SAP updates on Business Objects integration

Enterprise software company SAP has confirmed that it is on schedule to launch the latest version of the Business Objects business intelligence platform, XI 3.0.

SAP has also confirmed that, following SAP's purchase of Business Objects in January, XI will continue to work with a range of "business process" applications from vendors such as Oracle and Microsoft, as well as middleware offerings that compete with SAP's NetWeaver.

In a briefing with IT PRO, Business Objects' chief integration officer Donald MacCormick stressed that SAP would continue to offer the majority of Business Objects' products as standalone packages to both SAP and non-SAP customers. Nor will there be any obligation on Business Objects customers to switch to NetWeaver in order to run future BI software from the enlarged company.

"Customers will not have to run NetWeaver," he said. "XI is the platform for business intelligence, and that sits above NetWeaver. In fact one of the most difficult tasks for us was bringing in data from SAP, but we will now need to spend less time on that and be able to put more efforts into supporting heterogeneous access."

Most large organisations, MacCormick said, use and will continue to use a range of business applications, including Microsoft desktop products and databases from vendors such as Oracle. SAP's Business Objects division will continue to work on connections to such software, as well as to SAP's own products. "We don't want customers to have to pull all their data into one system, but have a simple layer that can arbitrate between them. That has to be independent, heterogeneous and available unlinked to SAP."

A number of business intelligence applications from each vendor are being withdrawn from new sales, the most significant of which are the BEx client applications for SAP's NetWeaver BI. These will be replaced by Crystal and Business Objects products. SAP will continue to offer NetWeaver BI for SAP-centric IT installations.

"What we have learned is that you have to decide quickly which products you will keep," said MacCormick. "The worst you can do is to fudge that: we have given a migration path and details of support, and we have had a lot of positive feedback from customers on that."

"Our customers are using our producs to drive business processes, but we don't run all business processes at all customers," added David Keene, vice president for competition at SAP EMEA. "We would love it if they did, but organisations need solutions that work across different applications."

SAP's full roadmap for integrating Business Objects is set out here.

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