BI4 product names for Xcelsius

Last year I wrote about the new product name for Xcelsius: SAP Crystal Dashboard Design. Almost 10 months later everybody still uses Xcelsius and to make life even more difficult SAP has made some more ‘official’ adjustments to it.

The book I am working on now has its third different cover name since we started last summer! We decided to use SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards as the product name. We are referencing to the tool as Dashboard Design since that is the name that is displayed when you run it and SAP also uses it in the official guide. I think the Twitter hashtag now should be #SBOD.

SAP released a FAQ-document which provides the new names for all the products in the BI4 portfolio.  I copied the part on SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards (fka Xcelsius) below.

In an effort to bring clarity around the BI solutions from SAP and use names that reflect the capabilities of our solutions, we have made several name changes in the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence 4.0 release. These new names will make it easier for everyone to identify the BI solutions they are looking for and better understand their capabilities.

Q: Has Xcelsius Enterprise been renamed?

A: Yes. SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius Enterprise and Xcelsius Enterprise Interactive Viewing have been renamed:

Former Name	New Name
SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius Enterprise	SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards
SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius Enterprise Interactive Viewing	SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards Interactive Viewing

Q: What is SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards?

A: SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards (Xcelsius Enterprise) is a desktop dashboard and visualization solution that is a core part of SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0. Once a user creates a dashboard model, it can be deployed in Flash format to Web portals, SAP environments, the SAP BusinessObjects BI platform, and desktop applications such as PowerPoint, Word or PDF.

Q: What are the related Dashboard offerings out there?

A: For our customers that buy through our partners, distributors and through our Web store SAP offers:

1. SAP Crystal Dashboard Design, personal edition
2. SAP Crystal Dashboard Design, departmental edition
3. SAP Crystal Dashboard viewing option
4. SAP Crystal Presentation Design

Below is a table that offers guidance on which SAP dashboard solutions you need:

	SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform	SAP Data Sources	SAP BusinessObjects Edge	SAP Crystal Reports Server	Standalone
SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards	X	X	X		X
SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards Interactive Viewing	X	X	Included with CAL and NUL licenses		X
SAP Crystal Dashboard Design, Departmental Edition				X	X
SAP Crystal Dashboard Viewing option				Included with NUL licenses	X
SAP Crystal Dashboard Design, Personal Edition					X
SAP Crystal Presentation Design					X

To learn more about these editions please go here or visit SAP.com.

Q: I’ve heard of other solutions such as Xcelsius Engage or Xcelsius Engage Server? Do these solutions still

exist or have they been renamed?

A: These were solutions sold by our partners, distributors and through online stores. Xcelsius Engage Server has been discontinued, whilst Xcelsius Engage has been renamed SAP Crystal Dashboard Design Personal Edition.

Q: Why did we rename SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius Enterprise?

A: Xcelsius in its original conception was a way to build visualizations and dashboards using Excel data. Over the past several years SAP BusinessObjects has enhanced Xcelsius into a full-featured enterprise ready dashboard solution that works with any data source. As SAP continued on its mission to make Xcelsius a dashboard product to serve all its customers (beyond being just a personal productivity tool), the name Xcelsius was no longer meaningful or relevant. The BI market and SAP customers were also demanding an enterprise dashboard solution for the types of projects they were using Xcelsius for, i.e. dashboards for thousands of users. By changing the name Xcelsius to Dashboards we are showing our commitment to delivering a solution that serves the needs of all BI customers as well as aligning the name to the product’s growing capabilities and roadmap.

Q: Will the solution and documentation reflect the new name? If not, when is the new name implemented?

A: The user interface and documentation will show the name“Dashboard Design”. Since only dashboard designers use the authoring tool this should be noted when downloading the application from Service Marketplace. We anticipate the completion of all name changes in the next release of the software.

Q: When will this be rolled out to the various Xcelsius communities?

A: We are beginning to roll out the name changes through SDN, ASUG and with various Xcelsius gurus and partners.

HackingSAP.com - Mar 21, 2011 | SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards, Xcelsius
Tagged | SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards, SAP Crystal Dashboard Design, SBOD, SCDD, Xcelsius