One thing that might be confusing about using the Web Intelligence Rich Client
With the arrival of BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.0 the ability to view documents via a so-called Rich Client has been added to the suite. While the Rich Client might appear to be nothing more than a full client version (it requires a separate installation) of the Java version of Web Intelligence in InfoView, it does in fact have certain features that are not available in thin client version.
User rights in XI 3.x
I’d never really considered doing this when working with user rights in an Enterprise environment, but now that I’m thinking about it, it does make sense.
When setting security for a single user, a best practice is to create a group first, then apply the desired security rights to the group and add the user to that group. Rather than applying rights to individual users each time a new user requires the same privileges, the administrator can simply add them to the group, thus saving administrative time.
Gartner evaluates the reporting capabilities of nine BI vendors
Gartner put the reporting capabilities of nine BI vendors to the test a while back. The results can be found in a fairly elaborate, 28 pages long, report with the dramatic title Critical Capabilities for Business Intelligence Reporting. MicroStrategy Report Services gets its share of positive feedback in it, which is probably why it is available for free on the MicroStrategy web site. You can grab your copy here, after having completed the registration process.
Cognos 8.4 FP1 is out
A colleague of mine told me yesterday that Fix Pack 1 for Cognos 8.4 was released.
8.4 Fix Pack 1 is a version of IBM Cognos 8 aimed at upgrading existing Cognos 8 customers. It includes updates to 8.4 BI Server, Metric, Go! Dashboard, Go! Search and Go! Mobile.
And it only took around, what, four years?
I’m flicking through the notes I’ve been making for the past half year or so on the XI 3.x version of SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise, because I’m preparing for the upgrade exam (Wednesday is the big day).
BI history
The Microsoft BI team uploaded a video to YouTube about the history of my field of expertise. It’s a bit flashy, but useful if you’re new to the business or want to explain to someone else what it is you’re exactly doing. Read more
† RIP ESD
It was announced a while back that the Business Objects Electronic Software Delivery was going to be closed down and it appears that it has, because I can still log in but cannot do anything else apart from that.
Rest in peace trusty ESD. I know we had our troubles at times, but being with you sure beats the heck out of being with the SAP MarketPlace. Oh well, I guess everything takes getting used to.
> 1 TB in < 30 min
Last year, with the introduction of SQL Server 2008, Microsoft broke the existing ETL World Record, doing a load of data using SSIS. Over 1 TB of data was loaded from flat files in less than 30 minutes.
At the time the team promised a white paper on the subject, which is now available on MSDN. It’s quite an interesting read (even for people like me, who don’t normally work with DWHs of that size).
Missing parameter in db2iseries.prm file
In BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.0 I ran into what seems like a bug. I am talking specifically about using Designer in combination with an AS/400. After having migrated content from a 6.5 environment I had problems with viewing column or table values of newly added tables. After some investigation it seemed to happen only to libraries, tables and columns with characters like @ and #. Read more
Latest All Up BI VPC (7.1)
I was recently made aware that there’s a newer version of the Microsoft All Up VPC than the one I’m running. Apparently it’s been out for some time now, but I thought I’d mention it. What is it you might wonder? It’s a (in my opinion) very cool VHD that, once mounted and set up, contains literally everything Microsoft has to offer in the field of Business Intelligence. The image runs Windows Server 2003 en contains, among others, SQL Server 2005, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, PerformancePoint Server 2007 SP1, ProClarity Analytics Server 6.3, Office 2007, ProClarity Desktop Professional 6.3 and lots and lots of demos. Unfortunately there image hasn’t been upgraded to Windows Server 2008 and/or SQL Server 2008 and is missing some Service Packs, but I’m sure this will come in the next version (whenever that is). Read more