SAP BI/BW Roles and Skills

BW Data Extraction Consultant

Description

The BW Data Extraction Consultant is responsible to identify and obtain the data required to satisfy the requirements of the BW project.  This data may include:

»      SAP R/3 data

»      New Dimension product data

»      Data external to SAP within the organization (legacy data)

»      Data external to SAP from outside the organization (provider data – D&B, Nielson)

The BW Data Extraction Consultant role has a broad range of responsibilities and may require multiple individuals to satisfy the role depending on the scope of the BW project and the complexity and quality of the data.

If SAP R/3 and New Dimension data only is required to satisfy requirements and if this data is included in the standard Business Content of BW, this role may be combined with the BW Application Consultant role.  This standard Business Content allows for extraction of R/3 and New Dimension data in a straightforward and rapid manner.

If non-SAP data is required, if standard Business Content must be enhanced significantly, if BAPI interfaces are being used, and/or if the data quality from the source system is insufficient, this role can be quite complex and can required significant resources.  This complexity and quality of data is a primary contributor to the size and scope of the BW project.

If legacy data is being extracted a close relationship is required with the legacy extraction expert.  In some cases, the legacy extraction expert may assume this responsibility.

Time Commitment

 – the time which must be committed to this Role to ensure the project requirements are met

Project Complexity	Time Commitment
Low	If standard Business Content of BW is the only data required, this role can be combined with the BW Application Consultant.  The role is primarily performed during the early to mid-phases of the project with completion of extractions required by the middle of the project so that testing, training, and implementation can be completed.
Medium	If extensions to the standard Business Content of BW is required (either by including addition SAP data or extracting from non-SAP sources), this role should be satisfied by individuals other than the BW Application Consultant so that efforts may continue in parallel.
High	Depending on the complexity and quality of the data necessary to satisfy the requirements, this role may require a significant number of resources.  A resource could potentially be required for each major extraction that has to be developed.

Key Attributes

Key attributes of an individual supporting the analysis and design functions of this role include:

»      SAP R/3 and BW application knowledge in the business process area

»      The ability to develop a solution using BW to solve a company’s business requirements

»      The ability to work effectively in a diversified team

»      Strong analytical skills

»      The ability to work independently and as a team member

»      Strong time management skills and multi-tasking capabilities

»      Knowledge of application software tools, including presentation, spreadsheet, and word processing applications

»      A working understanding of the AcceleratedSAP methodology and tools

»      Experience in the customer’s industry

»      An understanding of the source data (both SAP and non-SAP data)

Key attributes of an individual supporting the development functions of this role include:

»      Experience with data warehouse data analysis

»      Experience with data extraction development

»      Detailed knowledge of the data required to be extracted

»      Knowledge of the customer’s current business processes

»      Knowledge of data quality issues

»      Knowledge of scheduling tools

»      An indepth understanding of specific data extraction tools or development language being used to extract the data (e.g., 4GL’s or specialized data extraction tools, BAPI’s)

»      Strong written and oral communication skills

»      Strong analytical skills

»      The ability to work in diversified teams

Key Tasks

Specifically, the BW Data Extraction Consultant is responsible for:

»      Designing the data solution to satisfy defined business requirements

»      Identifying the data in the source environment

»      Mapping the data to the BW environment

»      Identifying data quality gaps

»      Developing a plan to close data quality gaps

»      Developing the required extraction programs, if necessary

»      Developing the associated interface programs, if necessary

»      Testing of all developed programs

»      Ensuring integration testing of data from various sources

»      Developing a production support plan

Don’ts

The BW Data Extraction Consultant should not become ineffective because of long-standing data quality problems, but should identify these problems and escalate them to the Customer Project Manager for resolution.  Often data quality and inconsistency issues are systemic in the organization and must be addressed a higher level in the organization to get resolved.

Avoid the tendency to attempt to cleanse all data within the BW extraction process.  Often data cleansing is best performed at the legacy source system level.

BW Data Access Consultant

Description

The BW Data Access Consultant is responsible to assess the business requirements, and design and develop a data access solution for the BW project.  This solution may include use of:

»      BW’s Business Explorer

»      Non-SAP Data Access tools (e.g., Business Objects, Cognos, Crystal Reports, and other certified data access tools)

»      Visual Basic development

»      Web development

»      WAP (wireless) development

»      R/3 drill-through

The BW Data Access Consultant role has a broad range of responsibilities and may require multiple individuals to satisfy the role depending on the scope of the BW project and the requirements associated with data access.

The BW Data Access Consultant should work closely with the individuals responsible for business requirements gathering and analysis and have a thorough understanding of the way the data will be used to make business decisions.

Often significant change management issues are generated as a result of modifications required by end users to the data access design and implementation.  As a result the BW Data Access Consultant is in a key position to provide valuable information to the change agent or change management process.

Time Commitment

 – the time which must be committed to this Role to ensure the project requirements are met

Project Complexity	Time Commitment
Low	If standard Queries from BW are used and the Business Explorer is the tool selected, this effort can be performed by the BW Application Consultant
Medium	If modifications or significant extensions are required to the Queries from BW, a resource should be committed specifically to work in this area.
High	If a product other than the Business Explorer is selected, a skilled consultant with this expertise should be committed to the project.  If VBA or Web development is needed, this too requires specialized skills and resources.

Key Attributes

The BW Data Access Consultant should have:

»      Strong business emphasis and perspective

»      Excellent communication skills since the role works closely with the end users of the BW

»      Experience with the appropriate data access tool(s)

»      Strong analytical skills

»      An understanding of the customer’s business processes

»      An understanding of the associated output/display requirements

»      The ability to work with diversified teams

Key Tasks

Specifically, the BW Data Access Consultant is responsible for designing the data access solution to include:

»      Understanding the data that will be available in BW in business terms

»      Identifying the way end users want to analyze the data in BW

»      Designing the data access solution to satisfy defined business requirements

The BW Data Access Consultant is also responsible for developing the data access solution to include:

»      Developing options for data access (i.e. web solution, R/3 drill through, ODS reporting, master data reporting, 3^rd party tools)

»      Developing prototypes of data access for review with end users

»      Developing the required data access solutions

»      Developing the associated interface programs and/or customized web enhancements, if necessary

»      Configuring the Reporting Agent, if necessary

»      Configuring the GIS

»      Testing of all developed solutions

»      Ensuring integration testing of data access solution

»      Developing a production support plan

»      Working with training development to include data access solution in BW course materials

Don’ts

The BW Data Access Consultant should not assume that they know what the end user wants without developing and demonstrating prototypes throughout the process.  Often end user requirements evolve as they see the kind of data that is available.

Also, the BW Data Access Consultant should not wait until all valid data is available in BW before developing prototypes, but rather use data that is not valid where the end user will focus on the design of the access method rather than the data.

BW Data Architect

Description

The BW Data Architect is responsible for the overall data design of the BW project.  This includes the design of the:

»      BW InfoCubes (Basic Cubes, Multi-cubes, Remote cubes, and Aggregates)

»      BW ODS Objects

»      BW Datamarts

»      Logical Models

»      BW Process Models

»      BW Enterprise Models

The BW Data Architect plays a critical role in the BW project and is the link between the end user’s business requirements and the data architecture solution that will satisfy these requirements.  All other activities in the BW project are contingent upon the data design being sound and flexible enough to satisfy evolving business requirements.

Time Commitment

 – the time which must be committed to this Role to ensure the project requirements are met

Project Complexity	Time Commitment
Low	If the BW project utilizes standard BW content and InfoCubes, this role can be satisfied by the BW Application Consultant.
Medium	If the BW project requires enhancements to the standard BW content and InfoCubes and/or requires the integration of non-SAP data, this role may require a committed resource.
High	If the BW project requires significant modification and enhancement to standard BW content and InfoCubes, it is highly recommended that an experienced resource be committed full-time to the project.

Key Attributes

The BW Data Architect must have:

»      An understanding of the BW data architecture

»      An understanding of multidimensional modeling

»      An understanding of the differences between operational systems data modeling and data warehouse data modeling

»      An understanding of the end user’s data

»      An understanding of the integration points of the data (e.g., customer number, invoice number)

»      Excellent troubleshooting and analytical skills

»      Excellent communication skills

»      Technical competency in data modeling

»      Multi-language skills, if an international implementation

»      Working knowledge of the BW and R/3 application(s)

»      Experience with Data Modeling application software (i.e., ERWIN, Oracle Designer, S-Designer, etc.)

Key Tasks

The BW Data Architect is responsible for capturing the business requirements for the BW project.  This effort includes:

»      Planning the business requirements gathering sessions and process

»      Coordinating all business requirements gathering efforts with the BW Project Manager

»      Facilitating the business requirements gathering sessions

»      Capturing the information and producing the deliverables from the business requirements gathering sessions

»      Understanding and documenting business definitions of data

»      Developing the data model

»      Ensuring integration of data from both SAP and non-SAP sources

»      Fielding questions concerning the data content, definition and structure

This role should also address other critical data design issues such as:

»      Granularity of data and the potential for multiple levels of granularity

»      Use of degenerate dimensions

»      InfoCube partitioning

»      Need for aggregation at multiple levels

»      Need for storing derived BW data

»      Ensuring overall integrity of all BW Models

»      Providing Data Administration development standards for business requirements analysis and BW enterprise modeling

»      Provide strategic planning for data management

»      Impact analysis of data change requirements

As stated above, the BW Data Architect is responsible for the overall data design of the BW project.  This includes the design of the:

»      BW InfoCubes (Basic Cubes, Multi-cubes, Remote cubes, and Aggregates)

»      BW ODS Objects

»      BW Datamarts

»      Logical Models

»      BW Process Models

»      BW Enterprise Models

Don’ts

The BW Data Architect should not become distracted with issues outside the data modeling arena but should be allowed to focus on the issues surrounding optimizing the data design for the BW project.

The BW Data Architect should design to satisfy specific business requirements, but should keep in mind the overall, long-term goals of the BW in the organization.

BW Application Consultant

Description

The BW Application Consultant is responsible for utilizing BW to satisfy the business requirements identified for the project.  As provided in the other roles, if the scope of the BW project is tightly controlled and can use standard BW Business Content, InfoCubes, and Queries, the BW Application Consultant may assume the responsibility to perform several roles concurrently to include:

»      BW Data Architect

»      BW Data Access Consultant

»      BW Data Extraction Consultant

»      SAP Project Manager

»      Business Process Team Lead

»      Authorization Administrator

If this occurs, the BW Application Consultant must have a broad range of skills and this position will be under significant pressure during the course of the BW project.  In this situation, the BW Application Consultant inherently must be responsible for the overall integrated design and realization of the BW solution.

If the project scope is broad and must extend Business Content, InfoCubes and/or Queries, then the project warrants resources being assigned to the roles identified above.  In this case, the BW Application Consultant is responsible for the overall integrated design and coordinated realization of the BW solution.

If this role is assumed by an SAP Consultant, often the expectations are that they are familiar with all components and functionality of Business Information Warehouse.  This role often naturally becomes a focal point for all design consideration related to BW.

Time Commitment

 – the time which must be committed to this Role to ensure the project requirements are met

Project Complexity	Time Commitment
Low	If the BW project utilizes standard BW content, InfoCubes, and/or Queries this role can be satisfied by the BW Application Consultant.  If this occurs, this is full-time responsibility.
Medium	If the BW project requires enhancements to the standard BW content, InfoCubes, and/or Queries, and/or requires the integration of non-SAP data, this role should not assume responsibility for all activities, but other resources should be assigned.  If this occurs, the BW Application Consultant can assume a less than full-time role.
High	If the BW project requires significant modification and enhancement to standard BW content, InfoCubes, and/or Queries it is highly recommended that an experienced resource (other than the BW Application Consultant) be committed to the project to satisfy these roles.  If this occurs, the BW Application Consultant should assume a full-time responsibility.

Key Attributes

The BW Application Consultant must have:

»      Excellent troubleshooting and analytical skills

»      Excellent communication skills

»      Excellent time management skills

»      Excellent problem resolution and organizational skills

»      Technical competency; with strong computer skills

»      Multi-language skills, if an international implementation

»      Working knowledge of the BW and R/3 application(s)

Key Tasks

The BW Application Consultant (or one of the resources identified above) uses the BW Administrator Workbench to perform the functions provided by BW:

»      Establish connections to the BW sources

»      Activate the standard Business Content

»      Enable the standard InfoCubes and Queries

»      Enhance the InfoCubes as required by the BW Data Architect

»      Enhance the Queries as required by the BW Data Access Consultant

»      Define authorization profiles and access

»      Evaluate statistical performance and make recommendations to Basis support for optimization where possible

»      Manage the CTS layer

Don’ts

There is a tendency to reply completely on this resource for the project.  This is not recommended, since these resources will consistently be in demand and individuals having this broad range of skills are difficult to find and keep on a project.  Cross-training of resources is essential to ensure the sustainability of the project.

Ensure that this role does not assume ownership responsibility for OSS notes related to BW.

BW Basis Consultant

Description

The BW Basis Person must be able to advise on BW Landscape issues, Transport environment, Authorisation, Performance Issues of Database and BW, Installation of BW Server, Plug Ins and Frontend (For all layers there are patches / support packages) that should be regularly installed.

This role can be assumed by the Basis Consultant (However, additional BW skills are absolutely necessary)