SAP BusinessObjects is one of the most capable business intelligence suites available to UK mid-market and SME organisations today. This guide covers how it works, what its key tools do, and how your team can move from raw data to polished, published reports — without needing a room full of developers to make it happen.
What Is SAP BusinessObjects?
SAP BusinessObjects is an enterprise BI platform that bundles multiple reporting and analytics tools into a single, scalable solution. It handles everything from ad-hoc operational reports to pixel-perfect printed documents and interactive dashboards — all within one governed, security-controlled environment.
For growing UK businesses, it comes in editions that fit different scales and budgets:
- Edge — a compact, powerful option for smaller enterprises that need enterprise-grade BI without the enterprise-grade complexity
- Enterprise — designed for larger organisations requiring clustered, always-on performance across multiple locations
- Private Cloud Edition — a fully hosted option where SAP manages the infrastructure, freeing your internal teams from maintenance overhead
Each edition connects to a wide range of data sources, including Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, Azure products, Postgres, and SAP’s own ecosystem — SAP HANA, SAP BW, and SAP Analytics Cloud among them.
Step 1: Build Your Universes
In SAP BusinessObjects, a universe is a semantic data model that sits between your raw data source and your end users. It translates technical database structures into plain business language — think “Monthly Revenue by Region” rather than a joined SQL query across five tables.
This is what sets SAP BusinessObjects apart from many competing BI tools. Instead of creating a bottleneck where every report request goes back to IT or a data analyst, a well-built universe lets business users build their own queries by dragging and dropping familiar terms. No SQL knowledge required.
Building the universe itself is a technical task, handled using the Information Design Tool, but it is far less complex than it might sound. Once it is in place, every other tool in the suite can draw from it — meaning the investment in building it pays dividends across the entire platform.
You can create multiple universes against multiple data sources, and mix on-premise and cloud-based data as your needs evolve.
Step 2: Build Your Reports
With your universes in place, report creation opens up to a much wider group of users. SAP BusinessObjects includes several tools to suit different reporting styles and output requirements:
For most mid-market businesses, Web Intelligence is the workhorse. It runs in-browser with no local software needed, making deployment straightforward. Users select their universe, drag in the fields they need, apply filters, and run the query — the whole process is intuitive enough that non-technical staff can manage it independently after basic training.
From there, the report design panel supports calculated fields, visual charts, in-report interactivity controls, and multi-page layouts with different data slices per tab.
Step 3: Publish, Share, and Schedule
Getting reports in front of the right people — at the right time — is where SAP BusinessObjects genuinely earns its place. Once a report is saved, it sits within a role-based security model so only authorised users can view or interact with it.
Beyond manual access through the browser-based BI Launchpad, the platform supports:
- Scheduled refreshes that push updated reports automatically to email, a file location, FTP, or Google Drive
- Publications that burst a single report to dozens or hundreds of recipients, with each person receiving only the data relevant to them
- API and OpenDocument integration that lets you embed or link BusinessObjects content within other internal tools and portals
For a lean BI team supporting a wide user base, the scheduling and publication features alone can save significant hours each week.
FAQ
What size of business is SAP BusinessObjects suited to?
SAP BusinessObjects scales from smaller enterprises using the Edge edition right through to large, multi-site organisations on the Enterprise edition. For UK SMEs and mid-market businesses, the Edge edition offers a strong balance of capability and cost.
Do end users need technical skills to build reports?
Not once the universes are in place. Business users can create their own queries and reports using drag-and-drop functionality in Web Intelligence, without writing any code or SQL.
Can SAP BusinessObjects connect to non-SAP data sources?
Yes. It connects to a broad range of databases and platforms including Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, Azure, Postgres, and DB2, as well as SAP’s own products like HANA and BW.
How are reports kept secure?
The platform uses a role-based security model, so access to reports, folders, and data can be tightly controlled at both the user and group level.
Can reports be delivered automatically without users logging in?
Yes. The scheduling engine can send refreshed reports to email inboxes, shared drives, FTP locations, or Google Drive on a recurring basis — no manual intervention needed.
Thinking About Investing in SAP BusinessObjects?
If your business is outgrowing spreadsheets and disconnected reporting tools, SAP BusinessObjects offers a structured, scalable path forward. The combination of governed data models, self-service reporting, and automated distribution makes it a strong fit for UK mid-market organisations that need to do more with their data — without expanding their BI team to match.
Codestone are SAP partners with deep, hands-on experience helping businesses evaluate, implement, and get the best from SAP BusinessObjects.
Get in touch with the team to discuss your requirements and find out which edition and approach is right for your organisation.
