The course “SAP BI – Integrated Business Planning” deals
with the SAP BI software for Data Warehousing. The theoretical and practical
knowledge gained in the courses Introduction
to SAP BI and SAP BI – Advanced
Business Intelligence is inevitable for this course. Building upon that,
possibilities are looked at of developing an integrated business planning based
on data from many different source systems. The theoretical contents will then
be applied to the system which helps to consolidate to theoretical knowledge in
return.
The case studies are performed in an SAP education
system. The used IDES (Internet Demonstration and Evaluation System) represents
a fully developed model enterprise. It is based on the standard SAP ERP system
and it offers the corporate structure and the data basis to accomplish extensive
analyses in the SAP BI system.
The course consists of two parts. The first part gives
an overview on planning functions in SAP BI. Based upon that, students compile
their own data models by using MultiProviders. They also get to know BI’s
planning architecture and, connected to that, planning functions and
Plan-Queries. Furthermore, the Lock-Concept of SAP BI is introduced and
planning sequences are applied to the system. Eventually, planning applications
are defined. Here, the generation of web-based planning applications via the
Web Application Designer is introduced, as well as the generation of
Excel-based planning applications via BEx Analyzer.
In the second part of the course, specific approaches to data extraction are
looked at: Data extraction via the Universal Data Integration Interface, as
well as the Exchange Infrastructure. Furthermore, it is shown how data from
different sources can be combined in order to capture invisible patterns and
connections. To reveal complex and hidden structures, the Analysis Process
Designer is used. The results of this process can be updated and be used as the
planning starting point.
The contents of the individual chapters are structured
in a way that helps students to get a very complex overview of functions of the
SAP BI system – specifically planning models and the Analysis Process Designer
– and internalize its handling.