SAP BW Technology Explained

For anyone about to dip a cautious toe into the ocean known as SAP BW for the first time, this book is an extremely handy guide. It is very difficult to extract a meaningful overview of BW from the SAP documentation, which is oriented to very specific tasks, and which discusses everything in language that manages to be abstract and jargon-filled at the same time. An immediately useful aspect of the book is an appendix that provides a guide to the many SAP acronyms. Terminology unique to SAP BW is extensive and often bewildering to the newcomer, especially since there is a tendency for SAP to apply terms to specific concepts in a very idiosyncratic way. This book is very helpful to the reader already familiar with DW/BI concepts who is trying to comprehend the SAP way of doing things. The architectural overview is also excellent, especially since it provides insights into which components are required and which are optional, often in the context of the historical evolution of the SAP BW product family. I am very glad to have found this book, which has considerably clarified my understanding of this technology.

Other Reviews

• SAP BW Technology Explained
• A gem of a book - but very serious typo errors
• Lots of concepts and theory. Very little hands-on guidance.