BusinessObjects and QlikView are complementary tools for administrative data analysis at Penn. In general, BusinessObjects is the preferred tool for creating and editing queries for all authorized users of the Warehouse data collections; QlikView is better for analyses where visualization and drill-down are desired/appropriate.
BusinessObjects Upgrade - Spring 2024
This spring, Penn is upgrading to the next release of BusinessObjects: Business Intelligence 4.3. The upgrade is planned for the weekend of April 6, 2024. Over the course of that weekend, the current BI4.2 version will be unavailable while we upgrade to BI4.3. Folders, reports and other content as well as the web address to access BusinessObjects will not change after this upgrade, however the user interface is significantly different.
- New web pages that provide information on the differences between 4.2 and 4.3 versions of BusinessObjects:
- Training opportunities:
- BusinessObjects 4.3 Differences Training session - Teams Live event on March 26, 2024 (the session will be recorded as well)
- BusinessObjects 4.3 Web Intelligence for new users - coming Spring 2024
- Virtual Office Hours and 1on1s with ISC Enterprise Information & Analytics staff
- BI Launch Pad login
- Tips and FAQs - browse or search for answers to common questions
SAP/BusinessObjects is a strategic web-based tool for ad hoc analysis. It provides extensive query construction and report formatting capabilities, all in a web environment and without the need for desktop client software.
BI Launch Pad is the portal to all BusinessObjects reports, including:
- the individual's personal collection of queries and reports, stored in their Favorites area on the server
- the Public Folders which contain all reports shared by groups of people
QlikView facilitates the visualization of data analysis. It is user friendly and provides fast in-memory analysis capabilities by dynamically integrating and presenting data from multiple data sources.
- QlikView AccessPoint login
- Tips & How To
- External Resources (Qlik.com website)
The QlikView tool complements BusinessObjects with the following advantages:
- Guided data analysis with easy interactivity for end users
- Dashboard capabilities for easy visual understanding of data analysis such as trending
- Incorporate data sources in addition to the Data Warehouse such as spreadsheets or other databases
For an introduction to QlikView, see the Tips & How To page.
Contact Enterprise Information & Analytics for licensing information and help getting started using Qlik at Penn.
Warehouse users may also employ other tools, such as SQL Developer, TOAD, Microsoft Power BI, Microsoft Access or Excel with Microsoft Query, or other ODBC/JDBC-compliant software, once they have received access to a data collection. Users of these and other tools are strongly advised to consult Enterprise Information & Analytics before exploring these options for advice on connecting to the Warehouse, joining tables, and efficient querying.