analysis capabitilies. It is really meant to be a standalone solution. It can connect to BOE; however, that is not it's ultimate purpose.
If you already have a BOE deployment that is using Web Intelligence, then you would want to leverage the Web Intelligence Rich Client for offline analysis.
I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Regards,
Coy- Interactive Analysis
2009-10-27 08:40:03 John Skrabak Business Card [Reply]
We're a large public sector organization. We have a central BOE instance and a few of the larger agencies also have their own BOE. But I'm really looking for a solution for the person that has just some local MS Access dbs or perhaps a small SQL server instance they are trying to report from without having to go down a rather lengthy and painful bureaucratic process to get their datasources added to our central BOE.
Will the WebI Rich Client PDP options ever be expanded to include MS Access? That's what I really need to address these users that have limited needs. While they certainly can use Access for reporting, it would be great if we could leverage WebI training across the organization, even for small agency users that that don't have their datasources defeined on teh central BOE.
- Interactive Analysis
2009-10-27 15:55:07 Paul Ekeland
Business Card
[Reply]
Hi John,
As you actually envisioned it, Interactive Analysis would enable these small deployments you want to put in place. Furthermore, they could actually also connect to your BOE system should they want to then share their documents more broadly - as long as you have at least XI 3.1 SP2.
Regarding the access to MS Access or SQL Server, each instance of IA, desktop edition comes with Universe Designer which gives the freedom to your end-users to create their own universes on top of those databases. Online tutorials are included to help each individuals in this process.
Should you want to actually use personal access, you have the opportunity to create your own driver through the PDP interface that has been released in SP2.
I hope that helps,
Paul
- Interactive Analysis
2009-10-28 05:41:56 John Skrabak Business Card [Reply]
Paul -
Really appreciate the info. We expect to be applying SP2 shortly and I will install the Interactive Analysis on another PC to see what's there. I guess we'll need to talk to our SAP rep to see what licensing might look like.
Thanks,
John
- Interesting
2009-10-22 23:26:31 Vitaliy Rudnytskiy Business Card [Reply]
Coy,
What are the differences comparing to "full" Web Intelligence, and what's the licence model for this tool?
Thank you,
-Vitaliy- Interesting
2009-10-27 08:57:18 Coy Yonce
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[Reply]
Hi Vitaliy,
Interactive Analysis, Desktop Edition is a re-packaging of Web Intelligence as a standalone client. It is intended for those partners and customers that do not need a full BOE installation in order to leverage ad hoc query and analysis functionality.
There are no functionality differences between IA and Web Intelligence. IA does provide a feedback mechanism and a better start page - in terms of providing tutorials and access to demo videos.
The licensing model is named user with some volume licensing discounts.
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Coy
- Unclear on this tool as well...
2009-10-23 06:15:39 Alexander Schuchman Business Card [Reply]
Is this a replacement for the Web Intelligence Rich Client?(with added features)
Does this come as part of XI 3.1 SP2 or a seperate application that you need to install?
Is this a windows client or web based?(not clear from the screen shots)
-Alex- Unclear on this tool as well...
2009-10-27 10:07:36 Coy Yonce
Business Card
[Reply]
Hey Alex,
Thanks for the questions.
Interactive Analysis is a re-packaging of Web Intelligence for those partners and customers that do not need to leverage the full BOE capabilities. There are no added features for IA other than a feedback button and an improved start page focused on educating the end user.
As IA is not really geared at those companies that have deployed BOE or need a larger BI suite, it is a separate application that is installed on the desktop.
Currently, it is available for Windows.
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Regards,
Coy
- Interesting
2009-10-23 05:56:10 Denis Konovalov
Business Card
[Reply]
I think it's just the packaging.
You can use Normal Web Intelligence the same way.
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