SAP BusinessObjects XI3.

1
Integration with SharePoint
(MOSS).
BDI Systems capabilities on
Integrating BOBJ with SharePoint.

By- Vishal Venugopal, Founding Member, Sr Solutions Architect

Ranjit Krishnan, Solutions Architect.

 BDI Systems & Technologies Pvt Ltd  3/29/2010

www.bdisys.com

COPYRIGHT © 2009 BDI Systems & Technologies Pvt. Ltd www.bdisys.com

  SAP BusinessObjects XI3.1 Integration with SharePoint (MOSS).
SAP BusinessObjects
XI3.1 Integration with
SharePoint (MOSS).
BDI Systems capabilities on
Integrating BOBJ with SharePoint.
BDI Systems team has worked closely with SAP India
consulting. One of the critical concerns of some large
customers having Microsoft as their base platform is
of BusinessObjects capability to integrate with
SharePoint. BusinessObjects R&D lab has released
this feature (IOMS) in early 2010.
In this white paper, we shall be talking about the
successful POC(s) on Integrating BusinessObjects
XI3.1 with SharePoint (MOSS).
Case 1: A Leading Chemical and
Fertilizers Company in India.
Environment: Business Objects XI 3.1 on Windows
server 2003 + Microsoft SharePoint 2007 server +
SAP BI + Windows AD + Tomcat 5.5 + IIS 6.0 +
Integration Option for Microsoft SharePoint (IOMS)
+ SAP Integration Kit
Number of users: As this was a POC, this was
tested for around 25 users.
Data sources: SAPBI, SQL Server 2005
Type of content: Xcelsius dashboard & Web
intelligence documents. The reports were delivered
to user’s inbox via scheduled publication (for
personalization) at pre-defined intervals.
 Page 2 COPYRIGHT © 2008-10 BDI Systems & Technologies Pvt. Ltd
Authentication: Windows AD at Business
Objects level and also at SharePoint level. In other
words it will allow a Windows AD user to login to
SharePoint and seamlessly login to Business Objects
Info view without being prompted for another
authentication dialog. The SAP BW data sources
for the universe were addressed by hard coding the
SAP credentials at the universe level. IOMS
provides the following web parts - Content
Explorer Web Part, User Actions Web Part,
Advanced Search Web Part, Dashboard Web Part,
Document Viewer Web Part, Xcelsius Viewer Web
Part, Crystal Report Viewer Web Part, and
Analytical Report Viewer Web Part. We have used
the Content Explorer web part for this POC, which
enables you to browse your list of documents,
navigate to folders and categories, and access the
content directly from your Business Objects
deployment.
Case 2: One of IT Majors
(Implementation done through
SAP India)
Phase I
Environment: Business Objects XI 3.1 on
Windows server 2003 + Netweaver WAS + SAP EP
+ MS Sharepoint 2007 (Some of the departments use
Sharepoint while others are on SAP EP)
Number Of Users – As this was a POC,
was tested for around 100 users.
Data sources: SAPBI, SQL Server 2005,
MS BI.
Type Of Content - : Xcelsius dashboard,
CR reports & Web intelligence documents. Included
content Delivery through scheduled publication (for
personalization) at pre-defined intervals.
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  SAP BusinessObjects XI3.1 Integration with SharePoint (MOSS).
Authentication: SAP Authentication was enabled
at the BOBJ level for SAP users to login and access
Business Objects functionality. The client had a
unique case wherein the Windows AD user
authentication was based on the email attribute
whereas in the SAP BI engine, the respective
Windows AD users were represented using their
Windows AD unique ID. This requirement was
addressed by creating a double ticket at the SAP EP
- SAP BW level (Done by SAP experts) and other
essential configuration settings at the Business
Objects CMC level plus the SAP EP transports.
This allowed a Windows AD user to login using his
Windows AD email id attribute into SAP EP and
seamlessly traverse into a Business Objects context
(iviews/Knowledge Mangement) to view Web
Intelligence documents without being prompted
again for an authentication. The aforesaid use case
was targeted for departments consuming data from
SAP BI via the SAP EP. While the business case for
MS BI users was addressed through Sharepoint
2007. Integration with Windows AD + SSO was not
possible owing to the limitations posed by a
Business Objects deployment on SAP Netweaver .
(Refer to Business Objects Admin guide.
1. Java Info View and CMC only support Kerberos.
2. SAP Web Application Server with AD with
Kerberos is not supported. ).Currently, the user
logs in using enterprise authentication and connects
to the MS BI world. Hence the client is planning to
move to tomcat as the application server. Hard
coded connections were maintained for all universe
connections addressing SAP BW. We are also
trying to identify methods by which Business
Objects can support both the SAP authentication
plugin and the Windows AD plug-in in a single
environment thereby allowing SAP BI users to login
using SAP EP and MS BI users to login using
Windows AD through sharepoint.
COPYRIGHT © 2008-2010 BDI Systems & Technologies Pvt. Ltd
Phase II – BusinessObjects XI3.1
Integration with Microsoft SharePoint
Server
Successfully Integrated Business Objects XI 3.1 with
SharePoint for windows AD users to logon to
SharePoint portal and then subsequently on to
Business Objects InfoView Portal with Single Sign on.
Number of Users: As this was a POC, was tested for
around 100 users
Implementation Environment Details: Distributed
environment used in this deployment
Server A: Machine used 64 bit with Windows 2003
SP2, Business Objects XI 3.1, with Tomcat 5.5 as
Application server, CMS Database – SQL server
2005.
Server B: Machine used is 32 bit with Windows
2003 SP2,IIS 6.0, Microsoft SharePoint Server
(MOSS) 2007, Integration Option for Microsoft
SharePoint (IOMS)
Windows AD: Windows 2003 DC Server
The Following Web Part were added on to MOSS
portal and tested.
Content Explorer Web Part.
User Actions Web Part.
Advanced Search Web Part.
Dashboard Web Part.
Document Viewer Web Part.
Xcelsius Viewer Web Part.
Crystal Report Viewer Web Part.
Analytical Report Viewer Web Part.
End users who is basically windows AD users logs
into their windows system, from where he accesses
the MOSS portal, he navigates to the Business
Objects portal (2nd level of SSO) after clicking on the
‘Log on’ icon, from where he is able to view/refresh
Infoview Documents.
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  SAP BusinessObjects XI3.1 Integration with SharePoint (MOSS).

User has Web Intelligence view options using the

‘Analytical Report Viewer’ Web Part

[We are showing our Logo on Screen shots to

maintain the confidentiality].

Developer (who develops Documents and uploads to

InfoView portal for users to view/refresh) uses
Tomcat Application server to login to InfoView (SSO User Has Web Intelligence Refresh Options using the
implemented at this level also). ‘Analytical Report Viewer’ Web Part

High level Architecture here is the end user/ business

objects logs in via the IIS, MOSS to BO portal, the
developer uses the Tomcat Application layer to login
to Business Objects portal.

The Authentication type used here is

Kerberos, for MOSS, and BO. SSO through
Tomcat Application layer also uses the
Kerberos Authentication.

User can Navigate the Folder/Reports using the ‘Content

Explorer’ Web Part
User has Crystal Report view/refresh options using the
‘Crystal Report Viewer’ Web Part

 Page 4 COPYRIGHT © 2008-10 BDI Systems & Technologies Pvt. Ltd www.bdisys.com
  SAP BusinessObjects XI3.1 Integration with SharePoint (MOSS).
User has Xcelsius Dashboard view/refresh options using
the ‘Xcelsius Viewer’ Web Part
User has Document Scheduling Option using the ‘User
Action Web Part’
User has Dashboard viewing capabilities using the
‘Dashboard’ Web Part
COPYRIGHT © 2008-2010 BDI Systems & Technologies Pvt. Ltd
Note: Currently IOMS is supported only for a 32 bit
version of MOSS. The support for 64 bit is assured by
SAP in a future release (time line is not clear).
ABOUT BDI Systems (www.bdisys.com)
BDI Systems is a young organization, promoted by
ex-SAP BusinessObjects senior R&D Professionals.
We are best-in-class for implementation of
BusinessObjects Tools, integrating them with SAP
and creating advanced dash-boards using Xcelisus.
We have developed more than 10 Xcelisus
Components. We offer professional services and
consultancy on entire BusinessObjects suite of
products; we have done more than 20 successful
implementations in last 2 years. As a solution
provider we have created a tool to monitor Platform
services, CR, WEBI services of Business Objects
implementations, we have also created a tool for
SMEs which integrates CR and Xcelsius.
For more details contact us at query@bdisys.com.
For More details logon to our website.
www.bdisys.com
‘A Business Data Intelligence Company’
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