Keys to Successful BusinessObjects XI R2 Migration

1
Keys to SuccessfulBusinessObjects XI R2 Migration

• Approach and Lessons Learned From Multiple
  Migrations
• Presenters
• Steve Shroyer, Guident
• Will Rohde, Guident
• May 14, 2007

2
About Guident

• Founded in 1996 by ex-Big Four Consultants
• 150 professionals
• Five presentations at 2006 Business Objects
  Insight Americas User Conference
• Business Intelligence Focused
• BI Solutions, Data Warehousing, Center of
  Excellence, BI Strategy, Data Quality
• Business Objects Partner
• Involvement in 120 Business Objects deployments
• Certified in BusinessObjects XI Migrations
• BusinessObjects XI Release 2 Productivity Pack
  Beta Tester

3
Topics

• BusinessObjects XI Overview
• BusinessObjects XI Migration Approach
• Migration Tips and Tricks
• Conclusion
• QA

4
BusinessObjects XI End-User Capabilities

• Reporting, query and analysis
• Performance management dashboards, scorecards
• Analytic applications
• Deep MS Office integration
• Customizable BI portal
• Threaded discussions
• Encyclopedia for context
• Powerful scheduling

5
Reporting

• BusinessObjects Live Office
• Now leverages dynamic cascading prompts from
  Crystal Reports
• Enhanced Excel integration
• Now also supports Web Intelligence and OLAP
  Intelligence
• Crystal Reports
• Easier navigation search all pages of a report
  including sub-reports
• Increased productivity improved drag-and-drop
  onto and within a report
• Tight integration with universes
• Improved look and feel

Note Crystal Reports XI Release 1 is fully
compatible with the BusinessObjects XI Release 2
platform and does not require migration.
6
Additional Features in Crystal Reports XI

• Powerful Data Access
• Business Views
• BusinessObjects Universes
• Report Design Enhancements
• Dynamic Image Location
• Updated Visual Report Designer
• Intelligent Charting
• Hierarchical Grouping
• Enhanced Productivity and Maintenance
• Dynamic and Cascading Prompts
• HTML Preview
• Editable RTF Format
• Repository Explorer

7
Query and Analysis
Desktop Intelligence

• Full client users now benefit from the
  BusinessObjects XI platform
• Investment protection
• New service in BusinessObjects XI SOA
• Three-tier, client/server, workgroup, and offline
  modes
• Improved multi-lingual support
• Publishing available
• Single-pass report bursting also available on the
  new platform

8
Query and Analysis
Significant enhancements to BusinessObjects Web
Intelligence

• Increased query power
• Synchronized multiple data sources
• Sub-queries
• OLAP and relational sources
• Enhanced interactivity analysis
• Ranking, custom sorts
• Improved formula language
• Even more trust in information
• Data lineage down to source system from Web
  Intelligence
• Part of the context panel introduced in
  BusinessObjects XI
• Desktop Intelligence conversion tools

Web Intelligence
OLAP Universe
Universe
Relational Data
OLAP cube
9
Performance Management
New Flash and SVG-based analytics

• Tight integration with InfoView
• Enhanced visualization
• Even easier to understand
• More interactivity and flexibility in display and
  formatting options
• Dashboard Manager
• Goal Management
• New goal wizard

10
The BI Platform

• Increased scalability, performance and fault
  tolerance
• Simplified and open security model
• Managed via Central Management Console
• Object-based as opposed to user-based
• Lifecycle management
• Tools to automate moving between environments
  (Dev, Test, Prod)
• Enhanced system auditing
• New auditing universe and reports focused on user
  activity, session data, and system usage
• Process Tracker and Encyclopedia
• Windows, Unix, Linux Support

11
BusinessObjects XI - Differences
12
BusinessObjects XI Differences (cont.)
13
Topics

• BusinessObjects XI Overview
• Business Objects XI Migration Approach
• Migration Tips and Tricks
• Conclusion
• QA

14
All Roads Lead to Business Objects XI

• There are more direct migration paths to Business
  Objects XI with R2
• Business Objects 5.x, 6.x, XI
• Crystal Enterprise 8.5 , 9, 10

15
Migration to BusinessObjects XI R2 Key
Considerations

• Migration is more than just simply moving
  repository resources.
• Treat this as any deployment with a mix of
  technology and methodology.
• You must consider the following
• Migration approach - single pass versus
  incremental approach
• Architecture changes transition to
  service-oriented architecture
• New security model from user-based to
  object-based
• Failover/Redundancy needs
• Requirements for performance management

16
Migration to BusinessObjects XI R2 Key
Considerations (cont.)

• Take the time to plan exactly what will be
  migrated.
• You must consider the following
• Usage of linked universes
• Number of users, user groups, universes,
  documents
• Report analysis
• How much conversion will be required?
• Are unsupported features used?
• Do all reports need to be migrated? Are they
  still used?
• Use of row level restrictions
• Full client usage Desktop Intelligence
  introduced in XI R2

17
Migration to BusinessObjects XI R2 Overall
Approach
18
Migration Approach Discovery and Planning

• Objective Develop an architecture and plan for
  migration by assessing the current environment
  and future requirements
• Key Tasks
• Audit existing BusinessObjects environment to
  ensure all components are migrated successfully
• Conduct interviews with key stakeholders to
  identify current issues and future objectives
• Perform detailed report analysis to assess usage
  of existing documents for migration
• Establish conceptual and physical target
  architecture

19
Migration Approach Installation and
Configuration

• Objective Install BusinessObjects XI R2 software
  on the target servers and configure key
  components, such as Central Management Server
• Key Tasks
• Install software in required environments
• Apply any recommended BusinessObjects XI R2
  patches
• Configure software components focus on Central
  Management Console

20
Migration Approach Migration and Testing

• Objective Move relevant content from legacy
  application to BusinessObjects XI R2 environment
  using automated tools, then validate new
  environment versus old environment
• Key Tasks
• Using Import Wizard move objects from old version
  to BusinessObjects XI R2
• Perform conversion of full client documents that
  include complex calculations and filters
• Perform post-implementation test plans to ensure
  that results and performance are equivalent to
  prior version

21
Migration Approach Deployment

• Objective Migrate tested objects to production
  environment and cutover to new environment
• Key Tasks
• Develop migration scripts step-by-step guide
  for tasks to successfully migrate to production
  environment
• Execute migration scripts
• Validate environment

22
Migration Approach Project Management

• Objective Manage and track the migration as you
  would for any major deployment with a full
  project management plan
• Key Tasks
• Develop a detailed project plan
• Perform status meetings on a regular basis
• Prepare weekly status reports
• Track project plan and communicate necessary
  changes
• Assess and resolve risks early

23
Migration Approach Change Management

• Objective Provide training and communications to
  ensure a smooth transition and early user
  adoption
• Key Tasks
• Develop a communications plan
• Develop training and educational materials for
  BusinessObjects XI R2 capabilities, navigation
  and migration specific information
• Present technical training to IT staff basic
  training for report consumers and detailed
  end-user training for power users
• Follow-up after deployment with additional
  training and issue resolution

24
Topics

• BusinessObjects XI Overview
• BusinessObjects XI Migration Approach
• Migration Tips and Tricks
• Conclusion
• QA

25
Tips and Tricks for Successful Migration

• Use incremental approach for all large
  deployments

26
Tips and Tricks for Successful Migration

• Whenever possible, migrate a small subset first
  to fully understand the impacts.
• Carefully plan out the infrastructure for
  BusinessObjects XI R2. It will not be the same as
  a 5.x or 6.x implementation and you will not want
  to use the same servers.
• Migrate the following objects
• Groups and Users
• Universes and Connections
• Reports and Categories
• Stored Procedures

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Tips and Tricks for Successful Migration (cont.)

• Carefully plan out the security model changes for
  BusinessObjects XI R2
• Familiarize yourself with the new object-based
  security model and plan out a security model
  tailored to your organizational needs
• To plan the security migration, create a map of
  the current security setup of your existing
  BusinessObjects environment
• When recreating the security schema
• Set security on groups and folders only, not on
  single users
• Do not break inheritance rules (for groups in
  groups, or users in multiple groups)
• Default XI R2 Everyone group should have no
  access rights

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Tips and Tricks for Successful Migration

• Carefully validate the new security model for
  BusinessObjects XI R2
• Download the Business Objects tool called
  Security Viewer
• Use Security Viewer to view security rules much
  like BusinessObjects Supervisor to validate the
  security
• Note This tool will help you to reduce the time
  required for security validation and testing.

29
Migration to BOXI R2 Critical Success Factors

• Follow a structured approach with proper planning
• Do not underestimate time required for security
  planning and validation and infrastructure
  planning.
• Plan for change management - consider impact to
  organization, and provide sufficient
  training/communication for early adoption
• Plan for rollout of new features to take full
  advantage of BusinessObjects XI R2 platform

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Migration to BOXI R2 Critical Success Factors
(cont.)

• Seek opportunities to improve as opposed to just
  migrating existing functionality
• Assess current reports leave unused reports
  behind
• Carefully test post-implementation deployment for
  calculations, formatting, access rights and
  performance
• Leverage resources with experience and best
  practices

31
Topics

• BusinessObjects XI Overview
• BusinessObjects XI Migration Approach
• Migration Tips and Tricks
• Conclusion
• QA

32
Conclusion

• BusinessObjects XI is the platform of the future
• Business Objects is focused on delivering new
  innovations and enhancements to the XI platform
• A clear migration approach will ensure a
  successful migration to BusinessObjects XI R2
• Guident BusinessObjects XI Migration Methodology
  provides a roadmap for successful migrations

33
Topics

• BusinessObjects XI Overview
• BusinessObjects XI Migration Approach
• Migration Tips and Tricks
• Conclusion
• QA

34
QA

• Questions
• Steve Shroyer, Business Intelligence Manager,
  Guident
• Will Rohde, Business Intelligence Architect,
  Guident
• We will repeat all questions for your benefit
• Contact Information
• Steve Shroyer sshroyer_at_guident.com
• Will Rohde wrohde_at_guident.com
• Guident Phone [phone]
• http//www.guident.com