The document provides an overview of the SAP BO Commentary Solution. It discusses why commenting is important, describes the single solution for managing comments across SAP BI tools, demonstrates the application functionality and frontend integration, explains how to handle custom logic, and outlines the technical requirements. Key points include the centralized web interface, ability to comment at different data levels, use of workflows and templates, and period locking capabilities.

1. Mike Schiebel Marcin Chmiel
Senior Consultant Senior Consultant
Mobile +49 160 90 82 14 41
marcin.chmiel@sap.com
SAP BO 4.X
Commentary Solution
Workshop

2. Agenda
• Why commenting? add meaning to your reporting
• One Solution! introducing the SAP BO Commentary Solution
• Have a Look! application functionality, frontend integration
• Not enough? handling your own logic
• Technical Stuff? requirements

3. W H Y
C O M M E N T I N G ?

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* http://www.hichert.com/downloads/media/CoPlanner_Magazin_Ausgabe_2_Hichert_Interview.pdf

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Comments add a message to your data
start making use of them

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Commenting is more than adding text
it’s a business process
analyzes the raw data
adds a comment explaining the
current figures
reviews data and comment
releases or rejects the report
and comment
consumes data and additional
information for quick decisions
EVA Tree Raw Material prices Net working capital
Business Analyst
BU Manager
BA Manager
1
2
3
4
5

7. O N E
S O L U T I O N !

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The SAP BO commentary solution is all you need
 consume comments across all SAP BusinessObjects solutions
 Dashboard Design / Xcelsius
 Crystal Reports
 Web Intelligence
 Design Studio
 Analysis for Office
 create comments at any level of detail
 Report, Line, Key Figure, Characteristic, Hierarchy Nodes or combination of those
 workflow guided commenting process
 use plain text or formatted comments
 Have comments with unlimited length or restricted length
 Make use of templates
 have one central solution for managing comments in SAP BW
(single point of truth and single point of entry) with full versioning

9. © 2013 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 9
Interface
Document
Repository
Framework
• Read Interface
• Write Interface
• Services
SAP BO Tools
Presentation
Layer
Commentary Framework
SAP BEx
Dashboard Crystal Reports
Web Intelligence
Design Studio
Analysis for Office
Application
SAP NW Document
Repository
Services Authorization Document History (Change-Log)
Workflow
Document Management
Period-Locking
General Services
Customer
specific
Document
Repository
This is how it works
overall architecture of the SAP BO commentary solution

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The commenting application is your main point of entry
enduser view for creating or changing comments
 The enduser clicks on a link within the report and a new window pops up
 The user can create or change a comment and immediatly see it in the report
 This works for all tools

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The commenting application is your main point of entry
admin view for maintaining comments
 All customizing is done via web interface
 Configure workflow, templates and technical settings here

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the customizing options allow you to align the application to the your system specification,
e.g. naming conventions.
for maximum flexibility the
application offers additional
enhancement spots for your own
customer specific coding.
There is a BAdI definition for
example that allows you to
implement or reuse your own
period locking logic without
having deep knowledge of the
solution’s standard logic
Enhance the application with your own logic!
if you have special requests

13. © 2013 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 13
Grant access via SAP authorizations and roles
Editor
Reviewer
Period Admin
Administrator
creates and changes comments within his responsibility
e.g. profit center controller
reviews and releases saved comments
e.g. profit center parent node controller
optional: separate role for unreleasing (e.g. his/her manager)
handles period locking
e.g. chief controller
optional: separate role for re-opening closed periods (e.g. his/her manager)
maintains the commentary application
takes care of customizing the application
e.g. solution responsible IT
Reader
consumes comments with the report in different ways
e.g. enduser in that area

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Use workflow functionality for your commenting process
New Saved Released
save
release
unrelease
New comment has been created by editor
Saved comment is still changable, visible only to editors
Released comment is locked against changes, visible to consumers
can be unreleased only by authorized persons
(not necessarily same as reviewer)
Editor Reviewer
1 2
Reader
consume

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Set standards with commentary templates
create your own templates for recurring tasks use previous period’s comment as template
use different templates for different
reporting scenarios

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Secure reported information against changes
lock closed periods at any level and for any combination of objects
Comments are locked against any changes

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Scope Scope Detail
Central Web Interface Central web interface to enter comments
Central Storage Central storage of comments in SAP BW
Displaying Comments Displaying comments in SAP BusinessObjects BI Frontends
Workflow Possibility to use workflow functionality
Period locking Possibility to lock periods for commenting
Historization Possibility to display historized comments
Scope

18. H A V E A
L O O K !

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Do it with Design Studio!
The new standard for web based reporting and dashboarding
Direct link to commentary solution

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Do it with Design Studio!
The new standard for web based reporting and dashboarding
select your comment
show selected comment

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show comments on
any level anywhere
in the dashboard
Do it with Dashboard Design!
your tool of choice for highly interactive reporting
create and change
your comments
directly within the
dashboard
(optionally)
show status of
comment

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direct link to
commenting application
For desktop or mobile
consumption
For desktop or mobile
consumption
Do it with Web Intelligence!
on desktop or mobile

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Do it with Crystal Reports!
for highly formatted reporting or scheduled reporting books
direct link to
commenting application
show the status of a
comment
comment on any
level of detail

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Do it with Analysis for Office!
direct link to
commenting application
Show overall comments
show comments on
any level

25. T E C H N I C A L
S T U F F

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Netweaver:
 BW 7.0 recommended
 additional features with BW 7.4
BI:
• BI 4.0 or higher recommended
• Enhanced Universe and Crystal Reports Enterprise support with BI 4.1
• Some restrictions with 3.x
Design Studio
• 1.2 or higher recommended
• Some restrictions (formatting) with 1.1
Analysis Office
• 1.4 recommended
Technical Information
prerequisites

27. Thank you!
Mike Schiebel
Business Process Consultant
Commentary Solution expert
SAP (Schweiz) AG
Mobile +41 79 820 24 59
Mike.schiebel@sap.com
Marcin Chmiel
Business Process Consultant
Commentary Solution expert
SAP Deutschland AG & CO. KG
Mobile +49 160 90 82 14 41
marcin.chmiel@sap.com