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Why SAP BusinessObjects Reports
Are Like a Box of Chocolates

The comedy-drama Forrest Gump won Best Picture at the 1995 Academy Awards, and actor Tom Hanks took home Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of the title character. In one memorable scene, Forrest, who has a below-average IQ and above-average zest for life, wisely remarks: “My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” The movie struck a chord with theatergoers, and Forrest’s words entered the popular American lexicon.

chocolate-box

Upgrade and Migration Problems

But life isn’t the only thing that’s like a box of chocolates. After an upgrade or migration, SAP BusinessObjects reports are also unpredictable. That’s because migrating from one version to another, or installing major releases, minor releases, service packs, or patches, can change data values. Sometimes, discrepancies stem from calculation engine changes, other times from unintended code changes. Regardless of the source of the problem, when impacted data values are incorporated in WebI, Crystal, and Deski reports, the reports become unreliable. Manual regression testing of every report is impractical, if not downright impossible.

So, what’s the solution?

360Suite Solution: 360Bind

360Bind software is an affordable and effective way to automate SAP BusinessObjects regression testing. It eliminates the risk of upgrades and migrations by comparing WebI, Crystal, and Deski reports across environments and versions, and highlighting all differences in data, structure, style, images, and execution times.

In essence, 360Bind cuts every single chocolate in half so you can look inside.

chocolate-cutted

Bitter Regressions

Recently, one of our customers bit into a chocolate and got a nasty surprise. When upgrading from XI3.1 SP3 to BI4.1 SP6, this customer used 360Bind to test for regressions in 90,000 WebI and 20,000 Deski reports. The results indicated a serious problem, so they reached out to 360Suite for assistance. The 360Suite support team determined that 360Bind was working properly, and counseled the customer to contact SAP. As it turns out, XI3.1 SP3 had been miscalculating data in reports containing the formula Count(If([…])) for the past five years!

360Bind uses old reports as benchmarks for new reports when searching for changes to data, structure, style, images, and execution times. That’s because old reports are usually correct, and discrepancies point to places were new reports are incorrect. In this case, 360Bind automated regression testing led the customer to a very different conclusion. The new data was correct and the old data — on which they’d based decisions for five years — was incorrect. It took 360Bind to uncover the fact that they’d been eating expired chocolates for a very long time!

expired-chocolate-box

Sweet Success

360Bind reduces the budget and timeline for regression testing by up to 80%. It also improves the outcomes of migrations and upgrades by boosting end-user confidence in new reports. WebI, Crystal, and Deski reports don’t have to be like a box of chocolates. With 360Bind automated regression testing, you can know what you’re going to get before you take the first bite.

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