Universe Design - one big one or several subject specific universes?

[Former Member]

Hello,

We are scoping out our BO universe design for an SFA/CRM solution.

Source data is Siebel CRM, combined with Sales data from third parties. Limited other data beyond that.

Should we build one big universe with all the subject areas in, or should be build several smaller universes, and ensure we can report across universes (Synchronisation?)

Also, does any one have experience of the siebel rapid marts?

Ian

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Ian,

Welcome to the world of BusinessObjects and Universe design. You are facing the same conundrum all good Designers face at the onset of a new project. There are no hard and fast answers, just some practical advice and best business practices. Blogs and Forum notes are good sources. If I may, perhaps this particular thread on the BoB board would help to get a good frame of mind:

[url]http://www.forumtopics.com/busobj/viewtopic.php?t=115152[url]

Thanks,

John

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

As John mentioned, there is not hard and fast rule for this. One of the most important thing while deciding this is to consult with the users who will be using this universe for building reports. If the users prefer multiple universes, then that be it.

Another thing to keep in mind is the security concerns. If there are security requirements like a set of users should not be able to see a functional area, then you can split your big universe in to smaller business area specific universes.

Kashif

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thanks to both sets of input so far...

Some more detail. The Reporting Requirement is for an Ad-hoc reporting capability drawing on all of the active tables across 2 data sources. There is a total of about 50 tables actually being used.

We only have a security need on a country level. The data in both data sources is across multiple countries, and people at the regional level get to see all data, whereas the country people get to only see data for their own country. We plan to manage this by Groups, and using the groups in the visibility rules.

Further thoughts welcomed!

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Seems like a one universe solution to me. Let me ask you couple of more questions before giving you the final answer.

1. When you said two sources, are these sources brought to one (target)data warehouse/database?

2- Is this a dimensional model or a relational schema?

Thanks,

Kashif

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

In terms of the two sources, we are looking at using BO Data Integrator to combine the two sources into one mart, and then build the universe accordingly. The other option would be to use linked Universes.

The two data sources are currently relational databases.

We are thinking of some kind of Data warehouse, but at this time, our funds are limited (as always!), and need to deliver some quick wins to show the value of BO to our business community.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Ian,

Please keep in mind that the limitation is one connection per universe. So, as long as the data from two sources is merged in one database, you can create one universe.

If it were a dimensional model then it would have been easier to create the universe. The relational schema universes can become complex, but it can definitely be done.

Based on the information you provided, I would say one universe should work. Please let me know if you have any specific questions about building the universe.

Kashif

[Former Member]

Thanks to all that provided input