At this year's SAP TechEd events in Phoenix and Vienna, the BusinessObjects Community team (namely Kuhan Milroy, Kirby Leong, and I) set out to increase our engagement with community members attending TechEd. Many of the attendees we've spoken to have asked for an intro to the SAP BusinessObjects Portfolio (SBOP) to explain what it is, what it includes, why they might need it, what are the benefits and applications, etc.

I mentioned this to Isabelle Nuage, SBOP Marketing Manager, with whom I shared a pod at the SAP BusinessObjects User Conference in Dallas.

(Here's a picture taken by Alexis Naibo - SAP TechEd Vienna Demo Jam winner)

Isabelle has kindly shared these short videos on YouTube to help you get a clearer understanding of the SAP BusinessObjects Portfolio.

These are nice, bite-size marketing videos, and they do lend insight to business challenges many of us can relate to. Here's what I gathered:

Most organizations face these challenges:

• A strategy gap - Execs create strategies and often these get lost in translation when it comes down to execution
• Imbalance between risk & opportunity - Every business opportunity comes with risk. When focus is on one and not the other, you'll either expose the organization unnecesarily or face stagnation
• Lack of visibility through the business cycle - Too many people within the organization and ecosystem are making decisions based on gut feel rather than trusted information

Introduction to the SAP BusinessObjects portfolio (duration 1:01)

The BusinessObjects solutions and tools help us gain clarity in strategy and execution and achieve the following:

• Strategic alignment
• Predictable performance
• Confident decisions

SAP BusinessObjects portfolio Benefit 1: Strategic alignment (duration 0:25)

SAP BusinessObjects portfolio Benefit 2: Predictable performance (duration 0:46)

SAP BusinessObjects portfolio Benefit 3: Confident decisions (duration 0:37)

Now you know what the SBOP benefits are, what are the steps to achieving these benefits? Stay tuned for Part 2....

[UPDATE: SAP BusinessObjects Portfolio 101 - Part 2]

To learn more about the SAP BusinessObjects Portfolio, contact your SAP rep, check out www.sap.com/sapbusinessobjects, or explore the SAP BusinessObjects Community.