For my first blog post I thought I’d relate my recent experience at the hands-on XWIS test drive provider by Antivia, and how it reminded me of a workshop session I attended many years ago with a different BI vendor.

 

First off, installing the XWIS add-on file is a breeze.  It’s exactly the same as installing any other third party add-on tool. Easy!  So what’s next?  What do I need to do to get my data in the dashboard and be able to play around with it?  Using one of the many XWIS components that are now available from the add-on?  Again the process is easy.

 

All you need is the XWIS Connector component which allows you to access any SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise platform (BOXI), or you can directly access MSSQL server databases.  Once connected to your BOXI environment selecting the WebIntelligence document containing your data is as easy as navigating to the documents in InfoView.

 

Want to see the data which having to Preview the dashboard?  No problem, both the XWIS Crosstab and XWIS Table (and probably other XWIS components) have the ability to preview the data contained in the selected WebIntelligence document (if saved with data) or the document’s instance right on the canvas, no refresh or preview needed.  Brilliant!  How much development time does that alone save?

 

Add that feature to the superb AutoWire functionality to plug the data automatically into any charts placed onto the canvas, and you have a fully functioning, multiple drilldown, and fully interactive dashboard i

For my first blog post I thought I’d relate my recent experience at the hands-on XWIS test drive provider by Antivia, and how it reminded me of a workshop session I attended many years ago with a different BI vendor.

First off, installing the XWIS add-on file is a breeze.  It’s exactly the same as installing any other third party add-on tool. Easy!  So what’s next?  What do I need to do to get my data in the dashboard and be able to play around with it?  Using one of the many XWIS components that are now available from the add-on?  Again the process is easy.

All you need is the XWIS Connector component which allows you to access any SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise platform (BOXI), or you can directly access MSSQL server databases.  Once connected to your BOXI environment selecting the WebIntelligence document containing your data is as easy as navigating to the documents in InfoView.

Want to see the data which having to Preview the dashboard?  No problem, both the XWIS Crosstab and XWIS Table (and probably other XWIS components) have the ability to preview the data contained in the selected WebIntelligence document (if saved with data) or the document’s instance right on the canvas, no refresh or preview needed.  Brilliant!  How much development time does that alone save?

Add that feature to the superb AutoWire functionality to plug the data automatically into any charts placed onto the canvas, and you have a fully functioning, multiple drilldown, and fully interactive dashboard in no time, and with no excel formulae.

So how did this remind me of the previous workshop?  Well one of the buzzwords for them back them was watching the client get an Uncontrollable Smile Moment, in which the client all of a sudden realises that their data is available, and ready to use quickly, leading to a happy smiling customer.

With Antivia’s XWIS, you get the Uncontrollable Smile Moment fast, sometimes in less than 1 minute J

n no time, and with no excel formulae.

 

So how did this remind me of the previous workshop?  Well one of the buzzwords for them back them was watching the client get an Uncontrollable Smile Moment, in which the client all of a sudden realises that their data is available, and ready to use quickly, leading to a happy smiling customer.

 

With Antivia’s XWIS, you get the Uncontrollable Smile Moment fast, sometimes in less than 1 minute J