Oz Analytics

Wrap-up: Mastering SAP BusinessObjects Conference Day 2

I'm listening to the final presentation of the track I'm chairing. The topic was to have been about SAP BusinessObjects XI 4.0. Unfortunately the talk couldn't proceed as SAP hasn't yet released their product roadmap. What a pity. The SAP guy (Noam Berda) did say that you can be briefed later if you sign an NDA.

The day has been worthwhile as I learnt some useful techniques when using BusinessObjects Explorer (SAP's 'google-like' interface). It's a product that, along with their data integration tool, I will take a closer look at when back in the office. It could fill a gap in our current BI platform.

Andrew Rose of IBM Australia gave an insightful session on RapidMarts. These are products that provide 'reporting out of the box'. Not sure how much they cost. Andrew wasn't saying and a quick google didn't find an answer. So I'm guessing the price is 'not cheap'. Still they look interesting and may be worth looking at. Apparently they come with good and extensive documentation.

Mastering SAP BusinessObjects Conference Day 2

Day 1 of the conference was very good and the sessions I attended were packed. I expected to hear some interesting customer stories and I wasn't disappointed. What was a pleasant surprise was the information and openness of the SAP speakers.

For me, the nuggets of gold were not the headline messages of the keynote addresses by the vendor. A lot of the keynote messages are incremental and don't change much for me professionally. Too much hype for my taste - but that is to be expected from a sales pitch. Don't get me wrong, the keynoters are great people - smart, thoughtful people who deserve to be in the mentoring roles they occupy. Instead, I found value in the practical advice revealed by several speakers in the breakout sessions. I can only comment on the sessions I am chairing but I learnt some valuable knowledge about SharePoint integration and how to more elegantly scale up a reporting environment.

Maybe I prefer the tortoise to the hare these days.

I can't emphasise how valuable practical advice is in a relationship with a vendor. I work for a large company and our BI investments are not just large, the impacts of good or bad decisions I make are sizable. So straight talking from the SAP experts is important. I don't want to make this a vendor 'love fest' but credit should be given when due.

Another feature of the conference has been it's sheer size. There are around 250 - 300 people in the room. This is refreshingly large by Australian standards. Tiny by international standards but I don't know of a bigger BI event locally. By my reckoning, there is about 3,000 years of experience to tap into!

So day 2 should be good. All credit to Eventful Management for organizing the conference.

Now I'm worried - this post is too upbeat. I'll try to be my cynical 'normal' self in my next post!