Library Discipline

This Quick Start  is a resource for professors, lecturers and students to quickly view the overall assets associated with SAP Business Intelligence curricula in the classroom. This guide will be updated regularly. We welcome your contributions and feedback.

Developer(s):
Temasek Polytechnic:  Prasanna Sudhindra Rao, Cheng Huey Chen
Fachhochschule Ludwigshafen: Klaus Freyburger
Hochschule der Medien:  Peter Lehmann

Description:
The business intelligence reporting course supplements the Business Intelligence course with modules using Business Objects reporting software. These modules are designed for flexible use in a variety of courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Each module is designed to stand alone, and can be taught without having to teach other modules. This enables faculty members to have a considerable degree of flexibility in how they choose to integrate these materials into curricula. Focus of this part is on Universe design and Web Intelligence.

Developer(s):
Fachhochschule Ludwigshafen am Rhein: Klaus Freyburger
Hochschule der Meiden: Peter Lehmann
California State University Chico: Lorraine Gardiner
Victoria University: Paul Hawking and Robert Jovanovic
Fachhochschule Ansbach: Bernd Heesen

Description
The business intelligence course consists of modules designed for flexible use in a variety of courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels.  Each module is designed to stand alone, and can be taught without having to teach other modules. This enables faculty members to have a considerable degree of flexibility in how they choose to integrate these materials into curricula.

Modules labeled with at "BI1" prefix contain introductory, user-focused content. These are suitable for courses that teach the basics of Business Intelligence without going into a great deal of technical detail.

Modules labeled with a "BI2" prefix are intended for a more technical courses. Faculty choosing to adopt the technical modules may also wish to review the corresponding non-technical modules to help put the technical modules in context. However, teaching both the BI1 and BI2 modules for a topic is not necessary as each module does stand on its own.

The modules are as indicated below.

BI1-M1: Introduction to Business Intelligence
BI1-M2: Data Warehouse Architecture
BI1-M3: SAP BI Overview
BI1-M4: Enterprise Reporting
BI1-M5: Business Planning
BI1-M6: Data Mining

BI2-M1: Data Modeling
BI2-M2: SAP BI Modeling
BI2-M3: BI Extraction, Transformation and Loading (ETL)
BI2-M4: Enterprise Reporting (updated 2009/02/13).
BI2-M5: Business Planning
BI2-M6: Data Mining

NOTE: UAP members, please access the BI Reserve Desk for the extended semester-long software license key 

Access Crystal Reports through this link: http://www.businessobjects.com/campaigns/forms/downloads/crystal/2008/default.asp

1. Once you click on the link, fill out the registration form and click "Continue."
2. The next page will provide 2 options to electronically download Crystal Reports.
3. Choose option Download Crystal Reports 2008 Evaluation and save to a folder
4. Open the file when download is complete
5. Click on the Crystal Reports folder and then autorun.exe
6. Choose your language and click install
7. Follow instructions and read the License Agreement - please note the agreement can be found in other languages
8. If you accept the agreement, click next and enter key code CSK0Z-1TF0767-000UWJB-ZR4J
9. NOTE: Use key code CSK0Z-1TF0767-000UWJB-ZR4J (instead of what is provided on that page and via confirmation email)
10. The key code CSK0Z-1TF0767-000UWJB-ZR4J allows you to access the software until January 31, 2010 - Please check back for updated keycodes
11. Continue with the process and click install
12. Once installation is complete, search for the software by going to "Start"
13. Choose "All Programs" then "Crystal Reports 2008"

Developer(s):
Prasanna Rao, Cheng Huey Chen (Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore)

Course Description:
The Crystal Reports reporting course supplements the Business Intelligence course with modules using Crystal Reports 2008 and the SAP Integration Kit. Crystal Reports is the industry standard for report design and allows report designers to create pixel perfect reports.
The course comprises slides and case studies that allow the students to understand how to...
1. Plan a report
2. Create a report
3. Select and organize data in the report
4. Represent data visually
5. Create reports from SAP OLAP data sources

NOTE: UAP members, please access the BI Reserve Desk for the extended semester-long software license key  

Access Xcelsius through this link: http://downloads.businessobjects.com/akdlm/xcelsius/Xcelsius_Engage_30day_trial.zip
-- When downloaded with the keycode listed below, it will be available untill January 31, 2010. --

1. Click Open
2. Click on folder SP1
3. Click on setup.exe
4. Choose a language
5. Follow instructions and read the License Agreement - please note the agreement can be found in other languages (available in the folder)
6. A Xcelsius 2008 Setup box will pop-up
7. Click through the next key steps
8. The product keycode is CB51X-8UF0767-000VYBJ-58WN
9. This keycode expires January 31, 2010 - Please check back for updated keycodes
10. Once installation is complete, search for the software by going to Start
11. Choose All Programs then Xcelsius

Developer(s):
Sonja Hecht (Technische Universität München)

Description
The dashboard design course supplements the Business Intelligence course with modules using Xcelsius, the SAP flagship product for dashboarding and visualization. Xcelsius allows a rapid development of dashboards by drag and drop.

The curriculum material provides an introduction into dashboard design and the use of Xcelsius for three different dashboard scenarios based on the demo company Global Bike:
      1. The Global Sales Overview dashboard visualizes sales data using different basic components for visualization
      2. The Sales Organization Benchmarking dashboard compares sales data of different sales organizations, using advanced components and techniques for visualization
      3. The Sales Simulation dashboard facilitates a what-if simulation of the average profit margin, based on different conditions for gross sales, discounts and costs

Detailed information on the different modules and exercises of this course are included in the teaching note that is provided with the material.

Developer(s):
Victoria University: Paul Hawking
Georgia Southern University: Adrian Gardiner

Description:
SAP BusinessObjects provides a broad range of reporting tools to facilitate decision making of the different end users. SAP's Xcelsius is one of the Business Intelligence tools available from SAP BusinessObjects which can be used to build dashboards. The following tutorial is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of building a reporting dashboard using SAP Xcelsius. Students will create a reporting dashboard that will provide a summary of bicycle sales for each sales region for Global Bike Inc.

Developer(s):
Bellevue College: Linda Rumans, IT & CS
NWCET: Michele Royer

Description:
The Center for Information Technology Excellence (CITE) was awarded a grant by the Center for Homeland Security to create IT and Cyber Security Curriculum. This curricula material available is the Business Intelligence Background powerpoint.

To see what other publicly available materials were created via the Center for Homeland Security's grant, click to visit the National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies (NWCET) site HERE.

NWCET is affiliated and co-located with the Washington State Center for Information Technology Excellence (CITE), a statewide resource for community and technical colleges, the K-20 educational system, and the information technology (IT) industry.

Developer(s):
Bellevue College: Linda Rumans, IT & CS
NWCET: Michele Royer

Description:
The Center for Information Technology Excellence (CITE) was awarded a grant by the Center for Homeland Security to create IT and Cyber Security Curriculum. This curricula material available is the Business Intelligence Case Studies.

To see what other publicly available materials were created via the Center for Homeland Security's grant, click to visit the National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies (NWCET) site HERE.

NWCET is affiliated and co-located with the Washington State Center for Information Technology Excellence (CITE), a statewide resource for community and technical colleges, the K-20 educational system, and the information technology (IT) industry.

Developer(s):
Bellevue College: Linda Rumans, IT & CS
NWCET: Michele Royer

Description:
The Center for Information Technology Excellence (CITE) was awarded a grant by the Center for Homeland Security to create IT and Cyber Security Curriculum. This curricula material available is the Business Intelligence Project.

To see what other publicly available materials were created via the Center for Homeland Security's grant, click to visit the National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies (NWCET) site HERE.

NWCET is affiliated and co-located with the Washington State Center for Information Technology Excellence (CITE), a statewide resource for community and technical colleges, the K-20 educational system, and the information technology (IT) industry.

Developer(s):
Bellevue College: Linda Rumans, IT & CS
NWCET: Michele Royer

Description:
The Center for Information Technology Excellence (CITE) was awarded a grant by the Center for Homeland Security to create IT and Cyber Security Curriculum. This curricula material available is Focus on Business Intelligence.

To see what other publicly available materials were created via the Center for Homeland Security's grant, click to visit the National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies (NWCET) site HERE.

NWCET is affiliated and co-located with the Washington State Center for Information Technology Excellence (CITE), a statewide resource for community and technical colleges, the K-20 educational system, and the information technology (IT) industry.

SAP has a large library of materials that are relevant to Business Intelligence and Information Technology. We have gathered a number of them here for your use. We also encourage you to explore other articles available from the entire SCN Community through the SCN article repository.

The Preferred Business Intelligence Choice: Designed for Growing Companies

Uncovering Insight Hidden in Text: How Instructured Data Analysis Is Helping IT Deliver Knowledge

Proven Business Intelligence for Oracle Environments

Using Taxonomy-Based Categorization and Entity Extraction for More Effective Operations

Performance Matters Toward Transparent, Accountable, and Effective Delivery of Public Services

The Forrester Wave: Enterprise Business Intelligence Platforms (Q3, 2008)

Turning Unstructured Text Into Insight: Extending Business Intelligence With Text Analysis And Search

We have created a bibliography of academic articles that are relevant to Business Intelligence.  The first few of these articles are listed below. The complete list can be accessed by clicking here. 

It is our intention to keep this bibliography current, and we would welcome your suggestions for articles that should be included. You can post your suggestions in the UA Library Reference Desk Forum.

Using data systems to meet AYP. (2005). T H E Journal, 32(12), 36-36.

Arnott, D., & Pervan, G. (2008). Eight key issues for the decision support systems discipline. Decision Support Systems, 44(3), 657-672.

Berndt, D. J., Fisher, J. W., Craighead, J. G., Hevner, A. R., Luther, S., & Studnicki, J. (2007). The role of data warehousing in bioterrorism surveillance. Decision Support Systems, 43(4), 1383-1403.

Bose, R. (2006). Understanding management data systems for enterprise performance management. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 106(1), 43-59.

Chenoweth, T., Corral, K., & Demirkan, H. (2006). Seven key interventions for data warehouse success. Communications of the ACM, 49(1), 114-119.

View the full bibliography by clicking here.