It is a challenging task to include ERP reports in DWH and BI solution for planning and reporting purposes. Some reasons to put ERP data to DWH and BIsolutions could be:
– Combination of financial data with non-financial KPIs
– Inadequate reporting performance, transaction systems, including ERP, are not reporting systems (the main tasks of transaction systems are to collect and process data),
– More data analysis
– Other reporting and planning features.
It is reasonable to include ERP in DWH. The reports are much faster, they have more features.
There are two types of situations. ERP can export data to an in-house DWH/BI solution, from the same SAP sample provider (BW), or it can export data to a standalone DWH/BI solution. Both cases have advantages and disadvantages. If the ERP data is exported to an integrated DWH/BI solution, the data flow is better optimized and requires less implementation and maintenance. The second solution is usually better from a general functionality perspective, Sybase, Hyperion, SAS, Cognos, etc., but it introduces a more important step that should be kept.
Simple data extracts generally have quite sufficient reporting performance and it is really doubtful to transfer such reports from ERP to other reporting platforms. In the case of complex ERP extractions when the data includes dimensions such as material tracking by project, items, depreciation, technology, and the like, this is a time-consuming report to generate in ERP. This example is a complicated and lengthy job for ERP experts to prepare for extracting ERP systems. It takes a long time for the experts on the DWH/BI side to restore the desired project. It is a difficult transfer in general and once implemented it needs recursive testing and updates after every ERP change, upgrade, service pack and the like.
The transfer of reports to reporting systems must be prepared, specified and financially weighted in the business case. Is it really necessary to transfer existing reports just because of “poor” performance, or is it better to create new reports that don’t exist? These are core questions… it all depends on company resources and information policy.
To conclude, if data remains in the ERP and is not exported to higher level reporting systems, decision support systems cannot be used for information integration and advanced analysis. If the company decides to transfer data and reports, it will not be an easy job.