Intent of this article is to provide an overview of the enhancements included in SAP BusinessObjects Mobile BI 4.1 release. If you are on SAP BusinessObjects XI R2 or 3.x or 4.0 release and wondering about the new features and enhancements in 4.1 release of Mobile BI Solution from Migration / Upgrade standpoint, then please continue to read;
Solution Overview
So, as you can see in the Mobile Server architecture diagram above, the solution continue to have three major components in 4.1 release;
1. SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence platform
2. SAP BusinessObjects Mobile server
3. SAP BusinessObjects Mobile client
Highlights of Enhancements / Changes
Here is the list of enhancements or changes by those three components of the Mobile BI architecture.
SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform side
Mobile server package no longer comprises of MobileOTA14.war (BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows 6.1 client app) file. You can access this war file through SMP. CMC and BILaunchPad Integration
In 4.1 release, you will have the ability to configure security policies via CMC, ability to configure categories for content management via CMC and the ability to Mobile enable and manage documents properties via BI Launch Pad (starting with BI 4.1 SP01 release and above).
Security Enhancements
Performance Enhancements
SAP BusinessObjects Mobile BI Server side
Mobile Log Folder
This version delivers a dedicated folder to store Mobile server logs. To debug Mobile server related errors, access Mobile server logs folder.
Security Policies Configuration
You can configure server policies in server.properties file. The server policies configured in the configuration server will be applicable to the clients connecting to any connection via this configuration server.
Multiple Operating System Support
Along with Windows and LINUX operating system, the Mobile server files can be auto deployed on AIX and Solaris operating system. For more information, see Auto-Deployment of Mobile Server.
Replacement of Mobile Services
Implementation steps for Mobile BI Server has been changed in this release. Mobile Authentication server (VAS) and Mobile Job server (VMS) are replaced by the Mobile BI Web application server (MobileBIService.war). Therefore, all the server requests from the mobile client devices, such as Android device (smart phone or tablet), iOS, and BlackBerry are now handled by the Web Application Server. Plus all other platform requests such as authentication and security are handled by the MobileBIService.war file.
Note: For complete list of changes including system files changes and how these were affected in the previously available VAS and VMS servers, refer the the 4.1 Mobile Server Deployment and Configuration Guide (link is available in the reference section below).
Managing Mobile BI Server
The following table summarizes the managing the Mobile BI server by feature / functionality across three versions of SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform;
SAP BusinessObjects Mobile BI Client side enhancements
There are two important things when it comes to Mobile BI Client - 1. the Mobile BI client app that you install it on the device and 2. Mobile consumable BI contents such as Web Intelligence, Dashboards etc.The enhancements listed below are mostly about content type related and for client app related enhancements, please refer the latest SAP BusinessObjects Mobile BI App release notes.
Enhancements by BI content types
Followings are some of the key enhancements, new features / functionalities introduced in SAP BI 4.1 release;
SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence
- Support for Hierarchical Sections
- Support for assigning colors to hyperlinks
- Support for lSI, lSM and lSR parameters with OpenDoc URL
- Support for OpenDoc across different BI artifacts
- Support for Multi Column LOV’s
- Support for downloading Latest instance / Document whichever is latest while adding a document to Home
- Support to Disable Refresh Icon on Device, if user doesn’t have refresh rights on document
SAP BusinessObjects Explorer
- Listing of Explorer Information Spaces and E-Views
- Grouping of Information Spaced and E-Views via Category approach
- Support for Security Configurations
SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards
- Support for Dashboards on Android
Using the Audit log files, you can view the activities performed specifically by Mobile client application (from the device).
Migration - Upgrade
Upgrade Path
We are looking at couple of upgrade paths to SAP BI 4.1 release;
Upgrade Steps
Steps to be performed prior to Upgrade
Back-up the important files and components such as Clientsettings, Mobi and SUP property files “[AppServer_Install_Dir]\webapps\MobileBIService\WEB-INF” depends upon your Mobile system landscape.
Steps to be performed post Upgrade
Using the new CMC approach- by default with BI 4.1 release, the mobile configuration for content management is moved under “CMC – Applications – SAP BusinessObjects Mobile”. Therefore to make use the new approach;
- Make sure the values in property files (that are backed-up before upgrade) and the parameters in “CMC – Applications – SAP BusinessObjects Mobile – Right click and Select properties” are identical
OR to continue using the Property File approach;
- Update the following parameter “mobile.server.configuration.location” with value “local” in the WEB.XML under “[AppServer_Install_Dir]\webapps\MobileBIService\WEB-INF”
- Copy the properties files (backup taken before installation) to the following location “[AppServer_Install_Dir]\webapps\MobileBIService\WEB-INF\Config\custom”
- Restart the (Web) application Server
Reference:
- Refer the 4.1 Mobile Server Deployment and Configuration Guide @ https://websmp102.sap-ag.de/~sapidb/011000358700000508552013E/sbo41_mob_inst_deploy_en.pdf
- Refer the feature matrix available here for complete list of features by content type @ <need the URL link>
- Refer the SCN article for SAP BI 4.0 upgrade related @ http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-43249