Mastering the SAP Business Information Warehouse [Hardcover]

Kevin McDonald (Author), Andreas Wilmsmeier (Author), David C. Dixon (Author), W. H. Inmon (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471219711 | ISBN-13: 978-0471219712 | Publication Date: August 23, 2002 | Edition: 1

"This book is insightful and thought-provoking for even the most seasoned SAP BW individual."
—Richard M. Dunning, Chair, American SAP Users Group

Written by the leading experts in the field, this comprehensive guide shows you how to implement the SAP Business Information Warehouse (BW) and create useful applications for business analysis of company-wide data. You'll quickly learn how to design, build, analyze, and administer the data and information in the SAP BW component. The authors present the material in a way that reflects the process an organization goes through during a software implementation.

They begin with an introduction to the fundamentals of data warehousing and business intelligence, helping you determine if SAP BW is right for your organization. The book then focuses on the business content and options available when trying to deliver value from the data stored in the SAP BW. And it includes a methodology for implementing the BW, such as data modeling and techniques for capturing and transforming data.

With this book, you'll discover the options available in SAP BW 3.0 and explore a new way to drive business performance. It will show you how to:

• Tackle such challenges as eliminating poor data quality
• Develop an information model in order to properly deploy SAP BW
• Utilize ETL, data storage, information access, analysis, and presentation services
• Schedule, monitor, archive, and troubleshoot data loads
• Effectively plan and manage the performance of a data warehouse

The companion Web site provides useful guides and templates for configuring your system, industry case studies, and additional updates.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"This book is insightful and thought-provoking for even the most seasoned SAP BW individual."
-Richard M. Dunning, Chair, American SAP Users Group

Written by the leading experts in the field, this comprehensive guide shows you how to implement the SAP Business Information Warehouse (BW) and create useful applications for business analysis of company-wide data. You'll quickly learn how to design, build, analyze, and administer the data and information in the SAP BW component. The authors present the material in a way that reflects the process an organization goes through during a software implementation. They begin with an introduction to the fundamentals of data warehousing and business intelligence, helping you determine if SAP BW is right for your organization. The book then focuses on the business content and options available when trying to deliver value from the data stored in the SAP BW. And it includes a methodology for implementing the BW, such as data modeling and techniques for capturing and transforming data.

With this book, you'll discover the options available in SAP BW 3.0 and explore a new way to drive business performance. It will show you how to:
* Tackle such challenges as eliminating poor data quality
* Develop an information model in order to properly deploy SAP BW
* Utilize ETL, data storage, information access, analysis, and presentation services
* Schedule, monitor, archive, and troubleshoot data loads
* Effectively plan and manage the performance of a data warehouse

The companion Web site provides useful guides and templates for configuring your system, industry case studies, and additional updates.

About the Author

KEVIN McDONALD is CEO of COMPENDIT, a consulting organization specializing in data warehousing and SAP. Prior to working at COMPENDIT, he was a corporate spokesperson for SAP throughout the launch of the SAP BW in North America.

ANDREAS WILMSMEIER is a managing director at COMPENDIT and was part of the SAP BW development team.

DAVID C. DIXON is a director of Business Intelligence at COMPENDIT and was a SAP "platinum"consultant.

W. H. INMON is the acknowledged "father of data warehousing" and partner in www.billinmon.com, a Web site for information on data warehousing and related technologies.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 516 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (August 23, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471219711
• ISBN-13: 978-0471219712
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #737,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #54 in Books > Computers & Technology > Databases > Database Design

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent architecture perspective, October 9, 2002

By 

"cgallisa" (St. Petersburg, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mastering the SAP Business Information Warehouse (Hardcover)

This book offers an excellent comparison of BW functions and capabilities against a data warehouse architecture envisioned by Bill Inmon. There might be 2 or 3 ways to build a business solution and this book is good at recommending one if not "the best".

On the other hand, this book is useless if you are planning to seat in front of the terminal and begin using BW. A good book that could complement this one is "SAP BW A Step-by-Step Guide".

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A nice book of of BW, December 26, 2003

By 

Arron Lee (Shanghai, China) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mastering the SAP Business Information Warehouse (Hardcover)

I've read 2 books on BW, compared with another book I¡¯ve read, this book is on BW 3.0B which is a more mature DW product of SAP, it not only focuses on the BW transactional stuff but also tries to explain the detailed theories and business cases which are the more valuable points for me. If you¡¯re a BW beginner, this book may not be suitable since it¡¯s not going to teach you how to extract data, setup info source , create data target or create queries in a detail instruction way, but instead bring you a very completely high-level picture of BW architecture and solutions.

The best chapters I would prefer are: Chapter 4 ¨C Information Modeling; Chapter 6 ¨C ETL Services and Chapter 8 ¨C Analytic Application.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's About Time, October 7, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Mastering the SAP Business Information Warehouse (Hardcover)

This book was long overdue--I've been working with SAP for years and am now just having to come to grips with the SAP BW. This is a great, very clear and concise introduction to BW written by guys who really understand both SAP and data warehousing. The methodology---from design through implementation---is rock solid, and really helped me to avoid wasting time up front. I also liked the chapters on administering BW, including troubleshooting problems and avoiding performance bottlenecks. A great book from authors who've really been in the trenches.