SAP BPC 7.5 Netweaver Frequently Asked Questions

• TELL ME BREIFTLY ABOUT UR PROJECT?
• What dimensions u took in your project?
• Secondary dimensions for entity and category?
• Mandatory dimensions for currency translation?
• What is EVHOT, EVCGP?
• What is offline distribution?
• What u know about Work status, is parent is highest or owner?
• Explain your applications?
• Tell me about budgeting process in your application?
• What dimensions u used for budgeting?
• Why u used macros?
• What method u used in macros?
• In bi system where do u go and check the code?
• What is the mandatory thing u need to do in input schedule before sending the data?
• What is NPV in budgeting?
• How many tables in DSO?
• In bi system where u go and check the cube?
• What is static and dynamic report and when u makes it static and dynamic?
• Did u use your own packages?
• How transaction upload takes?

Gold Stone Hyd:

• What are Roles & Responsibilities you involved in?
• Business Blue Print?
• Did you created Application set or Copied from existing one?
• Max No of Dimensions there in Consolidation application? What are Mandatory Dimensions?
• Rate & Ownership?
• Work Status?
• Admin & Excel?
• Reference Dimensions?
• How you create Balance Sheet in BPC by keeping Category in Rows and Time in Columns?
• Member Set Option( BAS, ALL, SELF)?
• Where you Implemented Script Logic?
• How you resolve Loops?
• Difference Between Webi and Deski?
• Live Data / Static Data?
• What is Xcelsius?
• Aggregate Awareness?
• Static Data /Dynamic Data which one you build in BPC?
• Can you do reporting and input schedule on single report?
• Distribution ( BPC Office)?
• Publishing?

SAP Manila Interview:

• What is the mandatory thing for currency conversion?
• How is budgeting done?
• What forecast have you done?
• To what extent you have the data?
• For how long you went for the prediction?
• At what level you did the planning?
• What did you do with the final result?
• How the retraction is done?
• Blue Print Stage?
• Decisions?
• How u understand the Client business?
• Managerial consolidations Factors and developed reports?

HP Chennai:

• Significance of  NEWID?
• Tell me some Dimensions and their Properties?
• Tell me about Option Range? What is the Use of NO SEND function?
• Tell me about Expansion Range (ALL, BAS, Member, Self)?
• Tell me Currency Translation Set-Up?
• What is Rate Dimension?
• EVTIM? EVTRIM?
• Records added how will they add in BPC?
• Blue print Off Line Budget Process?
• Phases & Flow of project?
• Type of reports you created?
• Tell me about Cash Flow?
• Direct Flow and Indirect Flow?
• Tell me about Script Logic step by step?
• Do you know MDX?
• Customer Menu Creation Flow?
• BPF Security?
• Tell me about Transformation Files and Conversion Files? Where we will see Transformation Files?
• What is Flow Dimension? What are Mandatory Dimensions?
• What is Brokerage?
• Tell me about Get only range EV Function?
• How you did Currency Elimination? And Set Up?
• What is Default Logic?
• What are Business Rules?
• What are Custom Menu? Creation & Flow?
• What are Expert Routines?
• What are the Data Source types you used?
• Tell me about SSIS Package?

PWC Mumbai:

• What are your Primary Responsibilities?
• Did you Used Scripts? Where?
• If I delete a Member of a Dimension what happened in transaction data?
• Tell me about scoping?
• What is lite optimization?
• Consolidation process?
• Inter-company elimination?  Matching & Booking? Why?
• Reports (Month /Year—5.1) (Month/Year/Day/Week Level in 7.0)

BPC 10 MS/NW - Sending and retrieving comments in an EPM Add-in input form

Introduction

Very frequently, while customers are opening their planning period to entity owners or managers, they would like to attach some comments, explaining their figures.

In the new EPM Add-in, if you use the standard way of inputting or retrieving comments (via the comment button), you are not able to see them directly in Excel cells, but in an Internet Explorer window instead.

In this blog, you will learn how to use the EPMCopyRange formula in order to dynamically send and retrieve comments in an EPM Add-in input form.

Create your Balance Sheet input form

Launch the EPM add-in and choose a valid Planning and Consolidation connection.

Once logged-on, click the New Report button.

Drag & Drop PRODLINE dimension in rows, TIME dimension in columns, and all other dimensions, ACCOUNT, CATEGORY, ENTITY, RPTCURRENCY, MEASURES, in page axis.

Click on PRODLINE dimension in row axis, select All Product Lines account and Member and Descendants as for the relationship, and click the OK button.

Then, click on TIME dimension in column axis, select 2012.TOTAL member and Member and Descendants as for the relationship, and click the OK button.

Finally, on your page axis, select Third Party sales member for your ACCOUNT dimension, Budget member for your CATEGORY dimension, United States  member for your ENTITY dimension, LC member for your RPTCURRENCY dimension, and Periodic member for your MEASURES dimension.

Then, move the Total placements on the top right, by accessing the Sheet Options and selecting the Top radio button on the General tab. On the same tab, check the Use as Input Form box, to allow data input.

Then, on the Refresh tab, select the option Calculate parents in hierarchies (same as the SumParent option in former EVDRE reporting mode), and click OK.

Your input form should look like below.

Notice that APL member is calculated on the fly, as soon as you input a value in its children.

Building the EPMCopyRange formula in order to allow comment input in this input form.

Insert 5 new rows on the top of this sheet.

In cell P2, enter following formula:

=EPMSaveComment($O2,,$A2,$N$12,$A$6,$A$7,$A$8,$A$9,$A$10)

Then, choose a grey background in cell O2.

Then, in cell A1, type-in following formula and press Enter:

=EPMCopyRange("000",TRUE,B2:P2)

Note: “000” is the ID of your Default Report, TRUE is for rows expansion (FALSE would have been applied to the columns), and B2:P2 is the formatting range you’ve just defined for your data range.

Finally, type-in Comment input in cell O11, and Comment send in cell P11, and click the Refresh button.

At that point, type-in following comments and click the Send Data button:

1. APL Comment in cell O13
2. FPS Comment in cell O14
3. RPG Comment in cell O15
4. SPT Comment in cell O16
5. STR Comment in cell O17

Result should be this one:

Finally, hide column P and rows 1 to 4 for visibility purpose.

You now have the last comment being displayed in the rows, following the defined expansion on the rows.

BONUS

You can use the same way of building the EPMCopyRange formula to retreive Work Status in an Excel cell.

In fact, by having your Entities being displayed on the row axis, you can use the EPMWorkStatus formula (instead of EPMSaveComment in the example above), as the source range for your EPMCopyRange.

How to manage scope changes with SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation 10.0, Version for SAP Netweaver Starter Kit for IFRS? Part 6

This series of seven blogs is dedicated to handling scope changes using “SAP® BusinessObjectsTM Planning and Consolidation 10.0, Version for SAP Netweaver Starter Kit for IFRS". The objective is to illustrate in the BPC Starter kit for IFRS some of the most frequent scope changes.

Part #1: Acquisition of a subsidiary (full goodwill method)

Part #2: Loss of control without any retained interest

Part #3: Acquisition of further equity interests from Non Controlling Interests

Part #4: Partial disposal of an investment in a subsidiary while control is retained

Part #5: Step acquisition

Part #6: Loss of control while retaining an interest - this blog

Part #7: Internal merger between two subsidiaries

Each blog introduces a practical guide that deals with the following questions:

-          What are the regulation requirements that applies to the business case

-          How to handle the business case in the starter kit for IFRS

-          What are the impacts on the financial statements

The business cases presented in these blogs are included in the set of data provided with BPC NW 10.0 Starter kit for IFRS. You can consult them in the database. Please, refer to the operating guide delivered along with the starter kit for further detail on the consolidation process.

These blogs have been written by members of the SAP EPM (Enterprise Performance Management) Starter Kits & Innovations team that develops starter kits on top of SAP financial consolidation products, Financial Consolidation (FC) and Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC). The starter kits are preconfigured contents created to deliver business logic, to speed-up the application deployment and to provide guidance to help maximize advantages of the product. The contents provided in the starter kits consist of reports, controls and rules for performing, validating and publishing a legal consolidation in accordance with IFRS. SAP starter kits for IFRS are provided to BPC/FC customers at no additional charge; they can be downloaded from SAP service market place at http://help.sap.com/.

Now to the sixth blog!

Presentation of the business case

Year 2012

P6 (USD) purchased a 100% interest in subsidiary PS6 for USD125 000

PS6 Fair value of net assets is USD100 000

A goodwill of USD25 000 was recognized.

Year 2013

PS6 Profit for the year = USD20 000

Year 2014

P6 disposes 75% of its equity interest in PS6 for USD115 000

P6 resulting 25% on PS6 is classified as an associate under IAS28 and has a fair value of USD38 000

P6 individual accounts in 2014:

PS6 individual accounts in 2014:

Calculation of the gain on sale of 75% of PS6:

  Fair value adjustment on 25% retained interest of PS6:

  Goodwill on the 25% of PS6

Practical guide

Please click here to access the practical guide

Acknowledgements to Laetitia Lamoureux, Caroline Verrier and Jean-François Bouillon from the EPM SK&I team for their high contribution to the "Consolidation Practical guide".

Your comments about the contents are very welcome. Let us know what you wish to write about.
http://forums.sdn.sap.com/forum.jspa?forumID=400
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/sapifrs
Twitter http://twitter.com/SAP_IFRS_XBRL

BPC 10 for NetWeaver Authentication Scenarios

Overview

One of the major differences in BPC 10 for NetWeaver from previous releases is that all client to server traffic from the EPM Add-In (Office client) and Web client go through NetWeavers WAS (Web Application Server) as opposed to the .NET server.  Since the web server performs authentication services, this change brings new options and security considerations to the table.

Client Communication Overview

As I alluded to earlier, there are two primary ways users access BPC 10:

1. The EPM Add-In which is the new office client.
2. The BPC Web client which has been totally redesigned in this release.

Both clients access content in BPC by querying RESTFUL web services, which is similar to previous versions – just a different format.  Why am I going over all this?  The different clients each support different authentication mechanisms, in addition to the web services themselves.  The chart below provides an overview of what is supported where.  We will cover each scenario in more detail later on.

Basic Authentication

Basic authentication is used in the EPM Add-In by default and results in a prompt for your username and password during each login.

This authentication type is not secure unless using SSL as usernames and passwords are only Base64 encoded.  Due to this, SSL should always be used when using basic authentication.

HTML Form based Authentication

HTML form based authentication is used by default by the BPC web client and results in an HTML form that prompts you for your username and password.

Like basic authentication, form based authentication requires SSL (HTTPS) to be secure “across the wire”.   Due to this, SSL should always be used when using form based authentication.

Client Certificate

Client certificates are supported by both the EPM Add-In (for BPC 10 NetWeaver connections) and the BPC web client.  Users are not prompted for credentials when using client certificates, and as such it provides Single Sign On capabilities.  The configuration of client certificates is beyond the scope of this blog; however they basically work like this:

1. The BASIS team installs an SSL certificate on the BW instances and enables the HTTPS protocol.
2. The BASIS team then maps X.509 certificates to BW users (using STRUST, etc).
3. The security or networking teams deploy user specific X.509 certificates to end users’ desktops.
4. When a user executes a request, the client (either the EPM Add-In or web browser) verifies that it trusts the server certificate, and the server verifies that it trusts the client certificate allowing each side to validate each other’s identity before carrying out the request.

Client certificates must be installed in the end users’ desktop certificate store to be used with the BPC web client or EPM Add-In.  Additionally, you must enable client certificates for the EPM Add-In connection by checking the Client Certificate checkbox and selecting the appropriate certificate in the connection manager.

This authentication mechanism is convenient since it delivers SSO but comes along with more overhead then the other scenarios, since the X.509 certificates have to be maintained and deployed to end users systems.

SAP Logon Ticket

SAP Logon ticket’s allow users to obtain a ticket (which is stored in the form of a MYSAPSSO2 cookie) from one system and use it to authenticate to other trusted SAP systems.  SAP Logon tickets can also be used to generate reentrance tickets, which can be used by applications other than browsers (like the EPM Add-In) for authentication purposes without prompting users for credentials.

This makes a number of single sign on scenarios possible.  For example:

1. A user can login to the EPM Add-In from the BPC web client without being prompted for credentials using a reentrance ticket.
2. A user can logon to an SAP Portal instance, connect to the BPC web client (as a new page in Portal Content) and launch the EPM Add-In while only having to log in once – at the Portal.
3. A user can logon to an SAP Portal instance and launch the EPM Add-In directly while only having to login to the portal.
   • Note – This doesn’t work out of the box, but I was able to create a relatively simple web application that can be deployed in an AS JAVA portal that enables this behavior.  It will be posted to SDN as an HTG soon.

Like the basic and html form authentication models, it is crucial that all communication occurs over HTTPS to ensure that the MYSAPSSO2 cookie is not compromised.  This scenario also requires that the BASIS team configure the required SAP systems to “trust” each other.

SAML 2.0

SAML 2.0 authentication is not used directly by any of the BPC clients at this time, but is supported by the BPC Web Services.  SAML 2.0 may be valuable for integration and custom development scenarios.

Suggestions…

I have but one suggestion and if you’ve made it this far, you probably already know what it is.  Whatever authentication mechanism(s) you chose to deploy, ensure you enable and use SSL / HTTPS.  Your network security auditors will thank you.

Ownership Manager System Generated Proposals from SAP Business Objects Planning and Consolidation 10.0, version for Netweaver

Similar in function to the Dynamic Hierarchy Editor available in BPC 7.x versions, the SAP Business Objects Planning and Consolidation 10.0, version for Netweaver (BPC10NW), Ownership Manager allows the definition of complex holding/subsidiary relationships that can be time, category, and scope specific.  The organizational structures defined by Ownership Manager are also used by the Consolidation Monitor and the Controls Monitor to display and status the defined organizational levels.

New to the Ownership Manager functionality is the ability for the BPC system to propose key consolidation parameters. 

There are three main prerequisites for activating system calculations for ownership manager:

1. Model and Master Data requirements

Ownership manager functionality requires a configured ownership manager model as defined by : 

Ownership-based Hierarchy Requirements . 

Summary requirements:

Required member ids in the O_ACCOUNT (ownership model account) dimension:

METHOD

METHOD_SYS is populated by the system to store the generated proposal for the consolidation method

PCON

PCON_SYS is populated by the system to store the generated proposal for the consolidation rate

POWN

POWN is also known as the ultimate percent ownership of an entity by the holding company. It is the calculated share percentage based upon a specified calculation method (Direct Share or Group Share).  For the Direct Share calculation, the percent ownership is assumed to be 100% of the subsidiary ownership.  For Group Share calculations, the percent ownership is the product between the various subsidiaries percentages. 

Example:

Holding Company (H1) owns 70% of subsidiary (S1) and S1 owns 50% of subsidiary S2.

Using the Direct Share method, the ultimate percent ownership of S2 is 50%.

Using the Group Share method, the ultimate percent ownership of S2 is 35% (=70%x50%).

directly or indirectly

PCTRL

PCTRL identifies the ultimate percent of control for each entity in a model. 

Member ids used internally during Ownership Manager Calculations

METHOD_SYS

METHOD_SYS is populated by the system to store the generated proposal for the consolidation method

PCON_SYS

PCON_SYS is populated by the system to store the generated proposal for the consolidation rate

POWN_SYS

POWN_SYS is populated by the system to store the generated proposal for the financial interest rate, or percent shares owned. Shares Owned contains the number of shares and voting shares that an entity owns of another entity.

PCTRL_SYS

PCTRL_SYS is populated by the system to store the generated proposal for the percent of subsidiary control

Required O_ACCOUNT Dimension Properties

The IS_INPUT property for the O_ACCOUNT dimension identifies the dimension members which can be displayed in the Ownership Manager hierarchy display.

2. A Defined Method Business Rule:

The Method Business Rule table supports the Ownership Manager calculations by identifying a relationship between a range of shares allowing a system derived consolidation method (METHOD) as well as a proposed Financial Interest Rate (PCON):

• indentifying source accounts
• Indentifying target accounts
• Indentifying source flows
• Indentifying target flows

Note the unique syntax for identifying the share ranges. 

0.20<,<=0.49 is interpreted by the system as a range definition:  “any value greater than 20%, through any value less than or equal to 49%”.

0.50<,<=1.00 is interpreted by the system as a range definition:  “any value greater than 50%, through any value less than or equal to 100%”.

3. Implementing a Cross Ownership Matrix

Automatic ownership calculations require additional information to allow the ultimate ownership share ownership values.  An input schedule providing details on Percent Control and Percent Ownership data must be provided by entity and intercompany partner.  Data is saved to the OWNERSHIP model.

In the following example:

- Germany controls 80% of a UK subsidiary, and the UK subsidiary controls 60% of a French subsidiary

- Germany owns a 70% share of a UK subsidiary, and the UK subsidiary owns a 50% share of a French subsidiary

Note: Share and control data must be entered without any scope (group) specification (i.e.: S_NONE). 

Once all prerequisites have been completed, the user can request system generated ownership manager calculation through the CALCULATE option available in the edit mode of the ownership definition:

User can select the accounting principle for calculating the ultimate ownership and control (Direct or Group share methods).

Checkbox options allow the user to update the “Current” sub column values for Method, Percent Consolidation, and calculated ownership percentages.

A graphical illustration of the data flow between the three prerequisites:

Demystifying Financial Consolidation Part I

In this blog series, we will be covering concepts related to financial statements consolidation. As the topic is bit complex for people from non-finance background, I will start from the basics covering each and every term, what it means, and relevant context and so on. In this series I won’t be covering how these things are implemented in BOFC or BPC but the functional knowledge required to implement it.

Before moving on to this topic we need to understand why we are required to consolidate financial statements.

We observe lot of merger/acquisitions happening around us every day, recently we have seen Google acquiring Motorola mobility for $ 12.5 Billion, Microsoft acquiring Skype for $ 8.5 Billion and the list is endless.

These acquisitions were friendly acquisitions, means the management of Target Company wanted to sell the company to the acquirer, whereas in a hostile takeover Target Company management does not want to sell the company to the acquirer.

Hostile takeover are portrayed in negative shade, than friendly acquisitions but both create and destroy value to the shareholders in long term depending on the post acquisition scenarios/synergy and on lot of other factors.

Management of Target Company takes lot of steps to prevent acquisition in hostile takeover. If the company is owned more than 51 percent by one individual or group of people then hostile takeover can’t happen. Even if the acquirer company acquires 49 percent stake in the company it won’t be able to govern it or control it as rest of the 51 percent stake is with other party. We can take the case of Wipro, in it approx. 70 percent equity stake of the company is owned by Azim Premji and members of his family, therefore acquirer can’t acquire more than 30 percent in Wipro so hostile takeover can’t happen.

Hostile takeover happens when the management of the target is not willing to sell the company, or if there is difference in the valuation of Target Company between target & Acquirer Company and lastly sometimes because of vested interests of management in the company.

To prevent hostile takeover, the management of Target Company can takes lot of steps:

Poison Pill: In it, the management of target company gives right to the existing shareholders to get more shares of the company at price far below than fair value. Current shareholders will get this option only when other company acquirers a certain percentage stake in the company. This way target company increases the cost of acquisition for the acquirer company and is beneficial for the shareholders. These again can be divided further, but we won’t be going deep in it. In 2004, News Corporation used this method to ward off acquisition from US cable group Liberty Media. It allowed its shareholders to increase stakes in the company at half the price if some acquirer buys more than 15 percent of the company i.e. company offered to its existing shareholders to buy new shares at half the price.

White Knight: Management of the target company which is currently looked for hostile takeover looks for some other company whom they can sell their company at friendlier terms. Sometimes, management of the target company puts his own interest first, as in a hostile takeover most of the management is removed while in friendly acquisition it depends on the negotiation and sometimes current management is allowed to continue. Around three months back Teva acquired Cephalon by outbidding hostile acquirer Valeant. Teva offered 12 % percent premium to Valeant’s offer.

Staggered Board of Directors: Instead of electing all the directors every year, in staggered boards only a fraction of the members of board of directors are selected every year. In this case, even though the acquirer company acquires majority stake in the target company, it takes 1-2 year to get actual representation in Board of members depending on the fraction of the members of boards of directors selected every year.

Selling the crown jewels: management of the target company sells vital assets to make the target less attractive

Greenmail or greenmailing is the practice of purchasing enough shares in a firm to threaten a takeover and thereby forcing the target firm to buy those shares back at a premium in order to suspend the takeover.

There are lots of other tactics to discourage acquisitions by Target Company in case of hostile takeover; we can’t cover all of them in detail. These tactics are normally used in combinations instead of only one technique. We have seen normally staggered board of directors being applied along with Poison pill provisions.

From the view point of Acquirer, it looks at the earning potential of the company, if it makes economic sense for it to acquire target company (Financial Analysis & Modeling), if it is in line with its strategic vision, if it will be able to realize synergy between both the companies, if it will be able to gain tax benefits out of it and so on.

Whenever one company acquires another company, we need to write it in our books of accounts the money we paid to acquire the company, the assets we acquired and the liabilities we inherited. There are various methods of consolidating financial statements depending on the equity one holds in the target company. The basic rule is if acquirer holds between 0-20 percent, the stake will be valued at fair value, in case of 20-50 percent stake we opt for equity method and in case of 50-100 percent stake we go for acquisition method (purchase method in IFRS3 2004).

According to new IFRS guidelines, if the company owns more than 50 percent stake in the target company it will be called as subsidiary and if the percentage stake lies in between 20 to 50 i.e. significant influencer it will be an associate. These guidelines also covers lot of scenarios like if the acquirer company owns more than 50 percent stake in the company but is not able to govern the company because of some reasons than we can opt for equity method and vice-versa i.e. if the acquirer owns between 20-50 percent but it is able to govern the policies of the target company then it can opt for purchase method.

In the next blog, we will look at the various terms used in consolidating financial statements, their utility and how they are calculated like fair value, goodwill, ownership, control etc. Once we are clear with the basics, we will further look in detail acquisition method (purchase method), equity method and proportional method of consolidating financial statements

Prior to 2001, we used to have one more method of consolidating financial statements i.e. pooling method, but the same was discontinued by regulatory bodies. We will also cover some of the differences between both the methods (Purchase and Pooling), though it is not required to understand it but knowing it will help us to appreciate the purchase method.

Impact of Maintaining Debug Users in BPC NW

BPC is a tool for planning and consolidation, which is available in two platforms one in Microsoft and other in Netweaver. All the objects created in BPC Netweaver platform are created as BI objects and saved in the backend BI system connected to it.

All the logics and functions defined in BPC NW frontend are developed using ABAP logics in the backend. Also we have option to write custom ABAP codes using standard BADI’s delivered with the tool for various business requirements. So for checking the malfunctioning of any function in BPC frontend we need to debug the corresponding ABAP logic of that function in backend. For which we need the option for debugging. The same is provided in the BPC NW system which has to be configured in the server end with the details for Domain User, BI user ID and its Password.

System Connection Issue:

The user details what we use in the front end to connect to the BPC system is domain/system specific, whereas different set of user details are used to connect to BI system in the back end. So when a domain specific user connects to the BPC system in front end, simultaneously a connection is established with the backend BI system.

To establish this connection with the backend BI system, it uses different BI user details depending on the debug user maintained in the server. Below flow chart clearly states the procedure for connection establishment between BPC and BI system.

So having said these one can connect to a BPC NW system only when,

1. Domain User ID and Password are correct
2. Backend BI user ID and Password are correct

The Domain user ID and Password are the one we would be providing from the front when connecting to the BPC system, but BI user ID and password are automatically taken by the system for establishing the connection with BI system. These values are taken either from the key user details or from debug user details depending on the user logging in and the debug user table.

Consider we have a domain user maintained with his corresponding BI user ID and password in the debug user screen of the server. When the user tries to connect to BPC, the BI credentials provided in the debug user screen of the server will be used for establishing connection with BI system. Having said this, if the details are not maintained correctly or the BI password is locked then the user will not be able to connect to the system.

Authorization Issue:

When we don’t have any debug user maintained in the system, we are connected using a Key BI user ID which will have all access to the system and so from the frontend we will not face any problem in performing any operations. But if a debug user is maintained for a domain user and if the BI user used has a limited access in the BI system we may have problems in performing certain tasks from BPC end.

Consider a domain user which is maintained in the debug user screen with BI user ID and password. The BI user provided in the debug user screen has access only to certain functions like create BI objects and to some other transactions used for programming but do not have access to the transactions to save files in the SAP system. When this particular domain user logins to the BPC system and tries creating any BPC object he will not have any problem, as he have access to create any object.

But when he tries to run some Data Manager Package for loading a master data from a flat file which is in the BI server, since the BI user provided in the debug user screen doesn’t have authorization to access the file the data manager will fail stating “No Authorization for Accessing the file” in the error log.

So when we maintain debug user screen in the server we need to make sure of the following,

1. The BI credentials provided are correct
2. The Password for BI user provided is not locked
3. BI user provided for debug user has all access which will be required when working from the front end BPC system.

If we miss the first and second option, the user will not be allowed to login to the system. If we miss the third option, it is not sure that user can perform all the actions from BPC end.

To prevent all these problems it is better to make sure that the Debug user details are maintained as and when it is required for debugging and removed when we don’t have the work with debugging.

Comparision list of BPC Script Logic command between NW version and MS version

I guess many consultants already know the difference between BPC NW version and MS version.

Even though you know the difference, I think this chart will help us as a reference.

If you find anything wrong in the list, please leave a comment so that I can update it continuously.

Thank you.

*Index of Color

     YELLOW : Supported by both version.

     GREEN : Supported by NW version only

     WHITE : Supported by MS version only

     ORANGE : It was supported by MS version before 7.0 but not suppported any more.

Here is a link of Google docs. If you want to add more, please use it and edit, I will convert it as image and will publish it later

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlNX_-VUdSnudFhZSlpibzJ1NmpTX0N1Ty1WcUZUbFE&hl=en_US&authkey=CM3FoJkB

A Taste of What’s Coming in BPC 10.0

Today, the 2011 ASUG Annual Conference (and SapphireNOW) began with a series of pre-conference education sessions.  I was fortunate enough to attend the Enterprise Performance Management Version 10.0 Roadmap session led by a number of product experts within SAP’s EPM leadership team.  The goal of the session was to provide an overview of the changes that were coming in the to-be-launched-this-week EPM 10.0 as well as the vision for the suite of products beyond this pending release.

I was most interested in the SAP BusinessObjects Business Planning and Consolidation (“BPC”) portions of the session, since that’s the tool that I work with the most within the EPM product category.  In today’s session, I learned that SAP will be delivering a number of enhancements in the 10.0 release and I’ll do my best to try to outline the bigger changes below and my thoughts on those changes.

BPC Netweaver

New look and feel – One of the themes that SAP has been touting in the EPM 10.0 release is ‘Unified’, and this refers to making each of the EPM products have a similar user-friendly interface so that the user doesn’t know whether they’re in a BPC report or a Strategy Management scorecard (for example).  This new user interface seems very visually appealing based on the screenshots and demos provided.

Integrated security with Netweaver back-end – One of the complaints about BPC security in previous 7.x releases was that the security was not integrated with the underlying BW system.  SAP appears to have addressed this issue and provides a new administration area that will give system administrators a user friendly tool that acts as a front-end to PFCG or SU01 transaction code.

Enhanced hierarchy maintenance – While maintaining hierarchies were do-able by maintaining the ParentHx property in the dimension sheet, new functionality was developed that will allow for drag and drop hierarchy builds within BPC.

Enhanced script logic editor – Let’s face it, writing script logic can be less than straight-forward (and that’s putting it nicely), but with the new functionality planned for this enhancement, it will become a little easier.  With keywords and MDX statements now at a script-writer’s finger tips, searching online for the exact nomenclature will hopefully be less frequent.

No more .Net tier – As a business guy, I’m not sure that I understand exactly what this involves, but a more simplified and streamlined backend likely makes things easier.

Enhanced core consolidation functionality – New features such as Consolidation Central will give administrators a single place for configuration.  Better data validations (with thresholds that will allow consolidation process to continue or if breached, to stop) and a Consolidation Monitor (ala SEM-BCS) are added features in the upcoming release.

Ownership Manager – the Dynamic Hierarchy Editor is now called the Ownership Manager.  This web-based tool allows for auto calculation of ownership percentages based upon a user input of the Parent/Child relationships.  Based on the description, this reminds me a little of the SEM-BCS Group Shares report.

Web-based Journals – Journals will now be entered via a new web-based front-end, with what seemed to be a user-defined layout.  Enhanced journal reporting using a query manager will also allow users to better investigate the entries that are being posted in the system.

Future HANA Enablement – Beginning later in 2011, BPC will be enabled to run on HANA, first with replication of data using the Sybase Replication Server.  Then, in mid-2012, look for BPC to run fully on the HANA technology.

BPC Microsoft

Further demonstrating what SAP has said it would do, some of the Netweaver enhancements mentioned above will be available in the Microsoft platform, but not all.  Specific notable enhancements called out for the Microsoft platform were performance enhancements brought on by fully leveraging the 64-bit architecture and a new Advanced Variance Analysis tool that will help drive variance reporting.  The AVA will only be available in the Microsoft version of BPC, at least for the initial roll-out of 10.0

Conclusion

It was a really good Roadmap session with a lot of excellent and knowledgeable speakers.  I hate to short-change the speakers for the non-BPC EPM tools, but that’s what my personal focus is on these days.

I look forward to an exciting week at ASUG Annual Conference and SapphireNOW as there will be plenty of EPM sessions (more than any one person can actually attend by him/herself).

Don’t miss the official launch of EPM 10.0 on Tuesday, May 17 at 11:00am ET.

I’m quite certain that I missed out on some other enhancements that are coming in 10.0, especially on the Microsoft side, so please don’t think that’s all that’s coming.

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Basic Questions about SAP BPC (SAP BPC Faqs)

1. What is BPC ?

As you must be aware that BPC stands for Business Planning and Consolidation. As the name suggest, BPC is used for both Planning and Consolidations, unlike IP, which is used for only planning.

2. When BPC 7.5 NW is avaliable?

The 7.5 version is currently in the ramp-up stage and should be availble in few months. I am not sure of the exact month.

3. BPC for NW has an aggregation level or not, Is BPC an application on top SAP-IP?

BPC and IP have completely different architecture. BPC doesnt use aggregation levels or filters. BPC and IP have no relation and thus, cannot be compared. BPC uses various script logics, business rules for doing the planning. Manual planning can be done with input schedules. The input schedules are on excel platform and are quite versatile. You can use BPC functionalities alongwith native excel functionalities for better design of the input schedules.

4. What about BPC in consolidation part?

BPC comes with pre-delivered components for consolidationm, which can be leveraged on. There are few business rules, which makes the consolidation process easier.

5. What is the concept for plan data from BPC?

The concept of planning is the same as you have in any other tool. The functional side of the planning remains the same. However, the tool differs. The way you configure a planning scenario will be much different than any other planning tool. Unfortunately, it will not be feasible to address this in the forum. You can definitely go through the study materials for a better understanding.

6. BPC for NW need to install .NET application server and Web server or not?

Yes. You can have a look at the installation guide available on market place for detailed requirements.

7. What is BPC client tool? and If I planning on BEx report, I have to create an aggregation level for planning data or not?

BPC client sits on the client machines, from where, you will be doing the design. There are mainly 3 interfaces available - BPC Admin, BPC Office, and BPC Web. BPC Office, in turn has 3 interfaces - Excel, Word, Powerpoint. These interfaces can be used for various requirements.

8. How about BPC license?

You can get in touch with SAP for the license relation information.