Is it time for a Business Objects migration project at your company? If employees use business intelligence (BI) tools from Business Objects to slice and dice enterprise data and produce reports and metrics on corporate performance, the answer is likely to be a resounding ‘Yes'.

In less than a year, the company will end support for older versions of its software, including BusinessObjects versions 5 and 6 and Crystal Reports versions 6 to 10. From June 2008, in fact, the latest version of its technology, BusinessObjects XI R2, will become the only supported version.

As a result, XI migration is now a high priority for many companies, reports Mike Perks, senior consultant on the business information services team at Logicalis.

But it is also a "substantial challenge", he adds. "In our experience, a Business Objects migration project typically involves purchasing and installing new hardware, migrating complex reports, and setting up new security models. Above all, you need an in-depth understanding of data management issues and the information needs of the workforce in question," he says.

For these reasons, Logicalis been asked to work with several clients, including a major high street retailer, to smooth the transition.

Despite the effort involved, however, there are five good reasons to migrate:

1) Compliance - if you're not using BusinessObjects XI R2, you won't be supported and won't be able to take advantage of new technology and updates.

2) Improved functionality - the new product offers enhanced Web-based business intelligence, dashboard capabilities that present a simplified view of key performance indicators (KPIs), and integration with Microsoft Office, so that information can be presented to users via familiar formats such as PowerPoint, Excel and Word.

3) Future proofing - subsequent migrations to newer Business Objects technology will become easier if you're running the latest version.

4) Reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) - the new product combines both the popular BusinessObjects and Crystal reporting tools, so that companies can standardise on a single toolset, lowering TCO by reducing maintenance, hardware, end-user training and support costs. Also, because full reporting capabilities can be accessed via a simple web browser, there's no need for software to be downloaded onto users' PCs, which reduces desktop support costs.

5) Performance, reliability, scaleability ‑ the distributed architecture of the new product makes BusinessObjects XI R2 more robust, reliable and easier to scale vertically or horizontally than earlier versions.

Your Comments and Questions

AC, about 1 month ago

One of the customer wants to migrate from BO 6.0.0 to BO XI R2. Its heard that migration is a process of hassel. Reading from various places on advantages of moving to XI, it is clear that the move is required to be in line with Tech. developements and take advantage from the same. What all will be required t make this move. Will the move from BO 6.0.0 require to reach BO 6.5 version before moving onto BO XI R2?

Mike Perks, 3 months ago

Really depends in which part of the product set you intend to use the prompt as a prompt could be created in the Universe (via Designer) or the report via Webi or Deski. Presuming that you are using Webi the easiest way is to set a default value is to via the Query filter panel. This is done adding the object you wish to filter by and into the filter Query filter panel, select filter type (such as in list) then selecting the far right icon on the filter condition and selecting 'prompt'. You'll be presented with an automatic name for the prompt but you can change it if you wish. Next select the prompt properties (the button next to the prompt message) and here tick the 'Set Default values' tick box - the screen box will automatically expand, allowing you to select a default prompt value. This is a very handy way build the prompt for where ever you need to use it. Click on the SQL button to get the syntax of the prompt already build for you. Bonus!

trinathkiran, 3 months ago

How can we set default value for the @prompt in BO?

Mike Perks, 6 months ago

There are several stages to a migration and best practise that overarches the transition. The stages will, at the very minimum, involve creating a new XI environment, importing your current 6.1.3 system into the new XI environment, configuring the new XI environment (building a new security model etc.), testing and finally implementation. Complexity will be dictated by the scale and sophistication of the current 6.1.3 environment that you intend migrate, along with how you intend to exploit XI. My advice is to make the transition and only then consider any substantial changes in functionality – simply keep like-for-like to ease testing. As with any major change in systems, there are best practises that mean a little more thought and planning up front but this will definitely save your time and trouble in day-to-day maintenance etc. If you choose a vendor for advice, use a single vendor to save wrangles and most importantly, vet their flexibility along with their pedigree to avoid a project that lasts years and an invoice the length of your leg!

Charles Fabin, 7 months ago

I am currently running version BO 6.1.3 and want to know the efforts that will be required to migrate to the current version BusinessObjects XI R2. Will it involve a lot of intermediaries?.

Mike Perks, about 1 year ago

The duration of a migration depends on the scale and complexity of your current system and will also vary depending on which particular migration path/strategy best fits your organisation and the way you work. Without knowing a little more about your organisation it’s hard to give an accurate and truly meaningful answer about how long a migration might take; all I can say at this point is anywhere from a couple of weeks to several months. Successfully migrating critical reporting systems is all about effective and detailed planning, managing change control and of course ensuring the right level of technical expertise and experience is available when needed. The move to XI is definitely more painful than upgrades of earlier versions of Business Objects, from 5 to 6 for example, but don’t let that deter you as the long terms gains will ultimately outweigh the immediate inconvenience. You should certainly aim to tolerate NO levels of disruption and seek to maintain ‘Business as usual’, unless exceptional and agreed circumstances dictate otherwise. There will undoubtedly be some impact on your business, on resource if nothing else, but choosing the right strategy and employing best practise (such as planning for potential coexistence) you should achieve a reliable migration whereby normal business processing is not impeded by change. My approach normally starts with a full appraisal of the current system – you’d be amazed at how many organisations find out people use their systems in ways they didn’t realise or in some cases even think possible! I hope this satisfy your question fully?

Gary Eastwood, about 1 year ago

We are looking into migrating in the near future, but we have concerns over the levels of disruption it might cause to business processes. How long should a typical migration take and what levels of disruption should we tolerate? Thanks

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