Business Objects XI Release 2

The PR folks at SAP have got to be busy these days. Another announcement has come out of the SAPPHIRE ’06 convention: Business intelligence solutions provider Business Objects officially announced at the general availability of Business Objects XI Release 2. Based on the Business Objects business intelligence platform from Business Objects, this solution provides customers with an integrated view of their business by providing users with timely, trusted access to data within several SAP solutions, including SAP R/3(R)-, mySAP ERP, and SAP NetWeaver(R) Business Intelligence.

Some non-SAP solutions can be used with the new Business Objects release. The key feature of BusinessObjects XI Release 2 Built for SAP Solutions includes boasts enhancements including stronger connectivity between BusinessObjects Dashboard Manager and SAP solutions, more efficient reporting, improved data visualization components. improved metadata management, and quicker loading of SAP solution-based metadata for universe creation and processing SAP Netweaver BI hierarchies.

Featured components include pre-built report templates across SAP Netweaver BI and SAP R/3; native application-layer connectivity to SAP R/3 using SAP business logic and security; a new BAPI interface to SAP NetWeaver BI; live data access from Microsoft Office applications; Crystal Reports XI Release 2, provided further solutions in reporting; a BI encyclopedia for questions frequently answered and not; Web Intelligence, a query and analysis solution; and something called Intelligent Question. Business Objects Intelligent Question promises to allow anyone to intuitively ask business questions and receive correct answers without the need to build a query or knowledge of underlying data systems.

“Thousands of companies rely on business intelligence from Business Objects to further leverage the value of their SAP solutions,” claims Business Objects product marketing vice president Donald MacCormick. “The breadth of BI capabilities we can deliver, including performance management, query, reporting, analysis and EIM coupled with our extensive connectivity to SAP data provides a unique combination which enables our customer to get maximum leverage from their investment in SAP.” And Business Objects XI Release 2 was a success even before the official release, what with the announcement made three weeks ago that prestigious customer University of Michigan would add Business Objects systems and had standardized on Business Objects.

The university is now expanding its existing deployment of Business Objects product and is migrating to Business Objects XI Release 2. By using the BI platform, University of Michigan administrators and faculty seek to predict course demand, forecast future aid and improve decision making. The University selected Business Objects Dashboard Manager to assist executives and other non-technical users in analyzing data and managing performance.