Believe it or not, our lives have been changed, transformed, and moderated by technology. We can witness that technology is evolving at an unprecedented rate. This new era of technology is making changes in smartphones, connected devices, cloud platforms, and businesses. Business, nowadays, depends on data intelligence and Data Analytics. Assumptions, instincts, and gut feelings can’t be used to make business decisions which were actively prominent methods in the past. It is time to use business intelligence tools for making better business decisions. SAP BI Tools & Solutions provide this opportunity for these businesses.

Business intelligence isn’t just a term; it is a parasol process that covers multiple methods of analyzing, collecting, storing, and understanding the complex size of data sets.  The complete process that SAP BI Tools & Solutions use gives a comprehensive view of the organization data to help executives, team members, and stakeholders make better, effective, and actionable decisions. It was claimed by 64% of business owners that self-service platforms deliver a substantial competitive advantage. But business intelligence is a profound maturity asset, and 87% of businesses don’t have this maturity asset.

In this article, you will learn all about SAP BI Tools & Solutions along with their features. Although QuickSight and Power BI by Microsoft are remarkable BI solutions, SAP BI retains a leading position too. There are many leading BI software vendors in the world in which SAP shares 16%, Oracle contributes 12%, and SAS donates only 11%. Since SAP is already leading the BI market world, read along to understand the SAP product and analyze its features in detail.

History of SAP

Founded in 1972, SAP (Systems, Applications, and Products) is a German multinational software corporation, particularly successful for ERP software. This software company develops, builds and designs intelligence solutions, allowing organizations to manage their maneuvers and customer relationships. Some of its featured solutions include Intelligent technologies, Cloud ERP, Human Resources and Digital Transformation. BusinessObjects was also a software company and famous for Business Intelligence (BI), but it was owned by SAP in 2007. SAP has integrated BusinessObjects solutions into its products to develop SAP Analytical solutions suite. 

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Overview of Business Intelligence

Business Intelligence (BI) refers to the process of collecting, analyzing, and visualizing data to help organizations make informed decisions. It combines tools, technologies, and practices to transform raw data into actionable insights. With BI, businesses can identify trends, monitor performance, and improve efficiency, making it a crucial component of modern data-driven strategies.

Business Intelligence vs Business Analytics

AspectBusiness Intelligence (BI)Business Analytics (BA)
FocusAnalyzes historical data for reporting and monitoring.Focuses on predictive and prescriptive analytics.
GoalProvides insights into past and present performance.Helps forecast future trends and make decisions.
ApproachDescriptive and diagnostic in nature.Predictive and action-oriented.
ToolsDashboards, reports, and KPIs.Statistical models, machine learning, and AI tools.

You can also check out the differences between SAP SDI vs Hevo Data.

Introduction to SAP BI Tools & Solutions

With SAP BI Tools & Solutions, every asset, process, activity, operation, and person becomes intelligent, works with confidence, and transforms effective decisions into actions. As per Finances Online, among all the software vendors, SAP shares 16%, oracle contributes 12%, and SAS donates only 11%.

SAP BI Tools & Solutions Market Shares
Image Source

Features of SAP BI Tools & Solutions

SAP BI Tools & Solutions offer a wide range of functionalities that make them an excellent choice for your business requirements. Some of the features of SAP BI Tools & Solutions are:

1) Reporting & Analysis

The embracement of extensive business intelligence solutions needs an active reporting, analysis, and information technology infrastructure. It helps the end-users to upbeat decision-making strategies from integrated data and receives a competitive advantage. 

The presence of sophisticated, innovative and well-informed reporting and analytic features increases the potential of employees to take evidence-based decisions. SAP BI Tools deliver high-quality and persuasive reports that can be shared inside and outside of the organization. The quality of these reports is exceptional to:

  • Scratch the information from the bottom
  • Unveil hidden patterns
  • Explore cutting-edge opportunities 

Precise reporting and analytics, therefore, create a critical impression on the organization. It transforms the way people think and makes business decisions. With SAP BI Tools analytics and reporting feature, you can experience the following benefits:

  • Increased productivity
  • Processing of accurate data
  • Enhanced analysis and proactive decision-making strategy
  • High customer satisfaction by predicting trends and behavior
  • Effective collaboration and communication across the business sites

2) Visual Dashboards

We all know the importance of dashboards in automobiles: it informs travelling speed, the quantity of fuel present in the engine as well as other warning alerts. Thus, you can analyze the condition of the engine instantly.

Business Intelligence vendors have adopted a similar approach. With business dashboards, you can analyze which parts of your business are in good condition and which parts need repairing.  SAP BI Tools & Solutions provide visual dashboards functionality to track the routine of key metrics or KPIs of your business. It presents information in simple, manageable, and unified chunks, helping you to get a concise picture of your business assets. The visual representation allows you to gain insights in real-time and identifies which business activities are beneficial for increasing productivity.   

3) Data Exploration

Data exploration of SAP BI Tools & Solutions is another promising functionality compared to its competitors. If you want to know more about business data or explore details, click anywhere on the data, and the software will create charts, maps or required visualizations in front of you. This is more like a self-service as you don’t need to determine the location or structure of data – you’ll get everything in visual layouts through a few clicks.

Data Exploration Feature of SAP BI Tools & Solutions
Image Source: Self

4) On-the-go Platform

To take time-sensitive decisions, organizations need real-time visibility, and mobile application is a heightened approach. The mobile platform ensures that you can track project deadlines, schedule meetings, identify alarming situations and much more from your hand. 

5) BI Platform

The SAP BI Tools & Solutions suite gathers all your business requirements in a single framework. On top of everything, this BI platform brings the right information at the right time to the right people, essential to tackle challenging problems and time-critical decisions. 

The future of business depends on the cloud and SAP BI Tools & Solutions prepare your organization for this. You can take your enterprise to the next level while getting benefits from cutting-edge technologies, including but not limited to Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, the Internet of Things and so on. To put it simply, you can experience healthier outcomes, deeper analytics and superior business agility through SAP BI Tools & Solutions suite – now and in the years to come.

SAP BI Tools & Their Solutions

The SAP BI Tools suite contains the following solutions for your Business Intelligence problems:

1) SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform

With the SAP BI Tools, you can connect your business with the digital era. The purpose of this BI platform is to provide users with decision-ready statistics in a personalized, simplified and dynamic way to increase business growth. While having a single and scalable platform, business users can gain valuable insights to make better and informed decisions.

2) SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards

You can use SAP BI dashboards to make customized, enrich, innovative and engaging charts, widgets, and boards. It empowers you to improve your decision-making strategy by accessing analytics or metrics.

3) SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

With SAP BI Explorer, business users can filter, explore and search valuable insights from a massive amount of data. This BI Explorer is integrated with BI analytical power modules, allowing you to dig deeper into information. Consequently, the Explorer enables you to transform business data into valuable acumens.

4) SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio

SAP BI Design Studio ensures that you’ll access effective data at your fingertips. With the studio, you can design mobile-friendly visualizations, interactive dashboards, along with Business Intelligence applications. 

5) SAP BusinessObjects Intercompany

It is a web application that leaves you to observe the reconciliation process. It advances the potential of enterprises to reconcile the balance instantly through web advice. SAP BI Intercompany lets you resolve reconciling of balance at the initial stages of the reporting process, which in turn supports you to put more emphasis on accounting and financial services. Some of the chief benefits of SAP BI Intercompany are as follows:

  • It has flexible matching and reconciliation rules
  • It offers high transparency and visibility for a reconciliation process
  • In-app messaging and streamline workflow
  • Ability to entitle automatic inconsistency adjustment
  • Provides user-defined executive magnitudes for matching and reconciliation

5) SAP Lumira

SAP Lumira is an all-in-one solution designed to acquire impactful information across the business. It integrates self-service BI discovery and visualization, supporting interactive dashboards, charts, maps and infographics. All these features are crucial to accelerate business decisions and foster teamwork. Some of the key benefits of SAP Lumira are as follows:

  • Create A Link between Business and IT Teams: With SAP Lumira, both business and IT teams create a strong relationship together. Lumira provides rapid insights with an easy-to-understand interface vital for self-service data visualization, data connectivity, and premium expansion.
  • Heighten Access to Secure Data: SAP Lumira implements a secure platform that allows IT to handle, monitor, and process unique chunks of data and deliver this information to business users. This encourages the business users to uncover hidden truths, see behind the curtains and make effective decisions for their enterprise.
  • Go Beyond BI Visualizations: SAP Lumira not only brings BI visualizations; it offers features more than interactive designs, such as SAP Analytics Hub. 
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Benefits of BI

  1. Improved Decision Making: BI provides accurate, data-driven insights that help businesses make informed decisions quickly.
  2. Increased Efficiency: By automating data collection and reporting, BI saves time and reduces manual efforts.
  3. Better Data Visualization: BI tools turn complex data into easy-to-understand visual reports, making it easier to spot trends.
  4. Enhanced Competitive Advantage: With real-time insights, businesses can react faster and stay ahead of competitors.
  5. Cost Savings: By identifying inefficiencies and opportunities, BI helps businesses optimize operations and reduce costs.

    Use Cases of Business Intelligence (BI)

    1. Sales Performance Analysis: BI helps track sales trends, measure performance, and identify areas for improvement.
    2. Customer Insights: By analyzing customer data, businesses can understand behavior, preferences, and improve targeting.
    3. Financial Management: BI tools help monitor budgets, manage expenses, and forecast financial outcomes.
    4. Supply Chain Optimization: BI analyzes inventory, demand, and delivery data to improve supply chain efficiency.
    5. Marketing Campaign Effectiveness: BI helps measure the success of marketing efforts, optimizing strategies for better ROI.

    You can also take a look at how you can perform SAP ERP Data Integration to get a better understanding of how you can work with your SAP Data.

    Conclusion

    This blog introduced you to SAP BI Tools & Solutions and explained their features in detail. It also gave an overview of the history of the SAP company and described the solutions these SAP BI Tools provide for your company. Popular companies like Sephora, Toyota, Maui Jim are using SAP BI Tools & Solutions suite to meet ever-changing market demands and customer satisfaction. Overall, with the SAP BI Tools & Solutions suite, you’ll get the face of your enterprise and organization data. The suite saves your time from manual compiling of data as it delivers the right information to your people in simple and concise visualizations. 

    SAP BI Tools & Solutions cut down the responsibilities of business users by giving data they need to make the right decisions. Despite this self-service reporting, business users can also ask questions in both desktop and mobile application to access insights. Hence, users can drill down to the minute details to clear their queries.  The potential of SAP BI Tools & Solutions prepares your enterprise to encounter existing market demands and enables you to drive the road ahead.

    Multiple industries like E-Commerce, Financial, Insurance, Banking and Medical industries have deployed SAP BI Tools suite today and many more are also planning to become their customer this year.

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    FAQs about SAP BI Tools

    1. What are SAP BI tools?

    SAP BI (Business Intelligence) tools refer to a suite of software applications and solutions offered by SAP (Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing) designed to facilitate data analysis, reporting, and decision-making within organizations.

    2. Is SAP BI the same as Power BI?

    No, SAP BI (Business Intelligence) and Power BI are not the same:
    1. SAP BI: Includes a suite of tools and platforms by SAP for data analysis, reporting, and decision-making.
    2. Power BI: Microsoft’s business analytics service for creating interactive dashboards and reports, integrating with various data sources, and providing advanced data visualization capabilities.

    3. Does SAP BI require coding?

    SAP BI tools typically do not require extensive coding skills for basic usage and functionality. However, advanced customization, data modeling, and integration tasks may involve scripting or coding in SAP BusinessObjects tools.

    Syeda Famita Amber
    Technical Content Writer, Hevo Data

    Syeda is a technical content writer with a profound passion for data. She specializes in crafting insightful content on a broad spectrum of subjects, including data analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, big data, and business intelligence. Through her work, Syeda aims to simplify complex concepts and trends for data practitioners, making them accessible and engaging for data professionals.