What's New in SAP Lumira 1.25 (summary)

[som]

Hi Everyone

It has been a while!  SAP Lumira 1.25 is on your way and I just cannot wait any longer to share my excitements with this release. I hope this blog can help you get started in the preparation for your next update.

First you must be wondering what happened to SAP Lumira 1.24.  We kept 1.24 release to internal only. After reviewing the content of SAP Lumira 1.24 and 1.25 we decided that it would be much more cost effective for our customers to have one release with more content and avoid unnecessary upgrades. By the time you finish going through this what's new I hope you will agree with me.

As you will see later, SAP Lumira 1.25 delivers:

• Lumira Desktop
• Lumira Cloud
• Lumira Server for SAP HANA
• Lumira Server for teams (detailed SCN blog)
• Lumira Server for BI platform (detailed SCN blog)

Yes, you heard me.  Lumira for BI platform for non-HANA deployments. The option to switch to HANA as its calculation engine is planned for future road map.

What is SAP Lumira 1.25 all about?

Lumira brings out the genius in you.  Just look at the examples of visualization extensions created. Wow!

In this release, we have improved the way you add and update extensions from within Lumira Desktop using Extension Manager dialog. Go to File > Extensions.  Idea Place D25497

In addition to visualization extension framework, we have enhanced our data access extension framework. Please take a look at the official documentation for more detailed help on the changes and how to use it. You would no longer need to use -D to enable new data source extensions. The extensions can be added using Extension Manager.

We are drinking our own champagne. In response to your feedback on Idea Place, we give you the full power of UNX universe query panel with advanced options for bringing the UNX data.  We do this using our own data access extension framework mentioned above. Simple acquisition option for universe access for UNV and UNX will continue to remain in the product.  To use the advanced UNX universe access option, you have to first add this extension using the Extension Manager. (Secret: we also use the data access extension framework to let you bring BW data and mash-up. This is planned for release in a short term. Stay tuned for more update!)

Advanced UNX access would not be complete without prompting support.

Now that you have acquired your trusted data from highly governed universes, let's make sure you can publish to, consume and also author Lumira stories from trusted BI platform 4.1.  In this release, the same In-Memory data engine that Lumira Desktop and Lumira Team Server run on is used so that it will not require you to have HANA.  In the future you will have an option to switch your calculation engine to be based on HANA. See more detailed in this blog.

We also updated Lumira Team Server and usability of publishing from Lumira Desktop to Team Server. More sources to refresh your data from! More detailed can be found in this blog.

There have been a couple of Idea Place requests for HANA key/label support improvement (Idea Place D20449). Lumira Server for HANA already supports label in the facet.  We have improved Lumira Desktop support of HANA label and also in the object picker.

Here comes my personal favorite feature of Lumira 1.25 that I have been waiting for! We have great plans for many variations of linked analysis between multiple visualizations (including table). 1.25 delivers the first one where you can drill on a hierarchy and the charts on the same page will be updated accordingly. This is not yet supported in infographic but it is planned in the short term road map.

Next up, crosstab!! We are thrilled to finally deliver this feature. It has been long anticipated by our customers and our development team has also been eager to deliver it.  We are working on additional interactivity enhancements for upcoming releases.

We are adding support for more advanced analysis across multiple variables.

We are integrating a new forecasting algorithm from SAP Predictive Analytics to enhance our predictive capabilities. We have also added some usability improvements.

Got a lot of data? Now you can easily zoom in and zoom out to visualize at different levels of granularity.

Filter dialog had a makeover to make it much more intuitive to select the values you want for different data types.

Let's bring beautiful geo maps from Esri into your beautiful infographic.

In this release, we are adding Korean support! In addition, we support HANA SPS9 revision 94.  Revision 95 has not yet been released to the market but we plan to certify this revision as soon as it is available.

And that is the overview of Lumira 1.25 at the summary level.  I am sure you will find many other improvements in this release. I am looking forward to more blogs that highlight great enhancements and capabilities included in this release in more detail.

Let the show begin :cool: !

Sharon

[Henry_Banks]

nice! strong release :smile:

[Viktor1]

wow! amazing team!

[Former Member]

That sounds good, but what about the support for BW queries ? The possibility for the enduser to refresh the latest data from BW ?   Or combining data in Lumira so that one datasource fetch data from BW query and other one from HANA views and then merge that in one single Lumira report ?

Weren't Lumira supposed to use the Design studio engine to fetch the data from BW queries ?

These features are eagerly waited among the BW customers and because these features are already available in the other BO frontend tools, shouldn't Lumira try to concentrate to fill in the missing features for the BW customers ?

[Henry_Banks]

it's coming soon!  I agree, it can't come soon enough!

[Donatas]

Sharon,

Wonderful! Looks like an amazing release!

Thank you Sharon for sharing with us.

Best regards,

Donatas

[Former Member]

I agree

Most of SAP BW customers are still waiting for more Lumira and BW integration.

As soon BO4 offers more advantages of integration, customers of SAP BI tools still prefer BO as a standard platform for enterprise reports.

cheers

[Donatas]

Sharon,

When can we expect a download in SAP Support portal?

And is there any possibility to get PPT or PDF of the presentation used in this post?

Thank you,

Donatas

[Henry_Banks]

I believe the release decision is in the coming days, these what's new blogs  tend to come out as a preview, slightly ahead of the release

[Former Member]

Congrats. Great release package. Can't wait to try out the new CrossTabs. Thanks for the update.

-Alex

[Former Member]

Will there be an ability in Lumira 1.25 to bring in data from BW to the "prepare" stage and modify it?  It will it go straight to visualize?

[Former Member]

Thanks for the update.

I am currently working as part of the CuV Lumira BI Addon Program and I have ver 1.25 on my machine provided as part of the program and currently I am not able to see some of the features like Linked Analysis as per the screenshot above. I apprecaite if you can eloborate more on this functionality. The screenshot you provided is not clear and I do not see any button to link to other viz and any explanation on how to do this is beneficial.

[som]

Thank you Alex!

We would like to know if HANA key/label fix is working for you when you get a chance.

Sharon

[som]

Hi Donatas

As Henry mentioned the software delivery will happen in coming days. I wanted to get everyone head started.

I can send you the PDF if you could please send me an email.

I am currently hosting a customer workshop but I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Thanks

[som]

Hi Iiro

BW acquisition will be featured in one of the Sapphire sessions. After Sapphire we will plan on public webinar to present to you what you can expect for BW acquisition shortly.

We may post a recorded demo before the webinar. We have to see if there will enough time left after Sapphire preparation.

Thank you.

[Former Member]

Thanks, Sharon.  A strong release indeed after seemingly a couple of stability releases.

It appears the team is holding back even a couple more heavy weights in release 26 :wink: .

You have certainly done a marvelous job in all of the new release summaries....only one comment, especially since the images for this one is fuzzier than ever-perhaps a marketing teaser;).  in any case, could you attach the ACTUAL PDF file in this and following new release summary blogs ?

Chances are we will need to share the same new feature summaries and excitements with others in the organizations we serve.....

A high quality new release summary and roadmap document can help us all to spread the good words....

Thanks again for a great job.  Looking forward to more great stuff from you and the team.

have a great one,

[Former Member]

Thanks Sharon. Seems like this release has covered many things. I am eagerly waiting to see and to work with. May I know by when it will be available for download from SAP marketplace?

Good job done SAP.

[former_member66229]

Great review Sharon. And lovin' Lumira!

[Former Member]

when can we expect the update to be available?

[former_member66229]

Plan is next week.

[som]

Hi Hari

I was told that it will make its way up to SMP tonight.  Give or take a couple of days.

Please watch for an update!

[som]

I was told it's on SMP now!

[former_member66229]

Yes, Desktop and Server for HANA have just released and you can find them on SMP. Expect Server for Teams and Server for BI Platform next week.

[Former Member]

What's SMP and how do I get there. I checked via the update function within Lumira and on the regular web site and its not there yet.

[former_member66229]

SMP is SAP's Software Marketplace where software that is purchased under a maintenance agreement is made available for download.

The link to it is: https://support.sap.com/swdc, but unless you have purchased Lumira with a maintenance agreement you will likely not have access.

The Lumira Desktop and Lumira Server for Teams update is expected to be available from saplumira.com next week.

[Former Member]

Hi Sharon,

I just installed V1.25 but cannot find the linked analysis between multiple visualizations. The What's New document and the User Guide don't mention this feature either. Was it removed or am I just too blind to see it?

EDIT: My bad. I found the feature in the demo "Sales Team Management". It seems that it's only working with hierarchies. I expected a simple selection filter: click on a country on a map and all other visualizations would only show the data of this country. IMHO this is the idea behind the idea: Need of Dependent Charts (D22429). Is this going to be implemented in the future?

Best regards,

Karsten

[r_poelstra]

Just downloaded Lumira Desktop 1.25 too and installed the advanced UNX query panel extension. Works great when I start Lumira Desktop on my VM server which also has the BI Platform 4.1 SP5 fixpack 4 installed.

When I start Lumira Desktop 1.25 on my host pc though, I can connect to the BI Platform and make a universe query the 'old fashioned way'. But with the advanced UNX query panel, I receive the following error:

Error in the query panel: Unable to initialize the DSL Service Provider. Ensure that the universe has not been removed, that you have sufficient rights to access it, and that the BI Platform has a valid license.

Strange, because I use the same license keys, I log in with administrator and everything works fine on the server itself.

[Former Member]

Thanks for this blog about new features in 1.25. It is very helpful. Also, request you to share the PPT or PDF version.

[som]

Yup yup. Filter support for linked analysis is planned. So is Infographic with input controls and multiple HANA views. Don't go anywhere :wink:

[Former Member]

Thanks Sharon for sharing this wonderful update with us.

I read sometime before on Lumira supporting MSAS cubes, any plans for that you can share here?

[Henry_Banks]

just an idea - but you might want to try editing the host file on the desktop to include the fully qualified name of the server hosting the DSL APS

[brian_marier]

Super strong release.  A joy to play with the last few days.  Keep the momentum going!

[r_poelstra]

I have a vm-server (with BI4.1 SP5 fp3) on my pc (laptop) running in workgroup mode. When I start Lumira Desktop on the host pc I can connect to the server through the extension,  I can select a universe but when I want to create a query it shows up the error.

I've tried it with .local (edited the host-file) in the server name but no succes. I should test it in combination with a domain server, but I don't have a server with BI4.1 SP5 fp3 in our domain network.

Still strange because every client tool on my host pc is capable of connecting to the server.

[som]

Thanks Brian!

[Former Member]

Linked analysis is finally coming!!! + cross table

[Former Member]

Glad i bumped into this, installing v1.25 now!

[Paul1202]

Hi R.Poelstra,

did you find a solution for your error about the DSL-bridge ? As I have the same.

Eddy

[former_member66229]

For many customers it seems to have been a firewall issue. Make sure that you have the necessary ports open.

[radim_bacinschi]

It happens because Query Panel Extension is using Corba to talk to BI Platform servers. There probably is a firewall between your PC and BIP server which prevents communication from Query Panel and BI Platform servers. I've seen it same case in a few other deployments. To resolve it configure BI Platform servers to work in environment with firewall (bind to specific open ports, etc), for details please see Administrator Guide for BI Platform, firewall section.

Please note that even now (without firewall config) you may still be able to save Lumira documents to the BIP even from your PC because that save operation is not using Corba (doesn't require BIP ports to be opened in firewall), but it uses Restful Web Services on WACS (port 6405, by default).  But for Query Panel Extension you will need to configure BOE to work in firewalled environment.

[radim_bacinschi]

It happens because Query Panel Extension is using Corba to talk to BI Platform servers. There probably is a firewall between your PC and BIP server which prevents communication from Query Panel and BI Platform servers. I've seen it same case in a few other deployments. To resolve it configure BI Platform servers to work in environment with firewall (bind to specific open ports, etc), for details please see Administrator Guide for BI Platform, firewall section.

Please note that even now (without firewall config) you may still be able to save Lumira documents to the BIP even from your PC because that save operation is not using Corba (doesn't require BIP ports to be opened in firewall), but it uses Restful Web Services on WACS (port 6405, by default).  But for Query Panel Extension you will need to configure BOE to work in firewalled environment.

[r_poelstra]

Hi Radim,

Thx for your reply. In my test-environment (vm-server on my laptop, network mode NAT) I have the firewall completely turned off and I still get the same error message.

Does the UNX Query Extension Panel act the same was as any other BO Client tool? Do I need to recreate odbc-connections on the localhost or is this all taken care of by the server?

I did recreate the same odbc-connections on the localhost to see if this was a problem, still no luck though..

[radim_bacinschi]

If your server is behind NAT then you must follow instructions from section "8.15 Configuring the BI platform for firewalls", especially "8.15.1.2 Configure the hosts file for firewalls that use NAT" from Administrators guide

http://help.sap.com/businessobject/product_guides/sbo41/en/sbo41sp5_bip_admin_en.pdf

You will need to configure hosts file as decribed in Admin Guide, otherwise you will be unable to connect to the server. Also please ensure that you configure all BOE servers to bind to hostname (of machine running inside VM), not not use auto-assign or IP Address binding. Restart the node.

If you are using Lumira Desktop with Query Panel Extension and chose universe located on BOE then ODBC connection on the server are sufficient. Just make sure to select "SAP Query Panel" (not "Universe") in the new dataset screen.

[Former Member]

Hi Sharon,

If customer has a BO + HANA landscape, which version should we propose?  Lumira Server for HANA or Lumira Server for BO?

Kind regards,

Jerry

[Henry_Banks]

Hi,

if they want to integrate into BIPlatform, then use the LS4BIP add-on.

If they want to run Lumira Server as a native HANA app, with no BO in the landscape, then LS4HANA

regards,

H

[Former Member]

Hi Henry,

Thanks for the quick reply. My question is if a customer already has both HANA and BO in their landscape, which server version is better?

Actually, I really want to know is the pros&cons of these two versions if customer has both HANA and BO in their landscape, especially when they are leveraging BO as the frontend and HANA as the data mart.

Kind regards,

Jerry

[Henry_Banks]

Hi,

LS4HANA is a hana-native XS application, on expensive infrastructure, memory and disk. All data, processing engine and web application are hosted on the same in-memory platform...

Whereas LS4BIP is an add-on to regular Windows firmware (needing a decent sizing exercise), would be competing with ‘bursty’ BI processes, running concurrently on the BIPlatform, and the data is queried from external DBs.

.. So depending on their datasources, it could be a very very different experience indeed!

The development roadmap is as follows:  If they want BIPlatform integration for the Lumira content, then its LS4BIP. If they want something big, fast and new, then it's LS4HANA with a Fiori launchpad.

Cheers,

H

[Former Member]

so no way to have LUMIRA Server on HANA exposed to BI 4.1 Launchpad??

[former_member66229]

@Barnaby, no, we are not planning on exposing LS4H as a native application on HANA to the BI 4.1 Launchpad. We are planning on allowing LS4BIP to leverage HANA as a calculation engine.

[former_member66229]

If a customer has BO + HANA they should definitely be looking at LS4BIP as they will be able to leverage all of their existing BIP content (WebI, Design Studio, CR, A. Office, etc.) as well as use BIP to manage Lumira and and take advantage of the inherence enterprise readiness capabalities of BIP. Then in the near future they will optionally be able to use their HANA environment as a calculation engine as well and still be able to consume their Lumira documents through the BI Launchpad.

[Former Member]

OK so let me get this straight:

• LS4BIP is now GA.  It will allow Lumira content to be exposed to BI 4.1+ Launchpad.  It will use Velocity database for all calculations and DB processing as of now. In the future it will allow for support of connected data sources running on HANA
• LS4HANA is as it is today.  HANA connected data sources obviously run on HANA as do published data sources such as CSVs and Excel files.

Is this correct?

If so when will LS4BIP fully support HANA connected sources?

As a customer and a member of the Lumira Design Council, I have to say I still feel like the landscape of Lumira options is far too complicated.  I said it back in the fall in Palo Alto and I still don't understand the need to try and be everything to everyone. Edge, XS, Cloud, BIP...there are too many options and it is clearly diluting focus on getting the basics done such as proper BW integration.

Design Studio almost does everything (from a user POV) that Lumira does at this point and it's far more flexible.

[former_member66229]

"when will LS4BIP fully support HANA connected sources?"...I can't be too specific for legal and revenue recognition reasons, but we are working on this capability for a release in the near future...