Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Many BusinessObjectsÔ users are not aware that the WebIntelligence reporting tool in reality is 2 products. Most of us are looking for the full version of WebIntelligence Reporting that closely resembles Desktop Intelligence Reporting. However, there is also a 2nd product referred to as Interactive Mode. This allows users to edit existing reports only. Users do not have the ability to revise the original query that “feeds” the report, nor change any of the query filter conditions. For a very light user, this will work fine. But most users of WebIntelligence are moving over from the Desktop Intelligence Reporting, and are expecting to have the full range of functionality in the product. Users must be extremely careful when entering WebIntelligence to select the MODIFY option in order to open up a report utilizing the full WebIntelligence Reporting product. Merely clicking on the report name will open it up in Interactive Mode by default, leading to a lot of confusion for the user.
Users should also be very careful in their WebIntelligence XI R2 Report Training as well. Current training from the vendor has a 2 day Basic Reporting class that mixes together the Interactive Mode and the full WebIntelligence Reporting. Some users are more confused after coming out of the training than when they went in! Interactive Mode can be taught in one day by itself. The full WebIntelligence Reporting tool should be taught in 2 1-day class formats. And do NOT mix in any training from Interactive Mode.
Additionally, any training that a user takes should also include some comparisons of the WebIntelligence vs. Desktop Intelligence Reporting to be truly effective.
Written by: Michael Ward, Business Objects Curricula Practice Owner, TEKsystems Partner via Creative Technology Training Solutions
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