BusinessObjects XI (Release 2): The Complete Reference Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I recently purchased the "Complete Reference Business Objects XI (R2)" by Cindi Howson.
She has worked closely with Business Objects (foreword by B. Liautaud, founder of Business Objects) and technical editors who are Business Objects employees, which has its advantages (inside knowledge).
On the universe/Designer side the book does cover the SQL parameters of universes such as SQL ANSI92 syntax, aggregate awareness, index awareness, universes built directly against OLAP cubes, fan/chasm traps, loops, contexts and aliases, etc. The problematic involving semi-additive measures is mentionend as well. The OLAP technology with advantages/disadvantages is well explained.
Cindi prefers putting most of the Intelligence in the universe
WebIntelligence with its formulas is covered in depth.
What is missing:
Cindi clearly states in her introduction that her book does not cover Crystal Reports, Performance Management, DataIntegrator, or Live Office.
Further the challenge on how to setup a Business Objects system in detail nor the many options in the CMS (setting up complex security, best practices, etc.) did not find its way into the book. The "rights fidelity" and "merge" options in the import/export wizard are only briefly mentioned. Although cascading prompts are covered, the many shortcomings of cascading prompts in Business Objects are not (cascading prompts in Crystal Reports work better).
What is clearly missing is a cd with the book in electronic format acompanying the printed edition.
This book is the only reference book for XI (covering universe design as well as reports) as far as I am aware.

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This book is a must read for anyone deploying BusinessObjects. It covers everything from planning your upgrade to the latest release, to best practices in universe design, and powerful report creation that maximizes business insight. This book covers the most frequently used features for the full BI suite, in one comprehensive book. There's in depth coverage of Designer, security via the Central Management Console, InfoView, Web Intelligence, and Desktop Intelligence. It goes beyond step-by-step instructions to cover how and why in a business context. Transition notes are interspersed for version 5 and 6 customers to understand the biggest changes in XI Release 2. If you drive BI requirements in your company or are a data warehouse program manager, Business Objects administrator, report author or consumer, this book is for you.

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