Enterprise data sources for BI reporting tools

There are many data source options for SAP BusinessObjects 4.2. You can get data for reporting from nearly all possible real-world sources. In the following diagram, there is a typical scenario for data sources for SAP BusinessObjects 4.2:

In this book, we will focus on the following important data sources:

•  SAP HANA
•  SAP Business Warehouse (BW)
•  SAP BusinessObjects Universe
•  Files 

A semantic layer in SAP BusinessObjects BI enables the following:

• A single user experience across all data
• Consistency
• Ease of consumption by applications and tools
• Business user, who is self-sufficient

Most reporting tools have access to a wide range of data sources. There are regular updates to the reporting tools, so consult the official documentation for each tool in the release you are deploying. Some of these tools let users prepare data, and others add the ability to merge data from different sources. Here is a table detailing the abilities of these tools:

By leveraging the Universe as a Common Semantic Layer (CSL), you can enable a consistent business user experience. CSL allows heterogeneous access to all data sources (for example, OLAP and relational databases) and supports native metadata such as OLAP hierarchies.