Top SAP BW / BI Interview Questions and Answers -(2024)

1 .

SAP BW/BI stands for Business Information Warehouse, also known as Business Intelligence. SAP Business Warehouse (BW) is a model-driven data warehousing product based on the SAP NetWeaver ABAP platform. It collects, transforms and stores data generated in SAP and non-SAP applications and make it accessible through built-in reporting, business intelligence and analytics tools, as well as third-party software.

SAP BW is also a development platform that programmers use to create and modify data warehouses, perform data management tasks, generate reports and develop analytics applications. Business users typically access SAP BW through an application built by a developer, such as an executive Dashboard or mobile app.

Unlike most data warehousing products that are based directly on a database platform, SAP BW allows for defining data warehouse objects like data sources, data stores and queries, which it then instantiates and manages in different ways depending on the platform it runs on, as well as other constraints.

BI applications include the activities of decision support, query and reporting, online analytical processing (OLAP), statistical analysis, forecasting, and data mining.

2 .

How SAP Business Warehouse works?

Until recently, Business Warehouse(BW) was relatively unique among data warehousing platforms in that it is, by default, fully model-driven. This means that a BW developer uses BW's interface to specify the data flow and storage of a data warehousing scenario, and then BW handles instantiating the model on the database and running the processes to ingest, transform and store data. This model has become more common in the cloud era.

For BW specifically, being model-driven meant developers would log in to the SAP GUI and use transaction codes like RSA1 to build their data warehousing scenarios, rather than using SQL and stored procedures in a database management system. More recently, BW development activities have moved to open source Eclipse and web-based tooling based on the SAP Fiori design language. The models defined in these tools are deployed on a development system, tested and migrated to quality assurance and production systems.

Up until BW on HANA, BW always ran on the SAP NetWeaver ABAP platform but was database-agnostic, supporting all databases that NetWeaver supported, including Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server and IBM DB2. Beginning with BW on HANA and continuing through BW/4HANA, BW still runs on the NetWeaver ABAP platform but requires the use of the HANA database. Many customers still use BW 7.5, the last database-agnostic release, on non-HANA databases.

3 .

Explain Integration in SAP BW / BI.

Integration with In-Memory Technologies : By using in-memory technologies, you can enhance the performance of SAP BW. In particular, they make it possible to efficiently process demanding scenarios with unpredictable query types, high data volumes, high query frequency and complicated calculations.

If you use a database to persist data, you can make it possible to access the data for a BW object faster by storing this data as an index in SAP Business Warehouse Accelerator. More information: Creating and Managing BWA Indexes in the BW System.

Besides the performance benefits, the SAP HANA database for data persistence offers further benefits when executing analysis and planning scenarios. In particular, you do not need a SAP BW Accelerator to improve performance. More information: Using the SAP HANA Database.

Integration with BI Content Add-On : With BI Content, SAP delivers preconfigured role and task-based information models and reporting and analysis scenarios for SAP BW that are based on consistent metadata. BI Content provides selected roles in a company with the information that they need to perform their tasks. The information models delivered cover all business areas and integrate content from almost all SAP applications, as well as selected external applications. For more information, see the SAP Help Portal: http://help.sap.com/bicontent.

Integration with SAP Business Explorer : SAP Business Explorer (SAP BEx) - the SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence Suite - provides flexible reporting and analysis tools for strategic analyses, operational reporting, and decision-making support within a business. More information: SAP Business Explorer.

Integration with SAP BusinessObjects Business-Intelligence-Solutions :

* You can evaluate SAP BW data by using the SAP BusinessObjects products. More information: Integration with SAP BusinessObjects.

* SAP BusinessObjects tools allow you to make efficient and effective use of interfaces in the analytic engine. More information: Integration with SAP BusinessObjects.

Integration with SAP Enterprise Information Management : In the Data Warehouse, integration with SAP Data Services and SAP Information Steward provides extra possibilities for using SAP BW. More information: Integration with SAP Enterprise Information Management.

Source : SAP

4 .

What is BI content in SAP BW?

BI Content is a preconfigured set of role and task-related information models that are based on consistent metadata in SAPBusiness Intelligence. BI Content provides selected roles within a company with the information that the roles need to perform their tasks.

This information model includes integral roles, workbooks, queries, InfoSources, InfoCubes, DataStore objects, key figures, characteristics, update rules, and extractors for SAP applications.

BI Content can :

* be used in specific industries without the need to modify it

* be adapted so that you can work with it to any degree of detail

* serve as a template or as an example for customer-defined BI Content.

SAP Business Intelligence also includes Demo Content, providing example data that can be used as display material.

5 .

Explain BI content Implementation Considerations and Features.

Implementation Considerations : BI Content for SAP Business Intelligence offers quick and cost-effective implementation. It also provides a model that is based on experience gained from other implementations that can be used as a guideline during implementation.

Features : SAP Business Intelligence delivers preconfigured objects under the collective term “BI Content”. These objects speed up the implementation of SAP Business Intelligence because they deliver complete solutions for business information needs.

BI Content includes :

* Extractor programs for SAP systems

* DataSources

* Process chains

* InfoObjects

* InfoSources

* InfoProviders (InfoCubes and DataStore objects)

* Variables

* Data mining models

* Queries

* Workbooks

* Web templates

* Roles

* Aggregation level

* Planning function

* Planning function type

6 .

What is Business Explorer (BEx) in SAP BW/BI?

The Business Explorer (BEx) is a reporting and analysis tool that supports query, analysis and reporting functions in BI. Using BEx, you can analyze historical and current data to different degree of analysis.

SAP BW is known as an open, standard tool which allows you to extract the data from different systems and then send it to the BI system. It also evaluates the data with different reporting tools and you can distribute this to other systems.

The following diagram shows an open, broad and standard based Architecture of Business Intelligence.

Business Explorer

7 .

What is data flow in SAP BW/BI?

A data flow depicts a specific scenario in SAP BWâˆ•4HANA. It describes a set of SAP BWâˆ•4HANA objects, including their relationships and interdependencies. The BW Modeling Tools contain various editors with graphical user interfaces that enable you to create, edit, document and analyze data flows and their objects.

Explanations of Terms : The following table contains a definition of important terms that you will encounter when working with data flows:

Term	Definition
Data flow	The data flow in SAP BWâˆ•4HANA defines which objects are needed at design time and which objects are needed at runtime to transfer data from a source to SAP BWâˆ•4HANA and cleanse, consolidate and integrate the data so that it can be used for analysis, reporting and possibly also for planning. A data flow depicts a specific scenario including all involved objects and their relationships.
Data flow object	A data flow object is a TLOGO object in SAP BWâˆ•4HANA, which describes a data flow. Data flow objects are created and edited in a graphical editor. They help you to visualize the SAP BWâˆ•4HANA objects (and their relationships) contained in a data flow. They have no relevance for the SAP BWâˆ•4HANA runtime.
Transient data flow	Using an editor you can flexibly show and analyze the data flow for any persistent, active SAP BWâˆ•4HANA object. This representation of a data flow that starts from an object is referred to as a transient data flow. The editor for a transient data flow is referred to as a transient editor. A transient data flow can be saved as a data flow object.
Persistent SAP BWâˆ•4HANA object	A persistent SAP BWâˆ•4HANA object is an object which has already already been saved in the metadata tables in the database and is independent of the data flow object. A persistent object can be contained in multiple data flows and can therefore be used again in different data flows.
Non-persistent SAP BWâˆ•4HANA object	A non-persistent SAP BWâˆ•4HANA object is a draft version of a SAP BWâˆ•4HANA object. It is an object that only attributes such as object type and name have been specified for so far. It is has not been saved on the database. A non-persistent object can only be displayed and used in the data flow in which it was created. If you create a non-persistent object in the transient editor, it will be discarded if you quit the editor without saving the data flow as a data flow object.

8 .

In SAP BW/BI what are the main areas and activities?

* Data Warehouse : Integrating, collecting and managing entire company’s data.

* Analyzing and Planning : Using the data stored in data warehouse

* Reporting : BI provides the tools for reporting in web-browser, Excel etc.

* Broad cast publishing : To send the information to the employees using email, fax etc.

* Performance : Performance of the company

* Security : Securing the access like using SAP logon tickets from portal

9 .

What is table partition in SAP BW / BI?

Table partition is done to manage the huge data to improve the efficiency of the applications. The partition is based on 0CALMONTH and 0FISCPER. There are two type of partitioning that is done

* Database partitioning

* Logical partitioning

10 .

What is ODS (Operational Data Store) SAP BW/BI?

‘Operational Data Store’ or ‘ODS’ is used for detailed storage of data. It is a BW architectural component that appears between PSA ( Persistent Staging Area) and infocubes, it allows BEX (Business Explorer) reporting. It is primarily used for detail reporting rather than dimensional analysis, and it is not based on the star schema. ODS (Operational Data Store) objects do not aggregate data as infocubes do. To load the data into an IDS object, new records are inserted, existing records are updated, or old records are deleted as specified by RECORDMODE value.

11 .

How can you put separate Star and the Conversion Routine?

S.No	Star Routine	Conversion Routine
1	Data packages can be modified anytime	They cannot be modified
2	Support only internal format	Support both internal and external format in the majority of applications
3	Routines are bounded	Routines don’t have restriction on them in any of the assigned tasks

12 .

What are extractors? Name a few which are used commonly in the SAP BW?

Many times there is a need to extract the data from the system programmer. This task generally needs a lot of time and effort too. With the help of an extractor, it can be accomplished very easily and in a proper time frame. The users are free to consider them in the SAP Business Warehouse easily. A few which are used commonly are as under :

* Customer Generated Extractors

* Application-Specific Attractors

* Cross Application Extractors

13 .

What is Geographical Information in the SAP BW and for what purpose it is used commonly?

Geographical Information generally consists of information related to a customer, origin, region of the sales, transaction history, and a lot more. It can be accessed through a geographical system, named as BEx.

14 .

Tell something you know about the dimension in the Warehouse and how it can be optimized?

Generally, the Data Warehouse has a group of reference information about any activity. The same is considered as a dimension in the warehouse. For optimization, the users have to make sure that there are no dynamic characters remains present in the dimension and there should also be a strict upper limit on the size of the same.

15 .

What is an 'Infocube'?

‘Infocube’ is structured as the star schema and it is a data storage area. To create an infocube, you require 1 ‘fact table’ surrounded by 4 dimensions. The ‘fact table’ is surrounded by different dim table, which are linked with DIM’ ids. And as per the data, you will have aggregated data in the cubes.

16 .

How many tables does info cube contain?

Info cubes contain two tables, Fact table and Dimensions table.

17 .

Mention what are the maximum number of dimensions in info cubes?

In info cubes, there are 16 dimensions ( 3 sap defined and 1 customer defined)

18 .

What is the difference between ODS and Info-cubes?

The difference between ODS and Info-cubes are

* ODS has a key while Info-cubes does not have any key

* ODS contains detailed level data while Info-cube contains refined data

* Info-cube follows Star Schema (16 dimensions) while ODS is a flat file structure

* There can be two or more ODS under a cube, so cube can contain combined data or data that is derived from other fields in the ODS

19 .

What all data sources you have used to acquire data in SAP BW system?

* SAP systems (SAP Applications/SAP ECC)

* Relational Database (Oracle, SQL Server, etc.)

* Flat File (Excel, Notepad)

* Multidimensional Source systems (Universe using UDI connector)

* Web Services that transfer data to BI by means of push

20 .

When you are using SAP BI7.x, you can load the data to which component?

In BW 3.5, you can load data in Persistence Staging Area and also in targets from source system but If you are using SAP BI 7.0 data load should be restricted to PSA only for latest versions.

21 .

What is an InfoObject and why it is used in SAP BI?

Info Objects are known as smallest unit in SAP BI and are used in Info Providers, DSO’s, Multi providers, etc. Each Info Provider contains multiple Info Objects.

InfoObjects are used in reports to analyze the data stored and to provide information to decision makers.

22 .

What are the different categories of InfoObjects in BW system?

Info Objects can be categorized into below categories :

* Characteristics like Customer, Product, etc.

* Units like Quantity sold, currency, etc.

* Key Figures like Total Revenue, Profit, etc.

* Time characteristics like Year, quarter, etc.

23 .

What is modelling in SAP BW / BI?

Designing of data base is done by using modelling. The design of DB (Data Base) depends on the schema, and schema is defined as the representation of tables and their relationship.

24 .

What is extended star schema in SAP BW / BI?

Star Schema comprises of Fact tables and Dimension Tables, while the table that consists the Master data are kept in separate tables. These separate tables for Master data are referred as Extended Star Schema.

25 .

What are the transaction codes or T-codes for Info-objects?

The T-codes for Info-Cubes are

LISTCUBE : List viewer for InfoCubes

LISTSCHEMA : Show InfoCube schema

RSDCUBE, RSDCUBED, RSDCUBEM : Start InfoCube editing

26 .

What is multi-provider in SAP BI ? What are the features of Multiproviders?

Multi-provider is a type of info-provider that contains data from a number of info-providers and makes it available for reporting purposes.

* Multi-provider does not contain any data.

* The data comes entirely from the info providers on which it is based.

* The info-providers are connected to one another by union operations.

* Info-providers and Multi-providers are the objects or views relevant for reporting.

* A multi-provider allows you to run reports using several info-providers that are, it is used for creating reports for one or more than one info-provider at a time.

27 .

Can you name a few important tasks which are essential in the data warehousing and management of the same?

* Collection integration, as well as management of the data and the concerned tasks

* Making effective plans and analyzing the situations with the help of data stored

* The next important task is reporting. There are many tools in the SAP BW application that are useful in this matter and enable users to keep up the pace even when the data is present on the browser or in excel.

* The next important module is to assure broadcast publishing

* Making sure of security is the next big thing as privacy always matters for any businesses when it comes to dealing with the data whether structured or unstructured

28 .

Name two types of Multi providers and compare them to each other?

These are Homogenous and Heterogeneous. In homogenous, there are info-providers that are similar to one another in terms of all their technical specifications and other technical details. They can also have similar key figures and characteristics.

On the other side, Heterogeneous are the ones which are ones which have only a limited number of identical characters as well as the key figures. It can be used for the modeling while the homogenous cannot be considered for this task. All the scenarios can easily be divided into sub-categories and have their own dedicated info provider.

29 .

Explain what is the T.code for Data Archival and what is the advantage?

SARA is the T.code,and its advantage is minimizes space, query performance and load performance.

30 .

What is BEx Map in SAP BI?

BEx Map is BW’s Geographical Information System (GIS). BEx Map is one of the characteristics for SAP BI, and it gives the geographical information like customer, customer sales region and country.

31 .

What are the steps within SAP BI to create classes for BW?

To create classes or nodes for BW you have to follow the following steps,

* Click on post-processing of data sources

* Execute/Click on IMG activity

* Select BW or any desired node

* Click on context menu

* Press F6 or select “Create node”

After following these steps, a new dialog box will appear, where you can insert your node or class for BW.

32 .

Can you tell me something about the Data Ware-house Hierarchy?

It is basically an approach that is considered when it comes to defining the data aggregation. Basically, it’s a logical structure and the best thing is the users are free to consider it for the purpose of data organization. A common example of this approach is the time dimension hierarchy.

33 .

Difference between v1, v2, v3 jobs in extraction?

V1 Update : whenever we create a transaction in R/3(e.g.Sales Order) then the entries get into the R/3 Tables (VBAK, VBAP..) and this takes place in V1 Update.

V2 Update : V2 Update starts a few seconds after V1 Update and in this update the values get into Statistical Tables, from where we do the extraction into BW.

V3 Update : It's purely for BW extraction.

34 .

How can you decide the query performance is slow or fast?

You can check that in the RSRT code. execute the query in RSRT and after that follow the below steps. Go to SE16 and in the resulting screen give table name as RSDDSTAT for BW 3.x and RSDDSTAT_DM for BI 7.0 and press enter you can view all the details about the query like the time taken to execute the query and the timestamps.

35 .

What is Dashboard in SAP BW and how it is created?

It is basically a collection of views, groups, as well as reports. It can also be considered as the graphical reporting interface. It is possible to create the same with the help of a Web Application Designer. The entire content can be displayed on a screen quickly.

36 .

Which tool used for analyzing the performance of BI OLAP/WHM?

LO Cockpit is used for analyzing BI OLAP/WHM and its performance

37 .

How will you debug errors with SAP GUI?

To debug errors in SAP GUI you have to follow the path

* Run Bexanalyzer

* Business Explorer menu item

* Installation check

This will show an Excel sheet with start button, on clicking on it, it will verify the GUI installation and if there is any error you can fix it or either re-install it.

38 .

What is the use DSO in BW system? What kind of data is stored in DSO's

A DSO is known as storage place to keep cleansed and consolidated transaction or master data at lowest granularity level and this data can be analyzed using BEx query.

A DataStore object contains key figures and charactertics fields and data from DSO can be updated using Delta update or other DataStore objects or master data. DataStore objects are commonly stored in two dimensional transparent database tables.

39 .

What are the different components in DSO architecture?

DSO component consists of three tables :

Activation Queue : This is used to store the data before it is activated. The key contains request id, package id and record number. Once activation is done, request is deleted from the activation queue.

Active Data Table : This table is used to store current active data and this table contains the semantic key defined for data modeling.

Change Log : When you activate the object, changes to active data re stored in change log. Change log is a PSA table and is maintained in Administration Workbench under PSA tree.

40 .

Explain the structure of direct update DSO's?

one table for active data and no change log area exists. Data is retrieved from external systems using API’s.

Below API’s exists :

RSDRI_ODSO_INSERT : These are used to insert new data.

RSDRI_ODSO_INSERT_RFC : Similar to RSDRI_ODSO_INSERT and can be called up remotely.

RSDRI_ODSO_MODIFY : This is used to insert data having new keys.For data with keys already in the system, the data is changed.

RSDRI_ODSO_MODIFY_RFC : Similar to RSDRI_ODSO_MODIFY and can be called up remotely.

RSDRI_ODSO_UPDATE : This API is used to update existing data.

RSDRI_ODSO_UPDATE_RFC : This is similar to RSDRI_ODSO_UPDATE and can be called up remotely.

RSDRI_ODSO_DELETE_RFC : This API is used to delete the data.

41 .

What is the use of DB connection in SAP BW Data acquisition?

DB connect is used to define other database connection in addition to default connection and these connections are used to transfer data into BI/BW system from tables or views

To connect an external database the prerequisites are :

* Tools

* Source application knowledge

* SQL Syntax in DATAbase

* Database functions

42 .

What are the BEx options for characteristics like F4 help for query definition and execution?

This defines how the data is displayed in the query definition screen or when the query is executed.Options are from the data displayed from masterdata,from master data table from dimension data let us assume you have 100 products in total in your material master,10 products available on cube and in BEx you display a query for 2 products the following options will display different data .

* Selective data will only display 2 products

* Dimension data will display 10 products

* From master data will display 100 products

43 .

What is UD connect in SAP BW system? How does it allow reporting in BI system?

Universal Data(UD) connect allows you to access Relational and multidimensional data sources and transfer the data in form of flat data. Multidimensional data is converted to flat format when Universal Data Connect is used for data transfer.

UD uses J2EE connector to allow reporting on SAP and non-SAP data. Different BI Java connectors are available for various drivers, protocols as resource adapters :

* BI ODBO Connector

* BI JDBC Connector

* BI SAP Query Connector

* XMLA Connector

44 .

What is the use of Rollup?

This is used to load new Data Package into the InfoCube aggregates. If we have not performed a rollup then the new InfoCube data will not be available while reporting on the aggregate.

45 .

Explain the different between Operation Data store, InfoCube and MultiProvider?

ODS : They provide granular data, allows overwrite and data is in transparent tables, ideal for drilldown and RRI.

InfoCube : This is used for star schema, we can only append data, ideal for primary reporting.

MultiProvider : It contains a physical data and allow to access data from different InfoProviders.