Migrate semantic layer SAP BO to Power BI or Looker

 

Migrate SAP BO to Looker (Google)  - Rebuild a real semantic layer! “ To misname things is to add to the world’s misery ,” said Albert Camus. Naming them well can also help ensure the success of a business!   This was the great success of SAP BO, which, with its "Objects", translated very abstract IT concepts into business information that could be manipulated by the greatest number of people.   This is a long time ago now, and many companies are moving away from SAP BO, which is starting to become obsolete and is poorly suited to the Cloud.   Leaving BO also means separating from its “Objects”, organized in its very popular semantic layer, the “Universes”.    But not necessarily. Especially if the migration takes place to Google Looker, which natively provides a semantic layer.   We explain how.  Stages #1:   A migration from Universes to Explores Looker  Our migration engine {openAudit} will divide the BO (Business Objects) Universes according to each context and fact table actually used in the BO reports used. Our migration engine is based on the actual use of the BO platform as a source.  Each BO Universe will be transformed into multiple Looker Explores based on a star model centered on the fact table. {openAudit} will only take back what is used in SAP BO.   Each Explore Looker will allow users to create ad hoc queries, explore and visualize data. It is a faithful resumption of the semantic layer, but it will remain quite far from the original Universes due to the technical specificities of Looker vs SAP BO.    To make life easier for the profession, we felt it was necessary to add a device to our migration engine.  Stages #2:    Adjust this migration to make it more usable by the trades  We have enhanced our migration engine by dynamically providing a "control table". It will allow you to simply configure the output, to move towards an ideal semantic layer, potentially very close to that of SAP BO.    The first run of our migration engine will feed the control table and produce the LookML (Looker modeling language).  The processing will thus be "controllable", which will allow the profession to "play" to modify the Explores as it sees fit.  The LookML will be versioned.    Conclusion   The release of SAP BO is perilous. Particularly because the semantic layer generates strong support. Google Looker is a solution that will allow you to rebuild a very functional semantic layer.    To make this semantic layer as "experiential" as it was in SAP BO, our migration engine will build a control table to produce an output that can be used by the business lines, almost instantly.    Our migration solution has just been validated by Google Cloud Marketplace!