Classic FTW!
De Nederlandse BI Podcast – episode 6 Live sitNL edition
DNBIP is still on tour! Today we broadcasted live from SAP Inside Track 2013 Netherlands (#sitNL). As always you can check it in iTunes, on our website or just use the Podcast player below.
SAP BI books, books & books!
It’s a great era for those of us who like to learn about SAP BI topics by themselves, at your own pace and at a moment that is the most suitable. We have the openSAP online courses on HANA and BI4, there is Twitter, the blogs, podcasts and of course the good old books. Lots of SAP BI books I must say. In this post I made an overview of the books that just have been released and the ones that are coming in the near future.
Implementing SAP HANA, by Don Loden, Jonathan Haun, Chris Hickman, and Roy Wells, ISBN 978-1-59229-856-3, 838 pages.
Currently the #1 selling book at SAP Press about the more than epic HANA platform; the #1 topic at SAP TechEd this year. This book offers the practical details about implementing SAP HANA, plus the integration of SAP Data Services and the SAP BusinessObjects BI tools with SAP HANA.
100 Things You Should Know about SAP NetWeaver BW, by Andrew Joo and Buntic Georgian, ISBN 978-1-59229-447-3, 369 pages.
100 tips and tricks to make your work as a SAP BI consultant more efficient. Real-world examples/problems, short chapters, practical step-by-step instructions and a lot of screenshots. Cookbook style, so I like!
Getting Started with SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio, by Xavier Hacking and Jeroen van der A, ISBN 978-1-59229-895-2, 504 pages.
Yeah of course the book I worked on myself needs to be in this list. A brand new book on this brand new tool, covering everything you need to know to get started with Design Studio! More info and a nice discount coupon code here.
Universe Design with SAP BusinessObjects BI: The Comprehensive Guide, by Christian Ah-Soon, Pierpaolo Vezzosi, and Didier Mazoué, ISBN 978-1-59229-901-0, ±650 pages, expected release December 2013.
I think this book will be the first in-depth guide to the Information Design Tool, which can be used to create those BI4 UNX universes.
Predictive Analysis with SAP: The Comprehensive Guide, by John MacGregor, ISBN 978-1-59229-915-7, ±500 pages, expected release December 2013.
I joined the hands-on session at TechEd to play around with Predictive Analysis for the first time. I expect this book to bring me a bit further than the basics and do some real analysis and modeling.
Integrating SAP BusinessObjects BI with SAP NetWeaver (3rd Edition), by Info Hilgefort, ISBN 978-1-59229-923-2, ±550 pages, expected release December 2013.
I love the first two editions of this book. They were really helpful in setting up the SAP BusinessObjects BI platform on top of SAP BW. This version will be up to date for BI4.1.
SAP NetWeaver BW: Administration and Performance Optimization, by Jesper Christensen and Joe Darlak, ISBN 978-1-59229-853-2, ±750 pages, expected release June 2014.
BW is not dead (yet), so this one is for the back-end guys to keep BW running smoothly. I expect this book to cover a lot of the contents of the 2010 release SAP NetWeaver BW: Administration and Monitoring, but we’ll see.
So, which one(s) will be under your Christmas tree next month?
Remote: Office Not Required
Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson have come up with another cool book after writing ReWork in 2010: Remote: Office Not Required. You can check my post about ReWork here. Where ReWork took a more broader view on the traditional, conservative way businesses are still being run nowadays, Remote focusses on working remotely.
Actually, this book is from the beginning till the end a plea for more remote work. The authors use a lot of short topics and stories which makes this an easy read. They discuss a lot of arguments in favor of working remote, reply to the myths and excuses not to work remotely and give a bunch of tips on how to do this remote work as a team, organization, manager and employee.
I think they are right. The biggest problem though is that managers still try to ‘manage’ knowledge workers like they run a production crew working on a 1910 factory assembly line. They still want to ‘see’ them work, sitting on that chair in front of a monitor, instead of evaluating them on their pure output. Of course this kind of real meaningful evaluation requires some more advanced (technical) skills for these managers, so they actually have a clue what their team is doing.
Working in an office can be really fun, but also offers too much natural distractions. Low priority questions, a lot of unnecessary meetings that seem to never end, an inferior computer setup, bad coffee and so on. And don’t forget of course all that time wasted in our daily commutes.
At Amazon you can read the first chapters for free. Check it here.
Remote: Office Not Required – Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson – ISBN: 978-0091954673
Getting Started with Design Studio book now available (coupon code in post!)
Getting Started with SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio is available for order right now! If you haven’t picked it up at the SAP Press book stand at SAP TechEd Las Vegas or Amsterdam you can get your copy now at SAP-Press.com. Make sure you use coupon code QR7N5G when finishing your order, which will give you a nice $10 discount. This offer is valid until December 31st, for any book format you choose (hardcover print or ebook).
So what can you expect from this title?
SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio is one of the youngest and most promising new toolsets in the SAP BusinessObjects product portfolio. It is being positioned by SAP as the primary tool for creating interactive analytical applications for the web and mobile devices. This book will help you to learn not only the technical ins and outs of this new tool, but also provide you with the required contextual knowledge to position Design Studio in your existing SAP BI landscape. By the way, don’t worry about the technical stuff. No pre-existing knowledge is required as we will walk you through every aspect of Design Studio in a step-by-step way, using a lot of screenshots.
The book starts with a broad overview of Design Studio. In the first chapters we introduce you to the product, compare it with other SAP (BI) products and discuss several use case scenarios.
Next we follow this by going through every detail of the application. First we walk you step-by-step through the installation procedure. Then we describe the application environment and the general process of building an application. Next we describe every available component and its properties in detail.
Once you have mastered the basics, we go into more depth about how you can enhance an application. We describe how you add interactivity and give you a set of guidelines for creating applications. We then walk you through the creation of two complex applications. The source files and code for these applications are available as a download.
I put the table of contents in the Read More section below this post so you can check the contents and structure in more detail. So have fun reading our book and let us know what you think. Also don’t forget to use the coupon code QR7N5G when ordering!
Getting Started with SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio – Xavier Hacking and Jeroen van der A – SAP Press – ISBN: 978-1-59229-895-2
De Nederlandse BI Podcast – episode 5 Live TechEd edition
We recorded a very special live broadcast of De Nederlandse BI Podcast today, recorded live from the SAP TechEd 2013 in Amsterdam as sessions EXP10052 and EXP10053. In this edition we invited the audience to participate in the discussions. And, as a one time only exception: This podcast is in English! Have fun!
As always you can check it in iTunes, on our website or just use the Podcast player below.
Pictures by @SjoerdM and @RamonHutters
