Deep Dive into

Leveraging New Features

and Functions of SAP
NetWeaver BW 7.4
Dr. Bjarne Berg
COMERIT
Copyright 2014
Wellesley Information Services, Inc.
All rights reserved.

In This Session

You will learn what is new in SAP NetWeaver BW 7.4 and how you
can leverage it in your organization
We will look at the SAP NetWeaver BW 7.4 on HANA capabilities
as well as the non-HANA functionality
We will show a demo of a very large dataset in SAP NetWeaver
BW 7.4 on HANA through SAP BusinessObjects and see new
font-end capabilities
At the end of the session you will have a very good understanding
of the new capabilities and how you can use it in your company

The Reasons for Moving to SAP NetWeaver BW 7.4

BW 7.4 was available as of May 2013 and has been well tested

BW
Version
1.0E
1.2A
1.2B
2.0A
2.0B
2.1C
3.0A
3.0B
3.1C
3.2
3.3
3.5
2004S
7.0
(~"7.1")
7.3
7.4

Release
Date
Dec-98
Feb-99
Jun-99
Feb-00
Aug-00
Dec-00
Nov-01
May-02
Nov-02
Mar-03
Aug-03
Mar-04
Jun-07

End of mainstream
maintenance
Jan-99
Jun-99
Jun-04
Feb-05
Dec-05
Dec-05
Dec-05
Dec-06
Dec-06
Dec-06
Dec-06
Mar/Dec-10
Dec-10

Dec-08
Mar-11
May 13

Mar-14
Mar-16
May-19

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#2 rea
HANA
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SAP B

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16years!
years!

SAP HANA and BW 7.4

For BW 7.4 on HANA, SAP has continued to

move more of the process intensive
functions from the application to the DB
server

This takes advantage of the performance

improvements of an in-memory DB

It also reduces the need for data transfers

between application and DB server
As we will see later, the benefits of this approach are dramatically
faster data activation, data transformations, and query executions

What Well Cover

Taking advantage of New Development capabilities

Leveraging New Front-end Enhancements in BW 7.4
Using New ETL Features
Demo of BW 7.4 on HANA
New Security capabilities
Planning and Consolidation with BW 7.4
Wrap-up

SAP HANA and BW 7.4: Unified Modeling Tool Platform

SAP has spent significant

time on simplifying the
modeling tools in their
landscape. This includes tools
in SAP HANA Studio, inside
SAP NetWeaver BW, and also
for the ABAP development
tools.

All new tools are based on the

Eclipse platform for simplicity
and to make each tool easier
to use
There are also new BW Modeling capabilities for the new Open
ODS View and the new CompositeProvider

New Business Content Optimized for BW on HANA

SAP has developed

specific new content
for BW on HANA

This takes advantage of HANA

optimized transformations,
consolidated InfoObjects, more
line item details, and in some
cases leverages the BW models
and the HANA models in
combined scenarios
For those green fielding a HANA implementation, or planning to develop analytics
in these areas, serious consideration should be spent on leveraging this new content

BW Workspaces and Agile Data Marts

BW 7.4 continues to leverage

the concepts of BW workspaces
for technically savvy business
people to be allowed to develop
their own data marts that can be
changed on-the-fly without IT
support
This creates more flexibility for
business units that are sharing
a BW 7.4 environment

You can leverage the concept of Workspaces in both SAP NetWeaver BW 7.4 as well as in
SAP BusinessObjects 4.x for increased agility for developers located in the business units

HANA Optimized BW 7.4 DSOs and Performance

Improvements

HANA-optimized DSOs are also available for BW 7.3, but as of 7.4

Optimized DSOs are now obsolete sufficient improvements have been
made to push logic down into HDB that standard DSOs perform as well
as (if not better than) optimized DSOs

This means that data activations are done much faster at the HANA
database layer
The change log is no longer a calculated view, it is now a DB table

There is no need to migrate 3.x outbound flows from DSOs

to realize activation performance

Moving OLAP from Application to the Database Layer

To share workload in traditional DWs, systems

relied on splitting execution of logic between the
database and multiple application servers
BW 7.4 is moving as much logic as possible to the
much faster in-memory database. It also reduces
time spent on data transfers between application
and database servers.
This trend started with BW 7.3 with RKFs,
exception aggregation, and handling of
hierarchies
With BW 7.4 this is enhanced to remove
temporary result tables and the execution of joins
and unions

P Engine is now called

LA
O
e
Th
:
gy
lo
ino
rm
New Te
ocessor
the Online Analytical Pr

In SP6, we see even more movement of OLAP functionality to the DB. This
includes exception aggregations of formulas, advanced hierarchy handling,
and the treatment of non-cumulative key figures at the database server level.

10

Enhancements to BW 7.4 OLAP Cache

In BW 7.4 there are some improvements to the OLAP cache. It is now an Analytic
Engine function, which means that the Analytic Engine can also run without an OLAP
cache.
Mode 0: The Local cache
In this mode, the database cache is activated. The system then works exclusively with
the local cache.
Cache mode D: Database cache
In the D-mode, the cache data is persistent in database tables. In this mode, no data is
displaced, and the memory size is unlimited. The database instance that the table sits
on carries the load. More space is required, but this method also saves time.
Cache mode I: Cache inactive
The data is read again in every navigation step
Consider using cache mode D for the most frequently used queries that require calculations and
are relatively slow. In this mode, the use of aggregates (for non-HANA systems), is not needed. 11

Creating a Logical or Federated EDW with BW 7.4

By using the BW virtualization

layer, you can now create a
federated EDW
Data can be linked and accessed
through the HANA Smart Data
Access (SDA) and ODBC to any
source
You can use a single query to BW
and non-BW based EDWs through
an Open ODS View or a Composite
Provider
There is no need to physically
move data from other EDWs to BW
to have a Federated EDW

Many companies have multiple reporting systems that they want to integrate without writing
ETL programs and moving data. SAP NetWeaver BW 7.4 on HANA can help you avoid this.

12

SAP HANA and BW 7.4

BW

7.4 on HANA introduces the Smart

Data Access that allows us to create:

Virtual table (real-time) links to a

source system

CompositeProviders to link BW DSOs

and native HANA views and tables

A flexible logical EDW that can be

remodeled without moving data

We also get a shared modeling tool

based on Eclipse

Using the new Operational Data Provisioning (ODP) we can also remove the need
for PSAs, thereby simplifying data architectures and reducing data latency
13

BW 7.4 Virtualization Layer

Using Smart Data Access (SDA),

an OpenODS view can read data
in Hadoop, IQ, Teradata, ASE,
and other HANA systems

For managed persistence

developers can switch from
virtual to persistent storage
without a need for a PSA, or to
make any changes to queries

SAP is currently piloting the Persistence

option in BW (for updates on this, see SAP Note 1922533)
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BW 7.4 Managed Persistence and Modeling

In BW 7.4 we also get much more

flexible modeling. For example, the
managed persistence scenario may
include transformations for field-level
DSOs and the use of DTP.

Individual source fields may also be

linked to existing InfoObjects and
Open ODS views

While an object from a source, such

as views, data source, and tables may
be flagged as facts, master data, or
SAP is currently piloting the Persistence
text
option in BW (for updates on this, see SAP Note 1922533)

15

Enhanced DBA Cockpit for BW 7.4 on HANA

With the new DBA cockpit you can now see memory
consumption and disk size for row tables. Before you
could only see column tables.

There is also major new functionality in the DBA

Cockpit
Cancel backups is possible and backint backups is available
Display blocked threads and session information
Kernel profiler can now accept custom trace thresholds
The replication status is available if errors occurred

The DBA cockpit is available from transaction code DBACOCKPIT as long as you
have the authorizations for S_TCODE and S_RZL_ADM in your security profile

16

Model Integration with BW 7.4 and HANA

Many companies have developed standalone HANA systems and are now
moving their BW systems to HANA

With the Open DataStore layer, these customers can link HANA views,
tables, and BW DSO data to create models for simplified querying

You can even include InfoObjects in your modeling efforts

Using virtual tables and HANAs Smart Data Access (SDA) methods, you can
also include data from external systems
SAP is currently piloting field-based modeling in OpenODS Views
(for updates on this, see SAP Note 1922533)

17

SAP HANA and BW 7.4 Open ODS View

For BW 7.4 we get a new object called an Open ODS View

This new object allows us to include external data models in BW and
to query BW and non-BW data in a single BEx query

In the past, BW had been criticized for the complexity to integrate non-BW data in an EDW.
The new Open ODS view and the new CompositeProvider solves most of these issues.

18

Enhanced CompositeProviders

The enhanced
CompositeProvider allows
you to consolidate BW
MultiProviders, HANA-based
Virtual and Transient
Providers, and InfoSets
You can also use the
CompositeProvider join data
from other HANA DataMarts
and applications
There is also new support for
non-cumulative key figures
(i.e., inventory numbers)
Note: VirtualProviders and InfoSets are currently planned for BW 7.4 SP6

19

Building a CompositeProvider

In this example from SAP, data from two InfoCubes and One DSO is joined in
a CompositeProvider using the graphical view (there is also a form view)

Another new feature: DB Connect can now be used to

replicate data to BW from any schema in SAP HANA

20

Changes to BW Accelerator for BW 7.4

HANA is the preferred database for

all BW 7.4 systems

However, for those with a traditional

database and BWA, the upgrade to
BW 7.4 consists of only minor
changes to how BWA works

After the upgrade, calculating the exception aggregation for a

single key figure in BWA is possible for conversions before
aggregation, but no longer available for quantity conversions
In real client tests, HANA has been found to be up to 2.9 times faster than
BWA due to better handling of OLAP functionality as well as data retrieval

21

Cool New Feature: Automatically Generate

HANA Models from BW

You can now automatically

create new HANA models
based on InfoCubes and DSOs
in BW

The generated HANA views

access the data in the
InfoProviders

All HANA view capabilities are

available for the BW data

BW Security is leveraged and views can be accessed by tools such as SAP

BusinessObjects Explorer, Lumira, and other SAP BusinessObjects tools
In addition to the BW model import in the HANA modeler, this
functionality leverages the existing metadata in BW to create new views

22

HANA Analysis Processes (HAP) with BW

Since BW 3.5, we have had a tool called

Analysis Process Designer (APD)

This tool can be used for regression,

forecasting, clustering, association rules,
and basic statistical functions

In BW 7.4 with HANA, many of these

functions can be executed much faster at
the database level (HAP) using even more
advanced functions from libraries such as
the R-statistical functions, L scripts, SQL
scripts, procedures, PAL, and much more

You can automatically store the results from these

processes and use them for reporting

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What Well Cover

Taking advantage of New Development capabilities

Leveraging New Front-end Enhancements in BW 7.4
Using New ETL Features
Demo of BW 7.4 on HANA
New Security capabilities
Planning and Consolidation with BW 7.4
Wrap-up

24

Taking Advantage of the Fiori Launchpad

The SAP Fiori Launchpad is a tile-based entry

point to Fiori apps for mobile or desktop devices.
When it was launched in May 2013, it came with
25 pre-developed applications from SAP.

With BW 7.4, it can be enriched with specific

analytical objects, reports, and planning
applications.

The tiles displayed to a user depend on the role assigned. Users can also
personalize their interface by selecting from any published ready-to-use
tiles from the tile catalog.
The Fiori Launchpad is basically a shell with search and organization
capabilities back to applications, reports, and analytical objects

25

Deploying More Social Media Integration with BW 7.4

With SAPs social media called

SAP Jam you can deploy your
analytics in a shared environment
for comments, collaboration, and
sharing of key reports and
findings. This is also available in
SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.1

You can also use the

programming interface of the
Social Media ABAP Integration
Library (SAIL) and build
customized objects based on
common tasks supported in the
library
26

Other Enhancements Easy Query and ODATA

A cool new feature is that if you flag a BEx Query as Easy Query
and as interfaced by OData, you get a planning and reporting
interface you can deploy to mobile devices

After you flag the Query in BEx Query Designer as Easy Query under advanced
properties, go to the Easy Query Manager, use the transaction code: EQMANAGER

27

What Well Cover

Taking advantage of New Development capabilities

Leveraging New Front-end Enhancements in BW 7.4
Using New ETL Features
Demo of BW 7.4 on HANA
New Security capabilities
Planning and Consolidation with BW 7.4
Wrap-up

28

Leveraging Enhanced Graphical Dataflow Modeling

The graphical dataflow modeling in

BW 7.4 has been enhanced with
two new functions that are useful

You can now activate objects inside

the dataflow without having to
leave the ETL modeling screen

You can also save all dataflows as a web page and place it on a portal
(i.e., SAP portal, SharePoint) and use it for accessible documentation
that is easy to maintain
DB Connect can be used to replicate data to BW
from any schema in the SAP HANA database

29

BW 7.4 and Operational Data Provisioning (ODP)

In BW 7.4 SAP has enhanced ODP

to allow for using SLT and other
BW systems as sources for BW
This creates a share technology
platform for data extraction and
allows for single extraction and
multiple data targets
It also removes the need for a
Persistent Staging Area (PSA) for
the data loads based on ODP

Data in the Operational Delta Queue is highly compressed and

therefore does not require as much space as the PSA

30

Real-Time Data Warehousing Becomes Much Simpler

Since SLT is now supported for

Operational Data Provisioning to
BW, we can push data real time to
BW InfoProviders in a much simpler
manner
The data in the Operational Delta
Queue (ODQ) can also be used by
other applications
Again, since PSA is not required, the
dataflows get much easier to
develop and maintain
You should seriously consider this technology
for real-time operational reporting and for the
month-end financial close process

31

Use ODP/ODQ to Simplify Data Movement

Using standard extractors from ERP,

you can use the Operational Delta
Queue (ODQ) to move data to one or
more BW systems
SAPs ETL tool, Data Services, can
access the ODQ and also move data
to other non-BW applications
without the need to extract the data
twice
An ODQ inside BW can also be used
to move data to other BW systems

The old Application Link Enablement (ALE)

and IDocs are replaced with synchronous
Remote Function Calls (RFC)

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Optimized Transformations and Data Activation

Activating data for reporting

against the BW NIRV table was a
very slow process in the older
BW systems. With some number
range buffering (BW 7.0) and
package fetch (BW 7.3) this was
somewhat improved, but it was
still not extremely fast.

To speed up activation in BW 7.3

on HANA, and transformations in
BW 7.4 on HANA, more of this
was moved to the database layer

Currently, transformations
include conversions, master data
reads, formulas, data mapping,
and SQL scripts using most
InfoProviders and loading to a
DSO

33

BW 7.4 OpenHub Enhancements

A cool feature is that a query can now be used as the data source
of a data transfer process (DTP) of type full
This means that you can use the extraction of query data and
the subsequent data distribution to an OpenHub Destination
You can also send data using a query provider on an ad-hoc basis
and OpenHub can be used to send data to other HANA systems
It is even possible to create delta data movements for
DataSources and InfoProviders, making OpenHub a key
technology in any EDW landscape

With OpenHub, SAP BW is not a data jail and data can easily be
integrated between platforms and other reporting systems

34

Non-Active, Data Archiving, and Near-Line Storage

in BW 7.4 on HANA

For most companies that have been using

BW for many years, significant benefits
can be gained by implementing Near-Line
Storage (NLS) based on Sybase IQ
NLS support for InfoProviders with noncumulative key-figures are planned for
release in BW 7.4 Service Pack 7 (Source: Brian
Wood, SAP AG, TechEd 2013, http://
blasthemy.com/sap/TechEd13/1_Session_PDFs/RDP/RDP207/RDP207.pdf)

With BW on HANA, non-active data such

as PSAs can be held on disks, thereby
reducing the memory consumed by BW.

Traditional data archiving is still available via the BW SARA transaction

Currently, there are DBSL-based direct connections to Sybase IQ version 15.4 for very large
databases (VLDB) and large binary objects (LOB). Platforms supported include Sybase IQ
ODBC NLS client for BW Application Server on Windows and Linux (x86 64 bit).

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What Well Cover

Taking advantage of New Development capabilities

Leveraging New Front-end Enhancements in BW 7.4
Using New ETL Features
Demo of BW 7.4 on HANA
New Security capabilities
Planning and Consolidation with BW 7.4
Wrap-up

36

SAP NetWeaver BW 7.4 on HANA

37

What Well Cover

Taking advantage of New Development capabilities

Leveraging New Front-end Enhancements in BW 7.4
Using New ETL Features
Demo of BW 7.4 on HANA
New Security capabilities
Planning and Consolidation with BW 7.4
Wrap-up

38

Read Access Logging

In BW 7.4 you can also start

logging read access for
specific domains and users

You can select specific fields

to be monitored

You can also monitor all

operating processes of BW
7.4 using SAP Solution
Manager 7.1.

Do not turn on read access monitoring for all fields and users in
large active BW systems. If you do so, the logs can get very large.
39

Using New Security Features

For even more restrictive access and control, there are five new
Authorization Objects in BW 7.4
1. S_RS_ODSV: Open ODS view
2. S_RS_ODSP_H ODP: Extraction from SAP HANA
3. RSHAAP for HANA analysis process
4. RSHAOT for HANA analysis elements
5. S_RS_HCPR SAP HANA for CompositeProvider authorizations

For those on obsolete BW 3.5, or those who has not done a security
conversion in 7.0, the new amortizations have to be activated
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What Well Cover

Taking advantage of New Development capabilities

Leveraging New Front-end Enhancements in BW 7.4
Using New ETL Features
Demo of BW 7.4 on HANA
New Security capabilities
Planning and Consolidation with BW 7.4
Wrap-up

41

Updated Interface and BPC Copy Planning

Functions for BW 7.4

BPC recently got a new

redesigned Web 2.0
interface to simplify and
modernize the tasks in
BPC

With SAP BW 7.4 you

can now copy planning
functions to save
development time when
extending basic planning
models
The BPC 10 functionality for BW 7.4 is found in Support Pack 10 and there is
new terminology: The Planning Engine is now called the Planning Processor42

New DSO for BW-Integrated Planning and More

Planning on a DataStore Object for Direct Update

With BW 7.4 you can use DataStore objects for direct update in
planning mode as planning-specific InfoProviders

Planning Applications Kit

In BW 7.4 you can use the new technical scenario for planning
The planning engine can have read access to the HANA database
and use the ABAP Planning Applications Kit (PAK) internal
routines in HANA for faster execution
For BW 7.4, you can also perform planning using internal
database routines
If you set Key Figure Values as available in planning. You can
use the new planning function type that will set values for key
figures and distribute them according to reference data.

43

BW 7.4 Unified Planning and High Cardinality

BW 7.4 is also taking the unified planning in BPC on SAP

NetWeaver further
You can now use the speed of HANA while keeping the Excel
interface, leveraging the BPC admin interface, and continuing
to use the PAK planning manager in Integrated Planning.
You can also overcome the 2 billion limitation in BW by flagging
the correct InfoObjects as High Cardinality (no SIDs are
generated)
This can be used for planning and in DSOs as well

For Integrated Planning on BW 7.4, you can now push some of the logic down to HANA
script and you can now also delete DSO records instead of just removing values
44

What Well Cover

Taking advantage of New Development capabilities

Leveraging New Front-end Enhancements in BW 7.4
Using New ETL Features
Demo of BW 7.4 on HANA
New Security capabilities
Planning and Consolidation with BW 7.4
Wrap-up

45

Other Fixes and Enhancements in BW 7.4

For Integrated Planning on BW 7.4 you can now push some of the
logic down to HANA script and you can now also delete DSO
records instead of just removing values
The Analytical Manager in BW has also been improved for faster
calculations for MTD, YTD, exception aggregation, period
comparisons, and rolling averages
You can now also get more than 60 Characters in BW. The new
attribute and output length can be up to 250 characters and longtext for Characteristics can now be stored as CHAR 1333.

BW 7.4 has addressed much of the smaller fixes

that were minor irritation items in BW 7.3
46

Some of
the
features in
BW 7.4
are HANAspecific
Others are
available
for
traditional
RDBMs
This is an
overview
of what is
available
for HANA
and nonHANA
BWs
47

Future Changes to SAP NetWeaver BW

While SAP has not formally committed to new features on BW.

They have indicated that a focus will continue to be on:
Cloud deployment enhancements
Simplified data modeling
Unification of planning functions
Tight integration to NLS for Sybase IQ
Tight integration of mobile planning functions
Enhancements to Hadoop integration

These enhancements will be ongoing in 2014 and some

are included in SP6

48

Where to Find More Information

http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-35096
SAP Community Network SAP NetWeaver Business
Warehouse 7.4
http://help.sap.com/nw_platform
SAP Help Portal SAP NetWeaver BW 7.4
www.stechno.net/sap-notes.html?view=sapnote&id=153967
SAP Business content release note 153967 for BW 7.4

49

7 Key Points to Take Home

BW 7.4 is the first release to take full advantage of SAP HANA

Many of the functions in 7.4 are also available to non-HANA

customers

The new CompositeProviders and the Open ODS View makes

HANA and BW tightly integrated and capable to support EDWs
better

Real-time data warehousing is fastly becoming the new norm

Social integration and mobile deployment is now mainstream

BW 7.4 provides a platform that should break from the past

development approaches of BW (real-time, LSA++, virtual, and
in-memory)

Most customers should consider this move in 2014!

50

Your Turn!

How to contact me:

Dr. Bjarne Berg
bberg@comerit.com
Please remember to complete your session evaluation
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Disclaimer
SAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, SAP NetWeaver, Duet, PartnerEdge, and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their
respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other product
and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Wellesley Information Services is neither owned nor controlled by
SAP.

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