BI System Upgrade: Global Engineering Company

Client Requirement
The IT Solutions and Services Division is a solution and service provider for other Company firms located within the US and worldwide and were looking to upgrade their existing business warehousing & intelligence (BI) system – a BW 3.5 version used for Analysis and Reporting purposes to BI 7.0.

Smartsoft Solution
As a first step we analyzed the existing BW system landscape. We then identified and prepared the path for the 7.0 Upgrade by restructuring critical objects (InfoCubes, ODS Objects, Reports, Process Chains) in all environments to synchronize the landscapes and prepare the system for the Upgrade from BW 3.5 to BI 7.0. Once the scoping and solution path was defined, we deployed our SmartSourcing model to chart out the development and implementation plan for the Upgrade.

Global Implementation Support
Smartsoft’s expertise in recovering data that were accidentally deleted was also called on during the implementation. This involved restructuring the architecture to include DSO before the data reached the cubes and creating batch jobs to fill the setup tables for respective document values, which were agreed upon during the restructuring phase. In collaboration with the ABAP team, we then created custom codes that would not allow users to post any documents until the initialization was done. The project also called for deleting existing delta queues to allow re-initialization. Through seamless knowledge transfer, Smartsoft’s offshore team was then handed over the task of monitoring the process and making enhancements to the process chain including creation of new objects. The global rollout also involved several instances where process chains were rescheduled as per user requests on a weekly basis. Transaction data process chains were also enhanced along the way to include new objects provided for SERVOR (Service Operations Reference Framework for Maintenance Operations). The Smartsoft team also worked on a number of IMS (Issue Management System) related issues on the new system. These included providing solutions to production tickets from customers, resolving multiple issues on the Backlog, the BW OCC report as well as issues with Federal reports.

Development Effort
The global implementation for the company also included setting up new KPI’s for better reporting and analysis calling for some new objects to be included. All such new objects that were implemented were included in the new process chains without changing the functionality of the existing objects.

Those apart, new functionalities were added to separate process chains. As part of this process, Multi-Providers were enhanced for proper functioning of reports and in close cooperation with the BASIS team we were able to resolve various issues with transports. We also performed a BW Query Performance Tuning activity to rectify flaws in the design thereby enabling better performance of queries and the system in general.

Training and Documentation
As part of our deliverable, we also offered documentation for all existing and newly developed objects along with training and workshops sessions for end users in BI Reporting and Analysis.

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