We ask that our SAP BusinessObjects authors create reports based on our BEx queries, however they are unaware of the many BEx queries that are available and lack the background information on how the values shown in the SAP Business Warehouse (BW) report are derived. To address this issue, we have developed queries built off of the stored SAP metadata that the users can execute in order to provide a list of all of the available queries, as well as to drill down to obtain more granular information on the dataflow of the available fields. We have also created a “Report Catalogue” template that, when completed, it will provide the user with a better understanding of what the report is to be used for, which filters were used, and which calculations were applied for the final set of results. The usage of both tools help to reduce the confusion as to what SAP BW reports are out there and allows the SAP BusinessObjects authors and the SAP BW super users the ability to perform “backwards engineering” on the report in order to obtain a more granular understanding of the report without needing access to SAP HANA Studio/BW workbench or SAP Information Steward data lineage.
Key session takeaways:
- Good business decisions and analytics require a thorough understanding of the data source.
- More awareness of the available reports will help to reduce duplicate reports.
- Consumers of reports will be able to search through the catalogue in order to find reports that are best able to suit their requirements.
