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https://www.tutorialspoint.com/sap_webi/sap_webi_ranking_data.htm
Web Intelligence is part of SAP BusinessObjects product suite and is used for analytical and ad hoc
reporting to meet an organization’s business requirements. Web Intelligence is a Business Intelligence
reporting tool for business users to analyze data in Data Warehouse.
Using Web Intelligence, business users can create basic, medium, and complex reports from
transactional data in database and by creating Universes using Information Design
Tool/UDT. Various SAP and non-SAP data sources can be used to create reports in Web
Intelligence. SAP Business Warehouse (BW) system doesn’t require a Universe to connect to
Web Intelligence tool.
Web Intelligence tool can work as a client tool of BusinessObjects platform and also as a
standalone tool for reporting.
BusinessObjects was first started in 1990.
In 2007, SAP acquired this company for $6.8 billion and the product has been renamed as SAP
BusinessObjects.
Various data sources can be used to create analytical and ad hoc reports. You can pull data
from SAP systems, like SAP ECC, SAP ERP, SAP SRM, and other SAP modules.
Non-SAP data sources include Oracle Database, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2, and
Sybase.

https://blogs.sap.com/2020/06/15/sap-bi-4.3-whats-new-in-web-intelligence-and-semantic-layer/

https://www.createch.ca/blog/whats-the-difference-between-sap-bi-sap-bw-sap-bo
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https://blog-sap.com/analytics/2016/01/11/sap-businessobjects-web-intelligence-sap-lumira-and-
convergence/

SAP Lumira is the future of discovery and analysis, and SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio is the
future of dashboards and applications.
As the slide below shows, SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence and SAP Lumira serve
different purposes in the streamlined BI platform that is emerging. So the
answer seems obvious: SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence is for reporting and SAP
Lumira is for discovery and analysis.

SAP Lumira has visualization data preparation, composition, and layout capabilities that go beyond
what are available in SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence.

https://visualbi.com/blogs/sap/sap-analytics-cloud/sap-analytics-cloud-vs-sap-lumira-designer-
performance-comparison/
https://visualbi.com/blogs/sap/sap-analytics-cloud/sap-analytics-cloud-vs-sap-lumira-designer-
performance-comparison/

Since all new innovations and enhancements will be delivered only via SAC, SAP recommends SAC
for all future application design needs. One of the key factors to consider when migrating from
Lumira Designer to SAC is its performance while consuming live data from on-premise SAP BW on
HANA and SAP Enterprise HANA systems.

As per SAP’s Statement of direction, SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) is SAP’s primary app
design solution moving forward. SAP Lumira Designer mainstream maintenance is available
only until December 31, 2022, and then only priority one support maintenance is available
till December 31, 2024. Since all new innovations and enhancements will be delivered only
via SAC, SAP recommends SAC for all future application design needs. One of the key
factors to consider when migrating from Lumira Designer to SAC is its performance while
consuming live data from on-premise SAP BW on HANA and SAP Enterprise HANA
systems.
In this blog, we will compare the performance of SAC Analytics Designer with Lumira
Designer when consuming live data from on-premise systems.

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Furthermore, we will look into performance best practices like Query Batching for a fully
rounded cloud experience with SAC.
Versions: SAC 2020.17, BOBJ 4.3, BW 7.5, and HANA 2.0
SAP Lumira Designer vs. SAP Analytics Cloud – BW
Live data connection
SAP Lumira Designer has been the go-to tool for custom application development in the BI
space for quite some time. So, we replicated an SAP Lumira Designer application in SAC’s
Analytics Designer for performance comparison.
The Lumira Designer application that has been developed in version 2.2 consists of 2 tabs
and 7 data sources that were created on BW queries. All the data sources are loaded during
the initial load in 3 processing Groups. The total data size is 1763 cells (collectively of all the
data sources).
In SAC, a CORS connection has been established to SAP BW. The same BW queries are
accessed using a Live connection. All the features are replicated in SAC and when we
compared the performance, the Analytic Application created in SAC took 8 to 10 seconds to
load the application while originally, the Lumira Application took about 24 to 30 seconds.
SAC was clearly ahead of Lumira Designer with over 100% improvement in performance.

Analytic Application created on Live BW model in SAC

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We can see the load time of SAC’s Analytic Application compared to the SAP Lumira
application below.

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Load times of SAC’s Analytic Application and SAP Lumira Application on BW Live

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Comparison of BW load time

SAP Lumira Designer vs. SAP Analytics Cloud –

HANA Live data connection
For this study, we replicated an SAP Lumira Application in SAC’s Application Designer
using HANA Live connection. The HR Analysis Lumira dashboard has been built on version
2.2.
The application has a total of 6 data sources and 5 are loaded when the application is
launched. The total number of cells from all the data sources is 14230. Data sources are
created on top of views through the gHANA HTTP connection. The Dashboard has around
10 charts and is driven by month and quarter selection.
SAP HANA has been connected to SAC through a CORS connection.
When both the reports were run, SAC rendered the application in 8 to 10 seconds while SAP
Lumira Application took 25 to 29 seconds.

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Analytic Application created on Live HANA model

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Load times of SAC’s Analytic Application and SAP Lumira application on HANA Live

Comparison of HANA load time

In BW and HANA, SAC has shown a consistent performance superiority when compared to
SAP Lumira Designer.
A quick comparison of SAP Lumira Designer vs. SAC based on the applications’ time is
shown below. Based on the observation, SAC is at least twice as fast as SAP Lumira Designer
(BOBJ 4.3).

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SAP
Lumira Designer vs. SAC’s Analytics Designer comparison
SAC also offers additional performance improvement features, like the ones offered in
Lumira Designer.
Performance improvement features offered by SAP
Analytics Cloud
When developing a multi-tab application with many widgets, we can load the widgets that
are not required to be shown on the launch in the background. This can be done in Analytic
Application Settings.

Option to load invisible widgets in

background
With respect to queries, if we have several queries in an Analytic Application, running them
in parallel will reduce the time. Under Query Settings, the application developer can enable
Query Batching and specify the maximum and a minimum number of queries per batch. The
minimum and the default value is 4, and the maximum value is 20.

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Query Batching option in Analytic

Application
We also have an option specific to BW live queries. We can merge the requests sent to the
BW server. The queries from multiple charts are automatically combined based on common
objects. This is available under Query Settings in the Story.

Query Batching option in Story

To conclude, SAC performs better when compared to SAP Lumira Designer in the
observation. As per this study and observation, SAC performs betters than Lumira Designer.
Creating and designing widgets with performance in mind and using performance
improvement settings like Query Batching will have added benefits to enhance the
performance.
******
Click here to talk to our experts about SAP Analytics Cloud. To know more about the
Analytic Applications of SAP Analytics Cloud, please check out our blog series here.

https://www.nextlytics.com/blog/sap-analytics-cloud-vs-lumira-designer-the-ultimate-comparison

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SAP ANALYTICS CLOUD VS LUMIRA DESIGNER - THE ULTIMATE

COMPARISON
Written By: Rafael - 13 September, 201
Would you like to implement a meaningful dashboard with SAP or are you
interested in the various possibilities with which such a dashboard can be
implemented? In recent years, SAP Lumira Designer has always been the first
choice. Lumira Designer allows you to create extensive dashboards that can be
customized to your individual needs. SAP's strategy in dashboarding has changed,
and with the introduction of SAC the tenor has changed to "cloud first".

SAP Analytics Cloud competes with Lumira

In this context, SAP introduced its new flagship some time ago: SAP Analytics
Cloud (SAC). This will replace Lumira Designer and enable both power users and
business users to create dashboards. SAP Analytics Cloud is currently being
enhanced with new functions in fairly rapid cycles and is already competing with
Lumira Designer in the current version, even though SAC does not yet offer the full
functionality of Lumira. But where exactly are the differences between the two
solutions? Which tool is the best for you to meet your dashboard requirements?
SAP Lumira Designer, SAC Analytics Designer
and SAC Story in brief
What is SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) and what is SAP Lumira? Well, SAP Lumira
2.0 is the completely redesigned successor to SAP BO Design Studio and
combines both key front-end tools for creating management and self-service
dashboards. Lumira includes two different tools: Lumira Designer, a powerful tool
for the IT department, and Lumira Discovery, a tool for creating self-service
dashboards. Lumira Discovery has now been replaced by SAP Analytics Cloud
Story and is no longer recommended for use by SAP, Lumira Designer will be
replaced by SAC Analytics Designer. In our comparison, you can find out for which
use cases Lumira is still suitable.

With SAC (SAP Analytics Cloud), on the other hand, the Walldorf-based software
specialists have introduced a product that significantly simplifies data analysis and
the planning and creation of dashboards and brings them closer to users. In
addition to the dashboarding capabilities, Predictive Analytics helps you with
simulation scenarios and the Planning module helps you deploy your resources.
SAC can be divided into three main modules: BI (Business Intelligence), Planning
and Boardroom. SAP Analytics Cloud provides two options for creating analyses
and dashboards: First, business users without programming knowledge can create
Self Service Dashboards (SAC Stories) using the stories and models. Analytics
Designer also provides developers with the ability to create enterprise dashboards
through advanced features and connectivity.
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Our comparison: SAP Lumira or SAC?

We took the time to look behind the scenes. The result is the ultimate comparison
between Lumira Designer, SAP Analytics Cloud Story and SAP Analytics Cloud
Analytics Designer that helps you decide which tool suits you best.

In our white paper, you'll learn about the differences between the three solutions in
terms of features, programming capabilities, layout, navigation, content and
performance, and which tool we recommend for which requirement.

As SAP Analytics Cloud, as mentioned above, is getting new features in quite fast
update cycles, we will of course continue to work on this topic for you in the future
and will constantly update our comparison. To keep you up to date, we
recommend you to subscribe to our newsletter. There we will inform you about
news regarding SAP Business Intelligence at regular intervals.

Topics: SAP Lumira Designer, SAP Analytics Cloud, SAP Dashboarding

Written By: Rafael  
Rafael Sachs has been working as an SAP BW and BO consultant in various
industries in Germany and abroad since 2013. He covers the range from
requirements management to implementation. His core competencies are tailor-
made solutions in the front-end area and the professional design of the company's
own software NextTables. In his spare time he is a restless hiker, dog tamer and
hobby cook.

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https://visualbi.com/blogs/sap/sap-analytics-cloud/application-design/6-key-differences-sap-
analytics-cloud-application-design-sap-lumira-designer/

6 Key Differences between SAP

Analytics Cloud Application Design
and SAP Lumira Designer
 ANALYTIC APPLICATIONS
 APPLICATION DESIGN
 SAP ANALYTICS CLOUD

SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) has been around for a while and it has primarily been a tool for
cloud-based Data Discovery, especially for customers looking to seamlessly connect to their
existing Cloud-based solutions. As of version 2019.8, SAP Analytics Cloud brings to
customers the ability to also create Applications in the cloud in the form Application Design.
This new feature comes as a part of existing BI licenses for customers and does not need to
be purchased additionally.

Sou
rce: SAP

With the addition of application building capabilities, SAP Analytics Cloud now looks to offer
the same capabilities as SAP Lumira Designer for those customers looking to use mostly
cloud-based data sources. However, SAP Lumira Designer has been around for quite a while
now and there are quite a few differences between SAP Analytics Cloud’s Application Design
and SAP Lumira Designer. For the most part, these differences are negligible. However, it
still is important for customers to understand what the key differences are, which is what
we’ve outlined here.
1. Wider Variety of Data Sources
SAP Lumira Designer can natively connect to 3 types of Data Sources – SAP BW, SAP
HANA, and Universes. For any other type of Data Source, it would require a Custom Data
Source component to be built using the SDK.

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Wider range of Data Sources to connect to for SAP Analytics Cloud’s Application Design

SAP Analytics Cloud’s Application Design can connect to any Data Source that SAP
Analytics Cloud can connect to – it can connect to both Cloud and On-Premise Data sources
that are either extracted or live (depending on the Data Source in question) as long as a
“Model” is built on top of the existing Data Source. This gives Application Design quite a bit of
flexibility.
2. Data Source Objects
SAP Lumira Designer allowed users to add objects called “Data Sources” to the application
they were building. These objects or components allowed Designers to connect to data from
BW Queries, HANA Views or Universes and could bind to different components within the
canvas. The best part about Data Sources was that the same Data Source could be re-used
by multiple components, and this opened the door to a lot of other performance optimization
techniques.

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SAP Analytics Cloud’s Application Design requires Models

SAP Analytics Cloud’s Application Design, on the other hand, does not yet have the concept
of Data Sources. Instead, Charts and Tables added to the canvas can now only connect to
Models created within the tool. Live Data from BW Queries or HANA Views will also have to
have a Model created before they can be consumed by the visualizations. This takes away
the ability to streamline performance on the application but does add the advantage of being
able to create custom calculations on the fly when using imported data sources.
3. Data Binding
SAP Lumira Designer can bind the content within List Boxes and Dropdown menus (or quite
a few other components for that matter) directly to Data Sources. So, if designers wanted a
list of Products from the BW query they were using on their applications, it was simply a
matter of binding the right property of their list box to the data source.

Data Binding options are not yet available on Application Design

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In SAP Analytics Cloud’s Application Design, components such as Dropdown menus or

Radio Button Groups (List Boxes are missing, for some reason), do not have the ability to
bind directly to a Data Source. The items inside will need to be populated manually.
However, as a workaround, it is possible to get a list of all items within the Data Source and
load them into the component using Scripting. Since this is how Designer started out, it could
be just a matter of time before the same ability comes to SAC Application Design.
4. Components
Having been around for a while, SAP Lumira Designer has a wider variety of components
including Table components, Chart component, Filter components, Basic components for
interactions and a robust set of Container components for different types of applications and
target devices. These are, of course, standard components. With a very robust SDK, SAP
Lumira Designer also has plenty of aftermarket components available too.

Limited list of components owing to the newness of the tool

SAP Analytics Cloud’s Application Design is newer to the market and is still building on a
limited set of components. Right now, the tool has very basic components such as Charts,
Tables and a few basic components for interactions. Mapping capabilities are missing as
well. However, it also supports R-based Visualizations, which is quite an addition, and more
components can definitely be expected going forward.
5. Scripting
SAP Lumira Designer uses its own scripting language known as BIAL scripting. This is a
derivation from JavaScript and closely resembles Microsoft’s VBScript. The type of scripting
that can be used is limited to merely events and methods defined within the tool, and it is not
possible to integrate external scripting languages with Lumira’s. However, it is still possible to
build custom components which can compile other scripting languages separately.

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Flexible Scripting options for SAP Analytics Cloud’s Application Design

At the outset, SAP Analytics Cloud’s Application Design seems to share the same scripting
language as that of SAP Lumira Designer. While the number of methods and events
available are far more limited considering the newness of the tool, it is possible to use a freer
form of scripting closer to JavaScript, including constructs like For and While loops, Switch-
Case statements and more. Moreover, R-based analyses are already supported through
components within the tool. In this aspect, Application Design shows a lot more promise.
6. Integration with External Applications
SAP Lumira Designer has the capability to integrate with existing SAP BI solutions such as
Web Intelligence reports, BEx web queries or even jump to other Analysis Office
applications. While the SDK allows for a degree of added functionality, including the ability to
embed web pages within Designer, the ability to interact with these web pages could be a bit
limited.
SAP Analytics Cloud’s Application Design, on the other hand, has been built to handle
integration with external applications such as web pages, business applications and even
has the capability for closed-loop scenarios. The tool is built with native capabilities to handle
OData calls to transaction systems and bi-directional communications with other business
applications as well. And of course, it can seamlessly navigate to existing stories, explorer
and smart functions within the SAP Analytics Cloud environment.
———————
It hasn’t been too long since SAP has come out with Application Design for Analytics Cloud.
Therefore, it should come as no surprise to customers that the capabilities are a little limited
at the moment – this is, after all, version 1.0 of Application Design for the cloud. However,
even version 1.0 here seems a bit more mature than version 1.0 of SAP Lumira Designer
(initially known as SAP Design Studio).
The seamless integration with the rest of the Analytics Cloud capabilities and several other
key capabilities such as the ability to integrate R-based analyses, perform a closed-loop
operation with transaction systems and seamlessly integrate with business applications
shows great promise for SAP Analytics Cloud. With agile quarterly release cycles, the
Application Design feature is likely to mature very quickly, leaving customers with one
important consideration – will customers be able to move to the cloud fast enough?
For a summary of all our blogs related to SAP Analytics Cloud Application Design, please
visit: https://visualbi.com/blogs/category/sap/sap-analytics-cloud/
Reach out to us here today if you are interested to evaluate if SAP Analytics Cloud is right for
you.

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https://answers.sap.com/questions/441840/lumira-vs-sap-analytics-cloud.html

https://compamind.de/sap-analytics-cloud/sap-analytics-cloud-sap-lumira/

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