BusinessIntelligenceProject ImplementationAndManagement DosandDontswithBestPractices

BUSINESSINTELLIGENCEPROJECTIMPLEMENTATION&MANAGEMENT

DOSANDDONTSWITHBESTPRACTICES

Author:ChaitanyaBhure ServiceOffering(s):Consulting

PublishDate:15October2010

Chaitanya Bhure

Table of Contents
1.0 EXECUTIVESUMMARY 5 7 7 10 10 11 12 15 16 17 18 19 21 21 23 25 27 27 28 28 29 30 30 31 31 31 31 32 32 33 33 33 2.0 REQUIREMENTGATHERINGANDANALYSIS 2.1 SystemRequirementStudy/BusinessRequirementStudy 3.0 DESIGNPHASE 3.1 ReportRationalizationDocument(RRD) 3.2 ReportDefinitionDocument(RDD) 3.3 UniverseDefinitionDocument(UDD) 3.4 LogicalDataModel(LDM) 3.5 MappingDesignDocument 3.6 ReportSchedulingSpecification 4.0 DEVELOPMENTPHASE 4.1 ETLDevelopment 4.2 UniverseandReport/DashboardDevelopment 4.2.1 UniverseDevelopment 4.2.2 WebiReportDevelopment 4.2.3 DashboardsDevelopment 4.3 UnitandSystemIntegrationTesting 4.3.1 ETLTesting 4.3.2 ReportTesting 5.0 DEPLOYPHASE 5.1 PerformUATonDevelopmentenvironment 5.2 UserTraining 5.3 PreparetheBODSXI3.1ProductionEnvironment 5.4 PreparetheBOXI3.1ProductionEnvironment 5.5 MigrationofDevelopmenttoProduction 5.5.1 ETLMigration 5.5.2 ReportMigration 5.6 ReviewandValidation 6.0 EVOLVEPHASE 6.1 KnowledgeSharing 6.2 PostProductionSupport 6.3 Exclusions

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7.0 PROJECTORGANIZATION 7.1 VendorsRolesandResponsibilities 7.2 CustomersRolesandResponsibilities 7.2.1 CustomerResponsibility: 8.0 DELIVERABLESANDACCEPTANCECRITERIA 8.1 Deliverables 8.2 AcceptanceProcedureandCriteria 8.3 SignofftheUserAcceptanceTest(UAT) 8.4 RequirementChanges 8.4.1 ChangeControlProcess 8.4.2 ResponsetoRequestforChange 8.4.3 CustomerApproval 8.4.4 Implementation 9.0 PROJECTCOMMUNICATION&CONTROLMECHANISMS 9.1 HowdoesonedoBasicLevelBIProjectManagement? 10.0 RISKMANAGEMENT

33 34 37 38 39 39 39 40 41 41 42 42 42 43 44 47

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1.0 EXECUTIVESUMMARY
This document details about the learnings of one of the major fixed bid Business Intelligence Project Implementation for one of the major FMCG player from the Indian Market. This type of major implementation requires careful monitoring process and clear definition of milestones. Reaching a milestoneattheprescribeddeadlinesrequiresthemilestonestobebrokenintovarioustasksandthe resourcesthataregoingtocompletethosetasks. For tracking the completion of various tasks and reaching a milestones on said deadline requires a Project Management tool like MS Office Project Professional Edition which gives various analysis like which taskmissedthedeadlineandwhy.Thiswillavoidtheprojectdelayanddisputewithcustomer. These tools will also ensure proper change control mechanism if client suggests some changes which needstobeincorporatedintheprojectplanandnewdeliveryscheduleisagreeduponwithcustomer. InthedesignphasetoolslikeERWINshouldbeusedinsteadofExcelforEntityRelationshipDiagram(E R)whichalsoensuresreductioninmanualworkanddelay. While implementing the above BI project, manual monitoring was done instead of proper project management tool which was time consuming with no proper analysis of tasks and milestones achievement.Thisresultedintodisputeanddelaywithboththevendorandclientcompaniesblaming eachotherfordelay.Properchangecontrolmechanismalsocouldnotbeensuredbecausetheprocess was all manual and a lot of time was wasted in estimation of efforts and convincing client about the change. ItshouldalsobenotedthatbeforeyousubmittheproposalforsuchlargeBIimplementationproject, proper system study should be undertaken so as to properly estimate the efforts and commercials. If customer ask to give them the proposal within short span, the vendor company should convince customer for system study which will help in avoiding future issues on project commercials, efforts, deliveryandnumberofrequirements. Duetoeverchanginginformationneedsofanorganizationrangingfromreportingtobusinessmodeling, and the data modeling, design keeps on changing. If we need to have the information management relatedtoanewsetofdataelements,theentirechainofBImaybeimpacted.Thiswilltranscendacross sourcesystemmapping,ETL,datawarehousemodeling,OLAPmodelingandmetadataupdation.

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 Therecanbenumberofissueswhichcanresultintodelayandaffectprojectprofitability.Someofthe majorissuesarelistedbelowwhichareelaboratedinmultiplesectionsofthisdocument. EffortsandCommercialEstimationwithoutproperSystemStudy Endrequirementchanges RequirementLogicchange RDDwithoutproperlogicforsomereports DataTransformationLogicchange HistoricalDataLoad Quality&ConsistencyofData SourceConnectivityIssues(SAP) SharedFoldersPermissionIssues DiskSpaceIssuesrelatedtoTargetDataWarehouse ExcelSourceIssues(PathPermission,Formats&Data) DelayduetoUserUAT DelayduetoInputsfromUserrequiredforoutput NousageofProjectManagementTool DelayduetomultipletrainingsessionsonBItoolforbusinessusers LackofcommitmentfromUsercommunity(ResistancetoChange) Frequentresourcechangedeployedonproject

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2.0 REQUIREMENTGATHERINGANDANALYSIS
AnalyzetheexistingsystemsandtherequirementoftheCustomerthatwillhelpindriving theBusinessIntelligenceSolutionimplementationindetail,andusethoserequirementsto guidetheanalysisofthereporting,infrastructure,dataanduserinterfacerequirements. Customershallprovidenecessarysupportandinformationrequiredinordertocomplete thetasksspecifiedinthescope.

2.1 SystemRequirementStudy/BusinessRequirementStudy
Dos
ThisdocumentispreparedafterunderstandingBusinessRequirementsthataredrivingthe wholeproject.Usetheserequirementstorecommendtheinfrastructurearchitecture. UnderstandtheexistingBusinessandterminologies Understand and review the Reporting requirements by studying the existing reports createdbytheCustomerandunderstandingofrelatedDimensionsandMeasures. Understandtheexistingdatasources. Understand the various crucial parameters defined by studying the existing reports generatedwhicharealreadyprovidedbytheCustomer. AnalysisofDatabaseSourceStructureandsourcetotablemappings. Whattypesofinformationmustyougatherinthepreliminarysurvey?Ataminimum,obtain generalinformationonthefollowingfromeachgroupofusers: Askveryspecificquestionsratherthanhighlevel. Missionandfunctionsofeachusergroup Computersystemsusedbythegroup Keyperformanceindicators Factorsaffectingsuccessoftheusergroup Whothecustomersareandhowtheyareclassified Typesofdatatrackedforthecustomers,individuallyandgroups Productsmanufacturedorsold

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Categorizationofproductsandservices Locationswherebusinessisconducted Levelsatwhichprofitsaremeasuredpercustomer,perproduct,perdistrict Levelsofcostdetailsandrevenue Currentqueriesandreportsforstrategicinformation The vendors primary goal in the requirements definition phase is to compile information packages for all the subjects for the data warehouse. Once firmed up the information packages,theimplementingvendorwillbeabletoproceedtotheotherphases. Essentially,informationpackagesenableimplementingvendorto: FindouttheDataSourcesfortheDataWarehousedata. Definethecommonsubjectareas Designkeybusinessmetrics Decidehowdatamustbepresented Determinehowuserswillaggregateorrollup Decidethedataquantityfortheuseranalysisorquery(HistoricalData) Decidehowdatawillbeaccessed Establishdatagranularity Estimatedatawarehousesize Determinethefrequencyfordatarefreshing Ascertainhowinformationmustbepackaged Getalistofreportsthatissupposedtocomeoutofthenewdatawarehouse. At the conclusion of this phase, the complete understanding of the systems and mapping fromthesourcesystemswillbedone. CostAdherence: There are various elements of cost linked to BI/DW projects. Cost mentioned here is the projectrelatedcostwhichneedstobeconsideredinthisphaseofprojectandpropercost justification needs to be given to customer. Take all the points into consideration while arrivingatprojectcommercials.Thepointsaregivenbelow: LicenseCost(BusinessObjectsCostiflicensesarenotpurchased) Hardwarecost(VendorisnothavingtherequisitehardwareforBI) ProjectManagementCost Scopingandanalysiscost Modelingcost DesignandDevelopmentcost

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 Testingandimplementationcost EmployeesChargedtime Others ThecostmanagementisanimportantpieceforBIprojectimplementationwithlicenseand toolscostbeingonlyasmallerpiece.

Donts
Going overbroad in capturing the requirements. This should be avoided since you aregoingtodocumentit.Understandingofreportingrequirementsandfeasibilityof deliveringthosereportstotheendcustomerbydoingpropersourcesystemstudy helpsinsettingtheexpectationsrightandalsohelpsinestimatingthedevelopment effortsandcommercialsoftheproject. Documentingtherequirementswhereyouhavedoubtsaboutdataavailability,tool constraintsetc.Avoidthissincethisdocumentbecomestheguidingprincipleforthe projectdevelopmentwherecustomersignoffisrequired. Non ascertaining data quantity for the user analysis (Historical Data) in this stage. Ascertain the data quantity in this stage itself and inform the customer that if historicaldataisformultipleyearsthenitneedstobeconsistentandcleanandthe vendorisnotresponsibleforcleansingandconsistentdataasitisaseparateactivity itself which needs to be estimated for efforts and commercials avoiding future disputeanddelay.

Summary

Requirementanalysisandgatheringisabittoughasclientmightnotbeclearwithhis/her requirements. Its implementation vendor expertise in the design process and prior experiencewhichhelptoanalyzetherequirementsandputitonpaper.Onceeverythingis clearmakesuretogetasignofffromtheclientontherequirementstoavoiddispute.

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3.0 DESIGNPHASE
Therequirementsidentifiedinthepreviousphasearefurtheranalyzedto producedetaileddesignspecificationsforthearchitecture,userinterface, reports,datamodel.AdetailedTestPlanisproducedinconjunctionwith thedesignspecifications,whichoutlinesunit,system,anduseracceptance testscenarios.

3.1

ReportRationalizationDocument(RRD)
Therearerequirementsprovidedbytheenduserstotheimplementing VendorbytheCustomerduringthebusinessrequirementmeetings.Eachof theserequirementshavebeendocumentedandapprovedbytheendusers. Thepurposeofarationalizationactivityistofurthergetadetailed understandingonthebusinesslogicofeachoftherequirementsand suggesttotheendusersbasedonpastexperienceandexpertise,asto whichreportsorrequirementsaresimilarinnatureandwhicharetoohuge tobeaccommodatedintooneBIdashboard/report. AnexerciseofrationalizationwillenabletheimplementingVendorto proceedwiththedesignphaseoftheprojectandalsohelptheendusers meettheinformationalrequirementswithminimumnumberofBIreports/ dashboardstobereferredto.

Methodology

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TheRationalizationactivitywillbeinitiatedbytheimplementingVendor andthefollowingmethodologywillbefollowedthroughouttheprocessto arriveataconclusiononthenumberofreportsanddashboardstobe developedforeachdepartment TheimplementingVendorwillcreateamatrixcontainingthedata elementsrequiredineachandeveryrequirementgivenbythe respectivedepartments Basedonthedataelementssocaptured,theteamwillarriveata conclusionwhethercertainreportsaretobemergedtoprovidemore informationinasingledocumentorneedstobesplittobeableto maketherequirementmorereadableanduserfriendly Oncetheactivityiscompletedalongwithanexplanationofthe reasonforreportsplittingandmerging,thesameinformationwillbe sharedwiththebusinessusersfortheirapproval Onceapproved,theimplementingVendorwillthenproceedaheadto initiatethecreationoftheReportDefinitionDocumentwhichwill containthenecessaryinformationabouteveryrationalized requirementintermsoftypeoftabulardata,useractions,graphs, hierarchies,drills,sliceanddiceandsoon TheimplementingVendorwillalsocreatepatternsofreportsandlink theReportDefinitionDocumentstotherespectivepatternssothat theendusersareabletovisualizethetypeofreportthatwillbe developed Lastly,therequirements,designandthedefinitionofthe requirementswillbefixedanddevelopedaccordinglybythe implementingVendor. SampleLDMisattachedbelow

PA_Technical_RRD_B _V_1.1.doc

3.2

ReportDefinitionDocument(RDD)

Dos
BeforestartingtheImplementationofDataWarehouse,weneedto understandthebusinessrequirementsclearlyfromtheuserintermsofhow exactlythebusinessusercommunityseetheirreportsattheendoftheday.

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The next step is to understand the Business logic with the functional people. The business logic should be properly documented for each and every requirement (reports/dashboard) and signoff should be taken. Oncethroughwithuserrequirementsandbusinesslogicofthose requirementsthenextstepiscreatingtheReportDefinition Document(RDD)andthoroughlycheckingwhetheralltheelements arecapturedornotaccordingtothediscussion. TheReportDefinitionDocumentwillreflectthenoofrequirements (ReportsandDashboard)forwhichtheimplementingvendorwill providethedevelopmenteffortsandcommercials. TakingtheSignoffofRDDfromthebusinessuser. Anychangescomingwhilesystemdevelopmentwhichisnotcaptured insignedoffRDDwillbeaChangeRequestandshouldbedealtwith changecontrolmechanism. Ifbusinessuserinsistsonchangewhichisimportanttohimandnot capturedinrequirementgatheringshouldbetakenaschangerequest anddevelopmentandcommercialeffortsshouldbeestimatedwith properescalationtoprojectownerfromcustomerside. Oncethechangerequestisapprovedthenitshouldbeincorporated inprojectplanandprojectdeliveryscheduleshouldbeupdatedwith newtimelinesandmilestones.

Donts
AftertakingthesignoffonRDD,allowingadditioninthenumberof requirements(ReportsandDashboard).Thisshouldnotbeallowedas itwillhavecommercialimplicationasitisgoingtoextenttheproject delivery.Anyadditionalrequirementshouldbetreatedaschange request.

SampleLDMisattachedbelow

PA_Technical_RDD_B _V_1.0.doc

3.3

UniverseDefinitionDocument(UDD)
Auniverseisasemanticlayerorinmorefamiliartermsadataabstraction layerwhichisbuiltwiththeBusinessObjectsDesignertool.Thissemantic
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layeriswhereyoudefineyourbusinessobjectswhichareessentially encapsulatedsnippetsofSQLthatwhenproperlybuiltexpressaleggolike bitofbusinesslogicthatcanbepresentedinthereportingtoolorthrough anapplicationbeusedandreusedtobuildreports.Thegeniusofthisisthat thisdataabstractionlayersitsbetweenthedatabaseandyourreportsor application.Thismeansthatevenifthedatabasestructurechangesthat insteadofbeingrequiredtochangewhatcouldbehundredsoreven thousandsofreportsthroughoutanorganizationtoaccommodatethe changeyouinsteadmakethechangesintheuniverseandthosechangesare automaticallypassedthroughtoallthereports.Thishasnumerousbenefits onebeingthatitallowsamuchmoreflexibleenvironmentforpreparingfor andfacilitatingchangeinanorganization. PrepareandAnalyzeBeforeyoutouchtheUniverseDesigner Well,inmostoftheBIprojectsthedevelopersmakethismistakeand theyjumpdirectlyondesigner.Butthismightendupinfuture UniverseMaintenanceproblems.Understandingthedatasourceon topwhichuniversetobedevelopedisveryimportant.TheUniverse designermustunderstandthetables,typeofdatastoredinthose tables,relationshipbetweentables,Businesstermsandtheir meaning,anyspecificformulawhichwillbeusedtoderivethe measures.UnderstandReportingneedandwhatalltablesare requiredtofeedthedatatoreports.

PlantheUniverse. BeforeyouactuallystartbuildingtheUniverse,planitwellin advance.Identifynumberofuniversesrequiredforreporting. Identifymeasures,dimensionsanddetailsobjects.Trytodocument itwellandindetail.ThiswouldbeaUniverseblueprintwhichis calledUniverseDefinitionDocumentandwhichwillhelpwhile actuallydesigningtheuniverse. ImplementationorActualDesignofUniverse. Onceyouhavecompletedfirsttwostages,startbuildingtheuniverse usingUniversedesigner.TheplanningUniverseDefinitionDocument createdinplanningstagewillhelpyoualotwhilebuildingthe

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universe.Whilebuildingtheuniverseitsalwaysbettertocreatea UnitTestingdocumentforuniverseandcreateunittestsforevery objectyoucreateinuniverse.Testeachandeveryobjectinuniverse assoonasyoucreateit.Thiswillminimizethepossibleerrorsand bugs.FrequentlyusetheuniverseintegritytesttooltoidentifySQL traps,joinpathproblems. Testonceitsbuilt. ThisisoneoftheveryimportantstageofUniversebuildingprocess. Haveverydetaileduniversetestingplanreadyforthisstage.Test universeagainstdifferentscenarios,forSQLtrapsbycreatingsample reports,testmeasures,comparethedataagainstmanualSQLdata.If possibleaskfewbusinessuserstousetheuniverseforcreatingsome sampleadhocreports. Deployit. Onceallabovestagesarecompletedandwelldocumented,itstime todeployitforactualuseforcreatingreports.Youcandeploy universeusingBIARtool.IfproductionBusinessObjectsServeris availableyoucandirectlyexporttheuniversetoproductionservers fromdevelopmentserver.

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Maintenance. Sincenothingisprefectissuesaresupposedtocomefrequentlyafter deployment.ChangetheUniverseforpossibleresolutionandre deployit.Makesureyoudocumenteverychangeyoumadein universeagainstthechangerequest.

3.4

LogicalDataModel(LDM)
OnceRDDisfinalizedidentifytheEntities,AttributesandtheGrain level. DesigntheEntityRelationshipDiagram(ER)bygivingthe appropriaterelationsofthetables.ForthiswecanuseERWINTool butcurrentlywehavedesigneditintheExcelSheetwhichisagain timeconsumingandrequiresregularupdatesmanually. BasedonthiswewillstarttodesigntheDimensiontablesby capturingalltheelementsbymaintaininghierarchieswhichareused forReportingpurposeusefulforbusinessuserstoanalyzeatthe lowerlevel. NextstepistodesigntheFacttablesbymaintainingthekey relationshipfromDimensiontables. FordoingtheaboveLDMwehavedevelopedanExcelsheetwith prescribedformat.

Dos
Thedatatypeswhichcomingfromthesourcetableshavetohavethe followingnomenclaturewhichwewillbeimplementingforthetarget databaseasshownbelow.Alsoforeverycolumninthetargettable whichwedesignhavetofollowthegivenbelowcolumnprefix.
SNO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 NATIVE TYPE CHAR NUMC DATS TIMS CUKY CURR QUAN UNIT DEC LANG CLNT SQL TYPE VARCHAR NUMERIC DATETIME VARCHAR NUMERIC NUMERIC VARCHAR NUMERIC VARCHAR VARCHAR COL PREFIX chv_ num_ dt_ cid_ amt_ qty_ uom_ int_ lid_ clt_

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 Donts
OncetheLDMiscreatedtheusers(Business/Technical)aregiven permissiontochangethestructureofthetargettableswiththegiven nomenclaturementionedabove.Itshouldnotbeallowed. Iftheuserschangethestructurethenitwillhavetheimpactonthe UniverseandReportswhichcanresultintoprojectdelayandproject commercialsandshouldbetakenaschangerequestwiththe requisitecommercials.

SampleLDMisattachedbelow

LDM_V1_0.xls

3.5

MappingDesignDocument
CreatingtheMappingDesignDocumentinexcelsheetwherethe givenbelowdetailsareelaborated. 1) SourceDefinition(Whereitisexactlycomingfromi.e.sourcedatabasename, sourcetables,whichserveretc 2) Transformations(Whichtransformationhastobeusedtoloadthedatainto targettablesandwhatwasthelogictoimplementtheETLflow) 3) TargetDefinition(Wherewehavetoloadthetransformeddatai.e.target databasename,targettables,whichserveretc) OncetheaboveprocessiscompletedbydesigningintheExcelsheet, itsbeengiventothedevelopmentteamfortheDataWarehouse Implementation.TheExcelsheetwhichispreparediscalledthe MappingDesignDocumentwhichisalsosubmittedtothetechnical usersforcheckingthebusinesslogicandonceitisapproved,it shouldbegivensignoffbytherespectiveusers. OncetheDevelopmentisover,ETLUnitTestinghastobedone.

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Dos
SourcerelatedInputs(ServerName,UserName/Password,Source DatabaseName,Permissions)hastobegivenbythecustomer. TransformationLogicneedstobefinalizedbythecustomer. UserName/Passwordchangesbythecustomeratthesourcelevel shouldbeimmediatelyintimatedtotheimplementingvendor,soas tomodifythecredentialsattheETLlevelbythedeveloper.

Donts
OncetheETLmappingisfinishedandapprovedbythecustomer acceptingchangesfromthecustomerendintermsofaddingsource tables,addingcolumns,changingthebusinesslogictoexisting mappings.Thisshouldnotbeallowedsinceitwillimpacttheproject delivery.Ifuserinsistsonchangeitshouldbetakenaschange requestandchangecontrolmechanismshouldbefollowed.

SampleLDMisattachedbelow

Source_Target_Map ping_V.1.0.xls

3.6

ReportSchedulingSpecification

SchedulingReportsinWebIntelligence Aspertherequirementsfromthebusinessusersthereportscanscheduledaily, weekly, monthly etc or the users might refresh the report on their own. Below arethegivenschedulingstepsneededtobefollowed.

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Beforeschedulingthereportslogontocentralmanagementconsole. Clickoncentralmanagementconsole.Clickonservers. Clickonwebintelligencejobservertoconfigure.Clickondestination tab. Checkonunmanageddiskandclickonenablebuttonontheright. Clickoktoenabletheselecteditem. Gobacktocentralmanagementconsoleandrestarttheweb intelligencejobserver.Openthereporttobeschedule.Clickon scheduleoptioninthereport. SelecttheformatasAdobeAcrobat.Expandthedestinationoption UncheckusethejobserverDefault Givethedestinationlocationforthefile.E.g.D:\\Scheduled.Clickon schedulebuttonbelowrighttorunthejob.

4.0 DEVELOPMENTPHASE
ThespecificationscompletedduringtheDesignphaseareusedtoinstalland configurethearchitecture,accessthedata,developtheuserinterfaceand createthereports.TheBuildphaseiswherethesystemisconfiguredto fulfilltherequirementsdefinedinthepreviousphases.

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4.1 ETLDevelopment
TheBusinessIntelligenceprojectwheredatawarehousedevelopmentis integralpart,theinitialrequirementgatheringshouldbepreciseand exhaustive,sincetheETLfunctioninadatawarehousearemostimportant, challenging,timeconsumingandlabourintensivewhichdeterminesthe projectprofitability.Dataextractioniscomplexbecauseofthedisparate sourcesystems;datatransformationisdifficultbecauseofthewiderange oftasks;dataloadingischallengingbecauseofvolumeofdata.Thegiven belowaretheETLsteps: BasedonLDM,creationofPhysicalDataModeltakesplacewhichmeansdetermineall thetargetdataneededinthedatawarehouse. LoadingMasterTables:LoadingandgroupingdataintoMastertables CreatingStagingAreawhichwillhaveTransformation,AggregationandLoadingasper BusinessRequirement. CreatingTargetAreawhichwillhaveTransformationandLoadingasaprocess Thedataloadingfunctionrelatestotheinitialload,regularperiodicincrementalloads andfullrefreshesfromtimetotime.

Dos
Thecomponentsofthedimensionalmodelarederivedfromtheinformationpackages intherequirementsdefinition(SystemStudy) Theentityrelationshipmodelingtechniqueisnotsuitablefordatawarehouses;the dimensionalmodelingtechniqueisappropriate TheSTARschemausedfordatadesignisarelationalmodelconsistingoffactand dimensiontables. Thefacttablescontainthebusinessmetricsormeasurements;thedimensionaltables containthebusinessdimensions.Hierarchieswithineachdimensiontablesareusedfor drillingdowntolowerlevelsofdata. STARschemaadvantageis:easyforuserstounderstand,optimizesnavigation,most suitableforqueryprocessing,andenablesspecificperformanceschemes. Slowlychangingdimensionsmaybeclassifiedintothreedifferenttypesbasedonthe natureofthechanges.Type1relatestocorrections,Type2topreservationofhistory andType3tosoftrevisions.Applyingeachtypeofrevisiontothedatawarehouseis different. Largedimensiontablessuchascustomerorproductneedspecialconsiderationsfor applyingoptimizingtechniques. Aggregateorsummarytablesimproveperformance.Formulateastrategyforbuilding aggregatetables.

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 Whiledevelopmentifdevelopmentteamscomeacrosscertainproductlimitationthenit shouldbeimmediatelycommunicatedwiththetechnicaluserofthecustomerand decisionneedtobetakenwithmutualconsiderationespeciallywiththeclustertablesin SAP. Ifthereisproblemindataextractionfromsourcesystemlikeextractionofdatafrom purchaseregisteredtablesofSAPthenZtablecanbeprovidedbythecustomerwhich theETLteampicksassourceandpushthedatatotargetdatabase.Thescheduleto updatetheZtableisentirelycustomerresponsibilityagainstwhichourETLjobsare schedulewhichshouldbenotifiedtothecustomerinsuchsituations. Ifhistoricaldataispartofsuchprojectthenitisdutyofcustomertoprovidecleanand consistentdataandvendorwouldnotberesponsibleforanydataqualityor consistencyissues.Itshouldbeinformedtocustomerpriortoimplementingthe projectandproperexpectationsneedstoset. Ifthesourceisexcelthenvendorshallstandardizedthoseexcelsheetsandsubmitit totheuserfordatapopulationintheprescribedformatonly.Usersshouldbe intimatednottochangetheformatwhilepopulatingtheexcelsheet.Ifusereven afterrepeatedcommunicationalterstheformatofstandardizedexcelsheetwhichcan resultintoprojectdelayduetoerrorinETLload.Suchinstancesshouldberecorded andnotifytotheProjectOwner(Customer)forpossiblecommercialimplications. KeepbufferforactivitieslikeETL:ETL(extraction,transformation,loading)isthemost complexworkoneneedstodointheDataWarehouse.Oneshouldplaymore realistic,whenestimatingthetimeforETL.

Donts
SnowflakingorcreatingasnowflakeschemaisamethodofnormalizingtheSTAR schema.Althoughsomeconditionsjustifythesnowflakeschema,itisgenerallynot recommended. Miscellaneousflagsandtextualdataarethrowntogetherinonetablecalledajunk dimensiontable. ChangingbusinesslogicduringtheETLdevelopmentforanybusinessareawhichis completedandthereportingdevelopershavealreadydevelopeduniverseandreports /dashboards.Iftheusersinsistsonchangesinthebusinesslogic(ETLFlow)the vendorshouldbeconsideringitasamajorchangerequestandappropriateeffortsand commercialsneedtobeestimatedsincethiswilldelaytheprojectandaffectthe projectprofitability. Includingdataqualityscopeinsuchtypeofprojectsevencriticalfromcustomerpoint ofview.Dataqualityproblemsrunthegamutofdummyvalues,missingvalues, crypticvalues,contradictingvalues,businessruleviolations,andinconsistentvalues andsoon.Dataqualityisprojectinitselfandpropercustomerexpectationshouldbe donepriortobiddingforsuchprojects.

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4.2 UniverseandReport/DashboardDevelopment 4.2.1

Dos
DevelopmentofSemanticLayer(Universe(s))aspertheSRS,RDDandUDDDocuments.

UniverseDevelopment

Developmentofreportsasperthebusinessrequirement. WhiledevelopingtheUniverseloginID,password,connectionstringtothedatabase anddatabasenametobeprovidedbeforedevelopment. RelationshipbetweenfactsanddimensionaltablesshouldbecapturedinaUDDwhich thedevelopmentteamcanuseintheuniversedevelopmentandwhichwasnot implementedinthecurrentproject. Whileuniversedevelopmentunderstandingthetablesandtheirnames,their relationship(Joins),definingjoins,contextandresolvingtheloopsaremajoractivities. Forclassesandobjectsthebusinessnamesshouldbedefineinconcurrencewiththe businessusers ObjectsdescriptionneedtobecapturedintheRDD ProperUniverseversioningneedtobemaintained. Universebackup(biarfile)needtobetakeneverydayasbestpracticeincaseofany untowardincidentlikeserverproblem/crashetc Propernetworkconnectionistheresponsibilityofthecustomerforsmooth development.

Donts
ForgettingtotaketheusersignoffoncetheUniversedevelopmentforaparticular departmentiscompleted.Takethesignoffsototaketheconcurrenceonbusiness namesandrelationshipbetweentablesfromthebusinessuserswhichwasnotpractice inthecurrentproject. ForgettingtoprovidethesamplereportsdevelopedontheUniversewhichcompleted fromdevelopmentperspective.Samplereportsneedtobeprovidedtotheuserfor testingtheuniversewhichwasnotapracticeinthecurrentprojecttotakethe concurrenceonreportresults. Changingtablestructuredevelopedintargetdatabasewhiledoingdatamodeling shouldbeavoidedasitwillhaveamajorimpactontheUniverseandreportsalready developedresultingintoprojectdelay.

UniverseDevelopmentGuidelinesandBestPractices
Givesthebasicguidelines/practicesthatcouldbefollowedinanyUniverse Design

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Connection
Whenusingarepository,alwaysdefineaSECUREDConnectiontotheDatabase. UsetheUniversePropertypaneltodefinetheUniverseUseandVersion(last update). DefinetheConnectionNamethathelpsforEasyDatabaseIdentification.

Class
DefineUniverseClasses/Subclassesasperthebusinesslogic&NamingConvention. AVOIDAutoClassgenerationintheDesigner. GivedescriptionfortheuseofeachClass/SubClass. Avoiddeeplevelofsubclassesasitreducesthenavigabilityandusability.

Objects
ObjecttobeusedincalculationHAStobeMeasureObjects. ObjecttobeusedinAnalysisHAStobeDimensionObjects. GivedescriptionfortheuseofeachObject. IncludeanEg.inthedescriptionforObjectsusedinLOV. DonotsetLOVOptionforeachDimension.UseitonlyforrequiredObjects,esp. thosetobeusedinReportPrompts. Keep"AutomaticRefreshbeforeUse"optionclickedforLOVObjects IfLOViseditablebytheuser,provideasignificantnametoListNameunderobject properties. Allthemeasureobjectsshoulduseaggregatefunctions. AvoidhavingduplicateObjectnames(indifferentclasses).

PredefinedConditions
Givedescriptionfortheuseofeachpredefinedcondition. Ifconditionisresultinginaprompt,makesureassociatedDimensionObjecthasLOV.

Tables
AliasTablesshouldbenamedwithproperfunctionaluse.

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ArrangethetablesintheStructureasperBusiness/Functionallogic.Thishelpsother Universeusersinunderstanding.

Joins&Context
AVOIDkeepinghanging(notjoined)tablesinthestructure. AVOIDhavingjoinsthatarenotpartofanycontext. Giveproperfunctionalnamingtothecontextforeasyidentification. AVOIDhavingN:Njoins.

Import/Export
MakesureofthepathforImport,whichusuallyisalwaysintheBusinessObjects' Universefolder. LOCKtheuniverseifAdministrator/Designerdoesnotwantanyuserto Import/Export. DO"IntegrityCheck"beforeExportingtheUniverse. Goodtohavecorrectfolderstructure,sothatyoucanhaveasecuredenvironment. Migration Bettertakeabackupoftherepositoryandthenproceedwiththemigration

4.2.2
Dos

WebiReportDevelopment
OncetheUniversedevelopmentisfrozenandsignoffistakenthenstartthereport development. Standardtemplateofreportsneedtobefinalizedinconcurrencewiththebusinessuser whichincludeslogo,reporttitle,refreshdate,prompts,filters,formatofthepagei.e. alignmentsetcwhichshouldbecapturedwhiledocumentingtheRDD. Theabovestandardtemplateneedstobeprovidedtothedevelopmentteampriorto report/dashboarddevelopment. ReportdevelopmentdependsonRDDandstandardtemplatesofreport/dashboard requirements. ReportdevelopmentshouldbedoneinconcurrencewithRDDonly,anydeviationneeds toberaisedandtakenintochangerequest.

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 UnitTestingneedstobedoneoncethereportdevelopmentiscompletewhichnothing isbutdatavalidationandreportformattestingaspertheRDD. Qualityneedtobemaintainedasperstandardslikeproperfontssize,colors,headersof thetable,properalignment,subtotalfigures,totalfiguresetc.Thequalitycheckshould bedoneproperlypriortoreleasingthereportsforUAT. Oncetheunittestingandqualitychecksareperformedbythedevelopmentteamthe reports/dashboardsarereleasedforUAT. UATscheduleshouldbecommunicatedtothecustomer/businessuserwellinadvance andacceptanceneedtobetaken.Onceacceptedthebusinessusersshouldadhereto theUATtimingsotherwiseitwillimpacttheprojectdelivery. WhiledoingtheUATifareportortabnotfoundtobeinconcurrencewiththeRDDby theuserthensufficienttimetobetakentoincorporatethesameandagainthereport shouldbereleasedforUAT.Ifuserdoesnotrespondwithinstipulatedagreedtimethen thosereportswouldbeconsideredasacceptedandwouldbereleasedforproduction. OncetheUATissuccessfullycompletedforaparticulardepartment,immediatelythe trainingsessionneedstobeconductedfortheuserfromthatdepartmentandsignoff needstobetakenonreportsignofftemplate. ProductionisationofUATcompletedreportandusersignoffofproductionisedreports. Oncereportsareproductionisedonparticulardatethesupportstartsonthatdateitself. Thesupportisgivenonlyfortheexistingreports. Ifsomereportsaretakinglongertimefortherefreshthenitshouldbeproperly communicatedtothecustomerandadecisionneedstobetakenaboutthosereports withmutualunderstanding. Whiledevelopmentifdevelopmentteamcomesacrosscertainproductlimitationthenit shouldbeimmediatelycommunicatedwiththetechnicaluserofthecustomerand decisionneedtobetakenwithmutualconsideration.

Donts
TakingchangeswhiledoingtheUATnotmentionedornotcapturedintheRDD.This shouldbeavoidedandshouldbetakenaschangerequestandpropercommunication onemailaboutthesameshouldmaintain. Doingchangestoexistingreportwhileonsupport.Thisshouldbeavoidedandescalated tothecustomerandpropereffortsandcommercialneedtobecommunicated. Doingnewreportdevelopmentwhileonsupport.Thisalsoneedtobeavoidedandsuch activitiesshouldbecommunicatedandeffortstobeestimatedforcommercialandtime durationthusavoidingthedelay.Italsohelpsinmanagingtheoriginalprojectscope. Providingsupportbytheexistingdevelopmentteamonproject.Thisisnotbestpractice andsupportshouldbeprovidedbytheseparateteamandnotbytheexisting developmentteamasitmayhaveanimpactonongoingprojectdevelopmentandcan resultintoprojectdelay.

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WebiReportDevelopmentGuidelinesandBestPractices
Givenbelowarethebasicguidelines/practicesthatcouldbefollowedinany ReportDesignandDevelopment.

General
Givemeaningfulnamesforthereporttabs Forcomplexreports,keepoverviewreporttabsexplainingthereport Usethereportpropertiestogivemoreinformationaboutthereportdataproviders Eachdataprovidershouldbegivenanamethatreflectstheusageofthedataits goingtofetch. SelectObjectsinsuchafashionthattheresultingSQLgivesahierarchicalorderof tableswhichhelpstoachieveSQLOptimization. Avoidbringinglotofdataintothereportwhichwillunnecessarilyslowdownthe reportperformance.

ReportVariables

Followthenamingconventionof"var_"asprefixtoeachreportlevelvariable.This helpstoidentifyReportVariablesdifferentfromUniverseObjects.

4.2.3

DashboardsDevelopment

DashboardsarethenewfaceofBI.Forafacetobeaffableandforadashboardtobe friendlytoyourbusinessthereareafewrequisitesthatneedtobeinplace. Businessintelligencedashboardisnotallthatdifferentfromthedashboardinyourcar.Tobe useful,itmustmakeyoudrivebetter,keepyoucomfortableandtellyouwhenyou're runningoutofgas,butwithoutdistractingyou.Let'slookatthetopfivedo'sanddon'tsof dashboardimplementationasgivenbelow. Do1:LettheDashboardBeBusinessdrivenandFocused AskBusinessUsers:whatcompetitivegoalsareyoutryingtoachievethroughthistool?What specificprocessesareyoutryingtomakemoreefficient?Whatcriticalinformationareyou tryingtomakemorereadilyavailableandwhy?Beruthlesslyspecific.Themoresurgically youzeroinonprecisetactics,thebetteryourchancetoachieveyourstrategyofgetting properinformation.

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Example:youwanttheinventoryofthetop10SKUstoalwaysremainoptimal,sothatyou're notoutofgoodswhilenevergettingoverstocked.Yousetupadashboardthatshowsthis informationinintuitiveeyefulingraphicformandofcourseinrealtime. Don't Don'tmakethedashboardintoalessunprofessionalversionofsolitaire.Toomuchfreedom andtoolittlefocus,andyouruserswillspendtimeonitforbringingnewthoughtprocess whichmightbe360degreechangefromwhatyouhavecapturedintherequirement gatheringwhichcanresultintodelayanddispute.Deliverwhathasbeencapturedin requirementgatheringanddontdeviatefromit.Ifusersaskforchangetreatitaschange requestandraisetheredflagthateffortsandcommercialsneedstobefrozenbeforemoving tothedevelopmentactivities. Do2:LettheKPIBeYourFriend What'saKPI?It'sakeyperformanceindicatorahandylittlecolorcodeddotorgaugethat "indicates"ifyour"key"itemsare"performing"wellorifthey'reheadedforthedogs.Seta threshold(e.g.minimummonthtodatesales)forthecriticalitems;whenyou'reonthegood sideofthethreshold,theKPIshowsyouagreendotallAOK.Whenyou'reonthewrong sideofthethreshold,theKPIturnsredtimetotakeaction. Example:soyouwanttohaveanoptimalinstocklevelofyourtop10SKUs.Have10KPIs thatalertyouwithoutevenhavingtoreadnumbers.Green:allisgoingwell.Red:eithertoo muchortoolittleinventory. Don't Don'tturnyourdashboardintothesinglescreenversionofthosemultiplesheetExceltables, whereyouhavetosortthroughmorefigures.EducateusersthedifferencebetweenWebi reportsanddashboardsandtheirobjectivessoastosettheexpectationrightinthe beginningitself. Do3:MakeYourDashboardActionable ItsgoodtogiveWhatIfindashboardwhereitmakesmoreuserinteractionandbrings satisfactiontobusinessusersforthetoolimplemented,sincetheycanderiveinformationon whichtheycanact. Don't Butforthesakeofmakingthedashboardinterestingdontputwhatifcriteriauntiland unlesssomebusinessvalueisdrivenoutofit.WhatIfarecomplexdevelopmentandusers tendtoaskformoreWhatIfeventheydontmakeanybusinessvaluewhichcanresultinto timeconsumingactivityanddelay. Do4:DashboardEstimation WhilewewereexecutingtheParleAgroprojectwheretherewere29dashboardswhichwe havetodeliverforthe10departments,whichwasherculeantask.Whatwehavemissed
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whiledoingtheprojectrequirementgatheringisourownanalysiswhichwouldhavereduced thenoofdeliverabledashboardsbyaskingmorespecificquestionsabouteachdashboards businessvalue. Dont DontevercountdashboardrequirementsintoWebirequirementatleastforeffortsand commercialestimationpurpose.Theyshouldbetreatedseparatelywhichwillavoidthe disputewhiledeliveringtherequirements,sincedashboardimplementationistotallya differentballgameandcomplexwherefactorssuchasLiveOfficeConnection,ExcelSheet, UniverseDevelopment,WhatIfcriteriaanduserthoughtprocessplayscriticalrole. Do5:Technical Datasetsshouldbeatahighlyaggregatedlevel. Usecolors,labelsandborderstoidentifycellsorrangesofcellsinthespreadsheet. Inspreadsheet,leaveroombelowandtotherightofyourdatasoitcangrowovertime withouthavingtoadd/removerowsorcolumns. Trytolimitdashboardsizetominimumtogetgoodperformance. Dont UseofSUMIF,COUNTIF,HLOOKUPandVLOOKUPfunctionsonlargerdatasets. Useofspreadsheetshavinglinkstootherspreadsheets. ModificationofreportsusedinDashboardthroughLiveOffice/QWAASconnection. InSummary Intheend,rememberthatthedashboardisjustatool.Theeasieritistouse,andthemore directlyitmakesyourcustomers'lifeeasier,themoreitwillbeadopted.Andthemoreitis adopted,themorepositivelyitwillimpactyourbusinessasavendor.

4.3 UnitandSystemIntegrationTesting 4.3.1

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BasicValidationwithSource Validatingthecountofrecordsfromsourceandtargetdatabase(UnitTesting) maintainingtheDB_RECORD_STATUStableatthetargetdatabase. WorkingofappropriatebusinesslogicwhichdesignedintheETLflow Testingthejobsonthedailybasiswhicharesuccessfulornotbymaintainingthe DB_FETCH_BATCH_LOGtableatthetargetdatabase.

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4.3.2

ReportTesting
ValidatethereportformatandstructurewiththeRDD. ValidatethereportdataagainstthevalidatedDatawarehousedata. UnitTestingandSystemIntegrationTesting(SIT)oftheReportsandUniverseasperTest Plan.

5.0 DEPLOYPHASE
The Deploy phase is where all of the built and unit tested system is moved to the production environmentandthenfullytestedtoensurealloftherequirementsspecifiedinPreviousphases havebeenfulfilled.AttheconclusionoftheDeployphase,thesystemwillbetransitionedinto generaluseandturnedovertotheITdepartmentforongoingProductionsupport

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5.1 PerformUATonDevelopmentenvironment
TheDataWarehouse/Mart,universe(s)andreport(s)willbetestedbytheuserfortheir accuracyintermsofdataandformatsonthedevelopmentenvironment.

Dos
ReportandDashboarddevelopmentshouldbedoneinaccordancewithRDDonly. Standardtemplatedesignforreportdevelopmentwhichincludeslogo,heading,prompt display,fonts,headingbackgroundcolorsandmargins(Header,Footer,LeftandRight margin)shouldbefinalizedbeforethereportdevelopmentworkstarts. DataisloadedinthetargetdatabaseaccordingtotheRDDandbusinesslogicdefined duringrequirementgatheringphase. Ifhistoricaldataisconsideredwhilebiddingtheprojectthendataqualityand consistencycomesunderclientspurview.Itshouldbenotifiedtotheclientthatthey havetoprovidethehistoricaldatapriortoUATanddatatestingisclientsresponsibility sincelotoftimeiswastedinthedoingthesaidactivityifitisnotproperlydefinedwhile biddingtheproject. AlwaysinformwellinadvancetheUATscheduletoclient. StandardizedExcelinputsfordatawarehouseshouldbegiventobusinessusersfordata populationwhichtheyarenotauthorizedtochange(excelformat).Thebusinessusers needtogivetheseexceldatawellinadvancetoimplementingvendorsoastoproceed withUAT

Donts
Takingchangeslikeadditionofnewelements,reports,tabsindevelopmentwhichisnot documentedinRDD.Thisshouldbeconsideredaschangerequestandshouldbe escalatedforeffortsestimationandcommercials. Forgettingtonotifytheclientthatoncethereportsaredevelopedandthebusinessuser insistsonchangingtheformattingofreportsthenitwillimpacttheprojectdelivery.It shouldbetakenaschangerequestandestimatedaccordingly. EntertaininglogicchangebroughtbyuserintheUATstagewhichisconsideredasa majorchangesinceitcanhavephenomenalimpactonUniverseforoneormaybe multipledepartmentsandthuscanhaveimpactonreportsfromoneormaybefrom multipledepartments.Itshouldbetakenaschangerequestandestimatedaccordingly. ForgettingtoraisethedelaybecauseofuserUAT
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ForgettingtonotifytheclientaboutHistoricalDatavalidation,cleansingandconsistency ofdatawhichneedstobeloadedintargetdatabasepriortoUATisnotvendors responsibility. ForgettingtoescalatethestandardexceldatainputformatchangebyuserwhileETL. Thisisagainamajorlossoftimesincethedeveloperneedstofindoutthereasonfor ETLfailwhileloadingtheexcelinput.Ifitisformultipleyears/monthstheneverything needstobetruncatedandloadedagainwithunchangedstandardexcelformatwith properdatabecauseofETLfail/improperdatainreportswhichishighlightedwhile doingUAT.

5.2 UserTraining
Dos
UsertrainingneedstobeconductedimmediatelyafterUATcompletionforaparticular departmentsincebiggapbetweenUATandusertrainingwillresultintolackof commitmentfrombusinessusers.Isuchscenariotrainingisconductedmultipletimes whichaffectsprojectdeliveryandprofitability. UsertrainingshouldbeconductedonlyonUATacceptedreportsonly. BItoolfunctionalityshouldbeshowningeneral(howtoaccesstheBItool,refreshing report/dashboard,differentwaystoanalyzethedatalikefilteringetc,howtopublish thereportsinvariousformatslikepdfetc,howBItoolwillhelpineliminatingthe manualeffortsetc)andnotatgreatdepthwhichmakesusersthinkofcomplexityof usingthetoolresultinginlackofinterest.

Donts
Forgettingtoinformbusinessuserswellinadvanceoftrainingschedule. Forgettingtoescalatetheissuesrelatingtodelayinusertrainingbecauseofnon availabilityofbusinessuseronthescheduletime.

5.3 PreparetheBODSXI3.1ProductionEnvironment
InstallationandconfigurationofBODSXI3.1onsupportedplatform InstallandconfigureBODSXI3.1serveronsupportedplatform. DeploynecessaryBODSXI3.1servercomponentsonsupportedWindowsplatform. InstalltheDI(DataIntegrator)functionsonSAPR3onproductionserver SAPR3authorizingthefunctionsforDItooperate(ToextractthetablesfromSAPR3)
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SchedulingtheDataIntegratorjobsinDataServicesManagementConsoleon productionenvironment.

5.4 PreparetheBOXI3.1ProductionEnvironment
InstallationandconfigurationofBOXI3.1onsupportedplatform InstallandconfigureBOXI3.1serveronsupportedplatform. DeploynecessaryBOXI3.1servercomponentsonsupportedWindowsplatform. ConfigureCMSandAuditdatabaseandcreatingRepositorydatabasesonsupported databaseserver. Tomcatserverinstallationonthesupportedenvironment.

5.5 MigrationofDevelopmenttoProduction 5.5.1 ETLMigration

PromotetheDataIntegratorworkflowstotheProductionenvironmentbytwowaysdescribed below. Method1:Logontothedataservicesdesignerinthedevelopmentenvironmentand exporttherelatedprojectdirectlyfromthedevelopmenttotheproductionserverwith thecredentialslikerepositoryname,username/passwordofproductionenvironment.If thisprocessisfollowedformigrationthentheremightbesomeissueslikenetwork issue,powerfailure/fluctuationsetcwhichcancorruptanyenvironment. Method2:Logontothedataservicesdesignerinthedevelopmentenvironmentand takeabackupoftherelatedprojectonasharedfolder.Logontothedataservices designerintheproductionenvironmentandimportthatfilefromthesharedfolder.This processofmigrationcanavoidtheissuedescribedinMethod1ofmigrationprocess. Oncetheprojectisimportedsuccessfullyontheproductionenvironmentwehaveto runsomesamplejobsfortestingpurpose.

5.5.2

ReportMigration

MigrationoftheUATTestedreportsanduniversestoProductionenvironmentcanbedonein twowaysasdescribedbelow.

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Byusingtheimportwizard Bysavingtheentireuniverseandreportsinthebiarfileandmigratingbyusingthe importwizard.

5.6 ReviewandValidation
Allthedevelopedworkflows,universe(s)andreportswillbetestedbytheuserfortheiraccuracy intermsofdataandformatsontheproductionenvironmentafterwhichthesystemgoeslive fortheusers

6.0 EVOLVEPHASE

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IntheEvolvephase,theprojectisformallycloseddown.AProjectclosureisconductedto ensurethatthelessonslearnedfromtheprojectarecapturedforfuturereference,andto identifytheopportunitiesforgeneratingfurthervaluefromanotheriterationofdevelopment.

6.1 KnowledgeSharing
Allthedocumentscreatedduringtheprojectwillbehandedovertocustomerandtheproject knowledgewillbesharedduringatwodaysknowledgesharingsessions.

6.2 PostProductionSupport
HandholdingtotheBusinessUsersandITDepartmentformaximumof10mandaysorasper theagreementwiththecustomer.

Dos
Oncereportsanddashboardsareproductionisedonparticulardatethesupportstarts onthatdateitself.Thesupportisgivenonlyfortheexistingreportsanddashboards.

Donts
DoingchangestoexistingDataModel(DW),Universes,WebiReportsandDashboards whileonsupport.Thisshouldbeavoidedandescalatedtothecustomerandproper effortsandcommercialneedtobecommunicated. Doingnewdevelopment(Universe/WebiReports/Dashboard)whileonsupport.This alsoneedtobeavoidedandsuchactivitiesshouldbecommunicatedandeffortstobe estimatedforcommercialandtimedurationthusavoidingthedelay. Providingsupportbytheexistingdevelopmentteamonproject.Thisisnotbestpractice andsupportshouldbeprovidedbytheseparateteamandnotbytheexisting developmentteamasitmayhaveanimpactonongoingprojectdevelopmentandcan resultintoprojectdelay. Databaselevelscripting,like,creation/modificationofviews,tables,procedures,etc. Thisagainshouldbeavoidedwhileonsupportandtreatedasnewdevelopment.

6.3 Exclusions
ResolutionofProductDefects. WorkingonanyBusinessObjectsEnterpriserelatedactivitiesthatarenotinthescopeof thecurrentdeployment. Anydatacleansingisoutofscope.BusinessObjectswillassumethatallthedatathatis providedwouldbecleanandreliable.

7.0 PROJECTORGANIZATION
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7.1

VendorsRolesandResponsibilities
ProjectManager:
Deliveringtheproject(s)withintimeandresourcebudgets. Requisitionofhuman,computerandconsumableresourcesandensureoptimumusage. Conductingperiodicalmeetingswithteammemberstoensureeffectivecommunication& feedback(upanddown). ProducingperiodicalstatusreportstothereportingauthorityandtotheCustomer. Ensurethatthestatusreportisregularlyreviewedbythereportingauthorityandbythe Customer,ifcontractuallyrequired. ImplementationofQualitySystemintheproject(s). OrganizeprojectwalkthroughsandcoordinatewithQAforprojectauditsorauditsfora processtoensurethatthequalityobjectivesarebeingachieved. Ensure that project team members are always kept informed on matters of interest concerningtheproject/processandtheirwelfaretomaintaintheirmoraleatahighlevel. Proper usage of project management tool for effective project delivery on time, to managechangecontrolmechanismandtoensuretheoptimumresourceutilizationsoas toensureprojectprofitability.

BOConsultant:
Conductingsmoothfunctioningofvariousintegrationsneeded byBusinessObjectsfrom SAPSystems. CoordinatingwithSAPConsultantsonCustomersitewhereadditionalinformationneeded tounderstandthecustomizationifany. WorkingincoordinationwiththeDevelopers. Ensurethatallnecessarydocumentationfortheproject(s)areprepared,maintainedand approved,asrequired. Deliveringtheproject(s)inaccordancewiththeagreedcontract/workorder.

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Obtaining Customer acceptance on project completion, technical queries, changes and concessions,ifany.

Sr.Developer:
Deliveringtheproject(s)inaccordancewiththeagreedcontract/workorder. Monitoringandcontrollingtheprogressoftheproject(s). Obtaining Customer acceptance on project completion, technical queries, changes and concessions,ifany. CollaboratingwiththeCustomerexecutive(s)toensurethatCustomercommitmentsare beingcarriedouttoclarifytechnicalrequirementsandtoresolvetechnicalproblemsina project. EscalatingCustomercomplaints,ifanyandcontractualissuesorproblemstothereporting authorityandcooperatingwiththereportingauthoritytomonitortheirstatus&assistin theirresolution. Ensurethatallnecessarydocumentationfortheproject(s)areprepared,maintainedand approved,asrequired. Reviewing design specifications to ensure correct use of common modules, correct interfacingbetweensubsystems,systemintegrityandoperatingefficiency. EvaluatingandsizingChangeRequests,ifany. SendingMinutesoftheMeetingstoalltheconcernedauthorities. WorkingincoordinationwiththeDevelopers.

Developer:
Toperformallthetasksassigned. Maintainappropriatedocumentationandrecords. DemonstrateandimplementtheBusinessObjectsskills. Maintainweeklystatusandobtainnecessaryfeedbacks. Communicatethepotentialdelaysalongwithreasons.
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 7.2 CustomersRolesandResponsibilities
This section details the Roles and Responsibilities, which Vendor has assumed, will be performed by Customer any deviation, which has a potential impact on Vendor responsibilities,willbesubjecttoChangeControlProcess.Customershallallocate/assignthe requiredresourceswiththenecessaryskillsandauthoritytoexecutetheresponsibilitiesgiven below.

ProjectManager/Projectcoordinator
Customershalldesignateaperson,calledProjectManager/Projectcoordinatortowhomall Vendor communications may be addressed and who will have the authority to act for Customerinallaspectsoftheproject.Thespecificrolesandresponsibilitiesofthispersonare: SettingupandmanagingtheprojectteammembersfromVendor UpdateCustomermanagementontheprojectstatus. Foranychangeinscope,thecostimplicationsofthesamehavetobeconsidered.Forany changes there is a standard change request procedure for which structured processes needtobefollowed. Accept the deliverables or obtain the necessary acceptance signoff from Customer management,whereversorequired. Initiate and approve Change Requests or obtain necessary signoff and approval for the ChangeRequestsfromCustomerManagement. Ensure the availability of Customer management and users whom Vendor may need to discusswithforthepurposeoftheproject. FurnishallthenecessaryinformationrequiredbyVendorinconnectionwiththeProject.

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7.2.1

CustomerResponsibility:
Toprovidetherequiredinformationanddocumentationassociatedwiththedevelopment effortfromendCustomer. ToprovidetherequiredSoftwareandHardwarefortheproject. Topursuetheprojectandtocoordinatediscussions/demos/reviews/approvals. Toprovidetheacceptancecriteriafortheproject. ToprovidetherequiredtechnicalassistanceonrelevantendCustomerapplicationsthat willbeusedbyVendorontheproject. Toarrangefortherequiredresourcesaspercontract To ensure availability of required persons Customer for discussions, meetings, clarifications,reviewsandtestingatappropriatetimesaspertheprojectplan/schedule. Toprovidequickturnaroundforapprovals,signoffsandacceptances. Toprovidequickturnaroundforreviews,clarificationsandanswerstoqueriesatvarious stagesoftheproject. Toprovidethedevelopmentstandardsthatneedstobefollowed,ifdesiredbyCustomer To provide the necessary documentation support (For Example, Issue List) in assisting Vendorprojectpersonnelforexecutionoftasks. To make undisputed payments to Vendor in accordance with the payment schedule on Vendorfulfillingitsobligations. To conduct acceptance of all project deliverables within the time frame specified in the Projectschedule. To ensure that the deliverables from Customer including Software, tools, test data and otherfacilitieswillbedeliveredtoVendorintime. Toissuetheprojectacceptancecertificateuponsuccessfulcompletionoftheproject.

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8.0 DELIVERABLESANDACCEPTANCECRITERIA
8.1 Deliverables
AstheFixedBidEngagementthefollowingareDeliverablesgivenbelow SRSDocumentation DataWarehouse MappingDesigndocument ReportDefinitionDocument UniverseDefinitionDocument ETLDocument AggregateschemaandUniversestocatertotherequirementsofReports&Dashboards WebiReports Dashboards

8.2

AcceptanceProcedureandCriteria

Dos
Uponcompletionofanydeliverable,thevendorshallprovidetheUATsheetwhichcan be different for different requirements (Webi Reports or Dashboard) mentioning the variousparameterslikereportelements,datarefresh,reportformatsetcwhichshould conforms to the description specified for such deliverable captured while doing Requirement Gathering and Analysis . Customer will be responsible for any additional review and testing of such deliverable in accordance with any mutually agreed Test Script&Resultforms. If the deliverable does not conform to the description for such deliverable, Customer shall have five business days after the submission of the deliverable (acceptance period) to give Vendor written notice which shall specify the deficiencies in detail. Vendorshallpromptlyaddressanysuchdeficiencies. Afteraddressingthedeficiencies,VendorshallresubmitthedeliverableforCustomers review and testing as described above. Upon accepting any deliverable submitted by Vendor,Customershallprovidevendorwithwrittenacceptanceofsuchdeliverable.
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If Customer fails to provide written notice of any deficiencies within the acceptance period,asprovidedabove,suchdeliverableshallbedeemedacceptedattheendofthe acceptanceperiod.

Donts
Thedeficienciesconfusedwithchangerequestlikeadditionofnewelements,changein formatsofreportsagreedinrequirementgathering,changeoflogic(ETL),newreport development/newtabdevelopmenttosubstitutethedroppedreportsduetodata unavailabilityetc.Allthisshouldbetakenaschangerequestandproperdevelopmental andcommercialeffortstobeestimatedandnotifiedtothecustomerwellinadvance.

8.3

SignofftheUserAcceptanceTest(UAT)

Dos
Proper UAT document templates need to be created for various requirements (Webi andDashboards).Thetemplatewillhavevariousparametersofuseracceptancelikefor Webi Report the parameters would be Report Format, Data Refresh, Filters, Graphical Representation, Alerter (Working / Non Working), etc. All these parameters should be mentioned in the template and copies should be made with report name and code. Once the business user is satisfied with the UAT, his signoff is essential on the given template.Oncethesignoffisreceivedthereports/dashboardcanbeproductionisedfor daytodayusage.

Donts
ForgettingtotakethesignoffimmediatelyaftertheUATcompletion. Forgettingtoraisetheissueofuserdelayingivingsignoffevenaftersuccessful completionofUATwithinstipulatedtime,vendorneedstoraisetheissueimmediately asitmightdelaytheprojectdeliveryandaffecttheprojectprofitability. TakingchangeswhicharenotmentionedinRDDornotcapturedduringrequirement gathering.Ifsuchsituationarisesraiseflagofchangerequesttocustomerandtakehis concurrenceonproceedingfurtherwithproperdevelopmentandcommercialeffort estimationandcustomeracceptance. ForgettingtoinformthecustomerthatoncetheReportsorDashboardshasbeen productionisedafterUATsignoffitisdeemedtobeacceptedandinvoicescanberaised forparticularmilestone.

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8.4

RequirementChanges
IntheeventofchangestotheinitialuserrequirementsrequestedbyCustomerthesameshall be incorporated into the project plan and estimate of effort and delivery schedule will be revisedbasedontheextentofchangesrequestedfor. Customer shall approve the changes in plans and revised estimates in time for implementation. The revised schedule and cost shall be incorporated to the contract as amendments. Vendorwillreevaluateanysubstantivechangesfromthebaselinerequirementsandtechnical requirementsandwillfollowtheChangeControlProcess,whichtypicallyinvolves. Activity Requestforchange Studytheimpactofthe change Effortsestimatedueto impact ScheduleChange ApprovalofCostdueto effortrevision Signoffoneffortstoimpact Incorporatingthechanges Acceptance ChangeRequestClosure ImplementationVendor ChangeRequestform ImpactAnalysisform EstimationTemplate ImpactAnalysisform DevelopmentLifeCycle ChangeRequestForm Responsibility Vendor/Customer Vendor Vendor VendorwithCustomer consent Customer Customer Vendor Customer Vendor

8.4.1

ChangeControlProcess

AchangeisinitiatedbyaRequestforChange(RFC).Thisisdonebyfillingoutacopyofthe change request form and submitting the same to a Review Committee comprising of Customer Project Manager and Vendor Project Manager and/or their designates. Parties in writing will agree the membership of the Review Committee on commencement of the project.RFCcanbeinitiatedbyCustomerorVendor. The Review Committee will evaluate the RFC for technical validity and its impact on the project.Itwillalsodecidewhichpartyisresponsibleforimplementingthechange.Ifapproved by the Review Committee, the RFC will be forwarded to the party responsible. The party responsible willalsobeknownasownerforthe RFC.ForurgentRFCs,atimeperiodwill be stipulatedbywhichthepartyshouldrespond.

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8.4.2

ResponsetoRequestforChange

Vendor will, within stipulated time of receiving an RFC approved by the Review Committee, providetheCustomerwithwrittenacknowledgmentofthereceiptandestimateoftimeand effortrequiredtoanalyzetheRFCandpreparetheRevisedProposal. Depending on extent and complexity of the requested change, Vendor may charge for the effortrequiredtoanalyzetheRFCandpreparedevelopmentaleffortsandcommercialforthe same.Insuchinstances,VendorwillnotifytheCustomerinwritingoftheestimatedcost.The CustomermayrecalltheRFCafterreceivingVendorsacknowledgmentandestimate.

8.4.3

CustomerApproval
ApprovalforAssessmentofChangeImpactand ApprovalforImplementationofChange.

Customerapprovalisrequiredattwostages:

When a change request with effort estimate, commercial and schedule is submitted to the customer, it needs to be approved by the Customer's authorized representative in writing. OnceapprovedbytheCustomer,theimplementationworkcanbeundertakenbythevendor.

8.4.4

Implementation

After Customer approval, Vendor will implement change request in accordance with the agreedchangedrequirements.Affectedportionswillbechangedandtested.

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9.0 PROJECTCOMMUNICATION&CONTROLMECHANISMS
ThestatusreportwillbesenttoCustomerandthesamewillbediscussedduringtheweekly reviewsconductedthroughprojectmeetings.However,anyurgentissueswillbeimmediately escalatedandbroughttothenoticeoftheconcernedpersonandanactionplaninitiatedto resolvethem. All relevant team members from Customer and Vendor team will participate in the periodic reviewsandcontributetoresolveissuesofconcern.Theforumwillbeusedtosurfaceissues thathavedependenciesonvariousactivitiesbeingcarriedout. Themodesofcommunicationwillprimarilybethroughemail.Othermodesofcommunication likeInstantMessaging(chat),telephoneconferenceandvideoconferencingcanalsobeused.

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 For Approvals and Responses on queries, these approvals should be given within the time limitsstipulatedwiththequery.ThedefaultresponsetimebyCustomeronqueriesbyVendor isconsideredasonebusinessdayandfeedbackondeliverablesastwobusinessdays. OnceCustomerhassignedoffdocuments,deliverablespertainingtotheproject,Customeris boundtoacceptthedocuments.Anychangestothesignedoffdocuments,deliverablescould resultinchangerequestandtherebyinthedeliveryscheduleandwouldaffectthecostofthe project.

9.1

HowdoesonedoBasicLevelBIProjectManagement?
Itisveryessentialtohaveaprojectmanagementtoolinplaceformanaging,monitoringand reporting the BI/DW project progress as written in executive summary of this document.
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Manual monitoring instead of proper project management tool is time consuming with no proper analysis of tasks and milestones achievement which needs to be avoided. Manual monitoring can result into dispute and delay with both the vendor and client companies blaming each other for delay. Proper change control mechanism also could not be ensured because the process wasall manual and a lot of time is wasted in estimation of effortsand convincingclientaboutthechange. Here are the methods by which you can do the manual monitoring in case you dont have proper project management tool. But this need to be avoided and given below are only guidelinesformanualmonitoring. DailyandWeeklyProjectstatusreports:Theseprovidethedetailswhichcanbe consolidatedforyourweekly,fortnightly,monthlyandmilestonemeetings.Atypical projectstatusreportwilltouchupontimelines,costandscope.Astandardtemplate needstobedevisedfortheaboveactivity. ProcessAdherencechecklists:Thesearethechecklistsusedtoassessprocess adherence.Astandardprocessneedstobedocumentedforeachstepofdevelopment likedesign,ETLdevelopment,ReportandDashboarddevelopment. CostAssessmentReports:Thesearetheexpensesheetsbasedonthevendorpayments andinternaleffortchargeout.Astandardtemplateneedstobedevisedforthesame. Steeringcommitteeminutes:Theyprovideaviewonthemanagementjudgmentonthe projectmanagementwhichincludesprojectmanager/teamleadfromvendor organizationandprojectowner/projectmanagerfromclientorganization. ScopeAdherence:Scopeadherenceisbothways.Firstlybeingabletodeliverwhatwas scopedoutbeforeandsecondlynottohaveascopecreepatthelaterstage.Scopefora BIprojectwillnotbeasingularstatement.Itshouldbenotifiedtotheclientthatonce scopeisfrozenanyactivityoutsidethescopewillbechangerequestandneedsto adheretothechangerequestcontrolmechanismorprocessforwhichitwillhave effortsandcommercialimplications.

Data Warehouse initiative is more challenging as compared to a transactional system. You betterreadittounderstandwhatyouareinfor. In spite of their proven ROIs for well implemented projects, the proportion of Data Warehouseprojectfailuresisfairlyhigh.Failurescantakevariousformsintermsof FunctionalTheprojectisnotabletodeliverthefunctionalityandanalysiscapabilities. TechnicalThetechnologyplatformandservicesdontwork. PublishingTheavailabilityofdataisnotasperexpectations. UsageEveniftheprojectiswelldelivered,thecapabilitiesandinformationisnotused.

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AchievementofbusinessgoalsEveniftheinformationisused,itisnotabletodrive theexpectedbusinessgoals.

Thedriverbehindthesefailuresisthathype&glamourofDataWarehousehasovertakenthe diligence(especially,whenDataWarehouseandDataManagementinitiativesandknowledge basestilltobecomeamassawarenessandexpertise).ThediligencerequiredisbecauseData Warehouseprojectsarequitedifferentfrombusinesssystemsprojects.Whiletypicalbusiness systemsprojectsalsomaysufferfromsimilarchallenges,theintensityofthemismuchhigher inDataWarehouseprojects.HereareDataWarehousechallenges,whichareunique

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10.0 RISKMANAGEMENT
Vendor will work with Customer to identify and assess all potential risks including cost of ownership and human resource constraints. Vendor undertake to provide a management approachthatwillensurethebestpossiblecommunicationforthecontainmentandeffective handlingofthepotentialrisksassociatedwiththeimplementation. AreasofRisk Probability Implications Introductionofsuch changeswillimpact theprojectschedule. MitigationPlan Adheretoformal ChangeControl Procedures Detailedplanningand commitmentto project.AssignProject Manageratbothends. AvailabilityofCustomer resourcesduringthevarious phasesoftheproject. Vendorwill communicatethe businessusersin advanceabout meetingsrequirement forbusinesslogic discussion,System logicdiscussion,User TrainingandUAT SteeringCommittee proposedtoensure implementationof effectiveproject controlmechanisms Replacement consultantswillbe providedbyVendor withappropriateskills. Ifpossiblecontinue
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Changeinapplicationspecifics /design&guidelinesduring High development

High

Delays

Timelyescalationofissuesof concernandevolving appropriateactionplans

Low

Anyissuesofconcern thatareraisedatthe appropriatetime couldbesolvedso thatthereisno cascadingeffect

Nonavailabilityofassigned consultantsdueto unavoidablecircumstances

High

Delays

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AreasofRisk

Probability

Implications

MitigationPlan withthesame resourcestillproject closureatleastTeam Leadershouldbe availabletillproject closure. DataCleansingwillbe donebyCustomer Customerwillprovide consistentdata. HistoricalDataUpload inDataWarehouse needstobediscussed withcustomerpriorto goingfor implementation,since mostofthetimethe dataisnotcleanand consistentwhichwhen loadedintotheDW giveswrong information.Insuch scenariosnormallythe customerblames vendorfordata mismatchwhich resultsintodelayand dispute.

DataQualityandConsistency

High

IncorrectResultsand delays

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