BI360 Release Notes 4.5

BI360 4.5 Release Notes

These release notes details the features and enhancements found in BI360 version 4.5. These release notes are broken down by module to include detailed information on the Reporting Suite, Planning and Data Warehouse. Additionally, at the end of each section is a list of all bug fixes and enhancements.

• Reporting
• Planning
• Data Warehouse

Reporting 4.5 Features and Enhancements

Note: SQL 2017/2019 have been confirmed compatible but not officially supported.

1. Web Budgeting.
   • Ability for direct write-back to the budgeting tables in the Data Warehouse or supported ERP systems.
2. Global Values.
   • A system-wide value that can be shared amongst all reports.
3. Support for External Third Party Document Systems.
4. New Rendering Service for Portal.
   • Built in Excel rendering engine. It is no longer required to have Excel on the web server.
   • Performance improvement while running reports in the Portal.

BI360 Web-Based Budgeting

BI360 Reporting 4.5 introduces Web-based Budgeting and direct write-back to the budgeting tables in the ERP system. This features offers the following:

1. Web-based data entry.
2. Design a budget template exactly the same way you would define a Report template.
3. Automatic storage rules are applied but may be customized.
4. Storage of calculated values.
5. Comparative data analysis with historical data.
6. Spreading Tool.
7. Line Item details.
8. Write back directly to supported ERP systems.
9. View the data though a web based Data Manager.

Note: This functionality will not appear in the Layout Designer until the Web Budgeting license has been installed.

A web budgeting form is created in Report Designer, like any other Report definition. Users will see a new tab in the Layout Editor, “Budgeting”, that will allow the user to convert the report definition into a budgeting template.

The picture below illustrates the definition of storage of the value in a specific cell in the budget form:

The process of defining a data input cell

The data input cell will automatically get a set of default fields that will define the value in the database. The fields are inherited from the context of the cell.

In this example the dimensions Budget version, Department, Account and Period define the context of this particular cell. The stored value will get the runtime-expanded values of these dimensions when the users work with the web version of the form (see picture below).

The Budgeting store-back allows storage of both user-input cells and calculated cells. This is a strong feature as forms may be designed to allow for a user to input a value or for a value to be based on a calculation.

The Layout Editor also allows the administrator to define a historical selection of data, so that the user can reference the historical data to input new budget values.

An uploaded budgeting form will look similar to how it has appeared in the Report Designer view.

The user has the following options for entering data:

• Manually entering the data directly into the form
• Use the spreading tool to help create the values
• Use the Line Item Detail specification to enter data on the lowest level

The picture below shows the Spreading tool and the different options the user has. In this example the historical data which may be used for comparative analysis has not been defined.

The following picture shows the Line Item Detail specification dialog. In this example the user has specified details for the account “8310 Software”. It also illustrates that it is possible to enter comments for each period.

Data Manager

The BI360 Data Manager is a new feature in the BI360 Portal 4.5 that offers the user the ability view and edit data from the Web Portal. Access to this page is controlled by permissions granted in the Administration Tool.

Global Values

User can now define system-wide, shared values that can be refer to and used in multiple reports or budgeting forms. These values can be useful when an administrator would like to define an increase percentage that all users should reference.

Support for External Third-Party Document Systems

Reporting 4.5 introduces functionality to support third-party Document Systems. Some systems are already supported; these include Visma Document Center and Basware. Please contact your partner or distributor for more information about the options and possibility of integrating your Document management system. This feature makes it possible to drill-to a scanned voucher or other kind of document that is associated with a transaction posting.

New Rendering Service – Performance Enhancement in BI360 Portal

Version 4.5 introduces a new Rendering Service for the Portal. In version 4.0 the Portal rendered reports using an Excel object on the IIS web server. In some situations with many concurrent users and big reports the Report Rendering service availability could be reduced and the performance would decrease.

In version 4.5 the BI360 Portal uses a third-party spreadsheet component to render the reports, without any need for Microsoft Excel. As such, having Microsoft Excel installed on the server is no longer a requirement, it is however an optional component depending on your rendering needs.

The Microsoft Excel rendering option is still supported but it is not the default configuration when the BI360 Portal 4.5 is installed. Please see the User Guide and Installation Guide for how to switch between these two rendering options.

Bug Fixes and Enhancements

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BI360 Planning

Features and Enhancements

1. Improve speed when loading data
2. Increase Number of Storage Fields

Improve Speed when Loading Data

Planning 4.5 includes code refactoring to further optimize the loading speed of the Planning window. Users can expect faster loading times while using Line Item Detail feature.

Increase Number of Storage Fields

In previous versions of Planning, users could only write back to 20 writeback fields. Planning 4.5 introduces the ability to store to as many writeback fields as desired based on the Planning form design.

Additional Bug Fixes and Enhancements

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Data Warehouse

Data Warehouse Admin Login

Data Warehouse Manager 4.5 introduces an Admin login to the Data Warehouse Manager. This will allow an organization to access and manage the Data Warehouse if users have been locked out. To access the admin login, click on Details from the login page. In the upper right hand corner, users will see an Admin Login button. Click this to gain access to the application. The default password has been set to “BI360@dmin”.

Improvements to Data Warehouse Tree Menu

Data Warehouse 4.5 has made enhancements to trees. In version 4.5 users can expect an improved experience while creating trees from within the application. Additionally, an “Expand All” feature has been added so that users can see the entire tree structure more easily. By clicking on the icon next to “Dimension Tree”, users can collapse and expand their entire Data Warehouse tree.

 Additional Bug Fixes and Enhancements

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