Data warehousing sap bw introduction

Hi every one ,This blog would like to extend its base.Earlier we have written only ABAP focused posts.  Now it will be extended to to all SAP concepts like xi,net weaver,bw,basis,sd,fi/co. Hope you do enjoy learning. ABAP Programmer will be more comfortable and authoritative in his job and position once they now at least basics of all concepts of SAP TREE. What do you say ? Let me know in comments ? Let us start with SAP BUSINESS WARE HOUSING and we will start with what is data warehousing first.

INTRODUCTION TO WAREHOUSING CONCEPT

In data extraction, we move data out of source systems, such as an SAP R/3 system. The challenge during this step is to identify the right data. A good knowledge of the source systems is absolutely necessary to accomplish this task.

In data transfer, we move a large amount of data regularly from different source systems to the data warehouse. Here the challenges are to plan a realistic schedule and to have reliable and fast networks.

In data transformation, we format data so that it can be represented consistently in the data warehouse. For example, we might need to convert an entity with multiple names (such as AT&T, ATT, or Bell) into an entity with a single name (such as AT&T). The original data might reside in different databases using different data types, or in different file formats in different file systems. Some are case sensitive; others may be case insensitive.

In data loading, we load data into the fact tables correctly and quickly. The challenge at this step is to develop a robust error-handling procedure.

ETTL is a complex and time-consuming task. Any error can jeopardize data quality, which directly affects business decision making. Because of this fact and for other reasons, most data warehousing projects experience difficulties finishing on time or on budget.

To get a feeling for the challenges involved in ETTL, let's study SAP R/3 as an example. SAP R/3 is a leading ERP (Enterprise Resources Planning) system. According to SAP, the SAP R/3 developer, as of October 2000, some 30,000 SAP R/3 systems were installed worldwide that had 10 million users. SAP R/3 includes several modules, such as SD (sales and distribution), MM (materials management), PP (production planning), FI (financial accounting), and HR (human resources). Basically, you can use SAP R/3 to run your entire business.

SAP R/3's rich business functionality leads to a complex database design. In fact, this system has approximately 10,000 database tables. In addition to the complexity of the relations among these tables, the tables and their columns sometimes don't even have explicit English descriptions. For many years, using the SAP R/3 data for business decision support had been a constant problem.

Recognizing this problem, SAP decided to develop a data warehousing solution to help its customers. The result is SAP Business Information Warehouse, or BW. Since the announcement of its launch in June 1997, BW has drawn intense interest. According to SAP, as of October 2000, more than 1000 SAP BW systems were installed worldwide.

The previous post is regarding sap abap syntax for FREE and you can have a look at it if you are interested.


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