What is SAP BODS

SAP BODS is an ETL tool developed by SAP that can be utilized for data processing, data profiling, data quality, and data integration. It allows us to integrate and transform the data warehouse system for data analytics. It contains a UI development interface, data connectivity, and metadata repository to the source and target management and system console for job scheduling.

It maximizes the value of your organization’s unstructured and structured data with unique functionalities for data quality, cleansing, and integration. It provides trusted, timely, and relevant information to get the best business outcomes. Leading organizations like Walmart, Amazon, ConAgra, and Apple use SAP BODS. 

Thus, learning SAP BODS will help you get a good career. This What is SAP BODS article will enable you to learn to develop and execute the job for extracting the data from the source systems and loading the data to the intent systems.

What is SAP BODS - Table of Contents

What is SAP BODS? Use of BODS Functions of SAP BODS History of SAP BODS SAP BODS Architecture BODS Objects Types of Objects Important terms in SAP BODS Advantages Disadvantages ETL Data Warehouse FAQs

What is SAP BODS?

SAP BODS(Business Objects Data Services) is the ETL tool to extract the data from diverse systems, convert the data into expressive information, and load the data into the data warehouse. It is developed for delivering business-class solutions for data quality, data integration, data profiling, and data processing. It integrates the industry data quality into a single platform. 

It offers a single environment for run-time development, security, management, and data connectivity. It enables specified users to customize, access, share, and analyze the data between themselves. It also offers a reliable way of using the business intelligence on any device.

It enables us to analyze the key measures of the business objects and associated data trends. The functions and objects in SAP BODS are particularly developed for effectively transforming and manipulating massive and difficult data.

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What is the use of BODS?

It offers the GUI that enables you to effectively create the job that mines the data from several data sources, transform that data to satisfy the business requirements of the organization, and load the data into one place.

Data Services Components

1) Designer

It is a development tool that offers a graphical interface. It enables us to create, execute, test, and debug the BODS job. It allows you to specify the data transformations, mappings, and control logic. It will allow developers to create the object, then drag and drop and configure them by choosing the icon in the source to target the flow diagram.

2) Job Server

It starts the data services processing engine and acts as the interface to the engine and other elements in the data service suite. The job server is utilized for executing the batch and real-time job created by you. It utilizes parallel processing and multi-threading for providing performance optimization.

3) Engine

The BODS engine executes a particular job created through the designer. When we execute, your application data services job server starts sufficient engines for completing the specified tasks efficiently.

4) Access Server

The access server sends the messages between the data service job server and the web application, and the engines. In other words, it takes message requests, moves to the real-world service, and shows the message in a particular time frame. It is also called the Real-time Message Broker system.

5) Address Server

The address server should be launched before processing the data flow, which includes the global suggestion list transform, or the global address cleans with an enabled EMEA engine. It also provides address corrections and validation.

6) Central Management Console

This is the web-oriented administration tool for the BODS utilized for fundamental functions like user management and repository registration.

7) Cleansing Packages

It is utilized by the data cleanse transform in the data services for parsing. It enhances the data cleanse ability for processing several kinds of global data properly.

8) Real-time Services

It extracts the data from the body of the real-time message received and from the secondary sources utilized in the job.

9) Central Management Console

This is the web-based administration tool for the BODS utilized for fundamental functions like user management and repository registration.

10) Adapters

The adapter enables us to import the application metadata into the repository. Adapter Software Development Kit offered by SAP can be utilized for developing personalized adapters. These adapters are shown in the data service designer by the adapter data stores.

11) Repository

A repository is the same as the database that stores the designer-predefined system objects and user-defined objects like source and target metadata and the transformation rules. The local repository is the required repository for the BODS functioning. There are three kinds of repositories:

1) Central Repository
2) Local Repository
3) Profiler Repository

Checkout: [ SAP BODS Tutorial ]

Functions of SAP BODS

1) Data Integration

It is the mechanism of fetching the data from different sources and merging it in such a way that it can create extensive, consistent, and correct information for data analysis and business reporting.

2) Data Profiling

This is the mechanism of reviewing the source data, understanding the structure, interrelationship, and content, and detecting the potential for the data projects. It is also called data quality analysis and data assessment.

3) Data Quality

The interactive method of measuring data from different contexts is called data quality. The data quality elements are accuracy, integrity, and consistency.

4) Processing of text data

Text Data Processing is the ability to take unstructured textual data and transform it into a format that we can analyze. It enables us to handle the information overburden by mining very large amounts of work without reading every sentence.

History of SAP BODS

Following are the popular milestones in the history of SAP BODS:

1. In 2002, Business Objects renamed the two software products of Acta as the BusinessObjects Data Integration tool and BusinssObjects data quality tool.
2. Business Objects were bought by SAP in 2007 and both these products were rebranded as SAP BODI and SAP BODQ.
3. In 2008, SAP combined both these two products in a single tool and rebranded it as the SAP Business Objects Data Services(BODS).

SAP BODS Architecture

SAP BODS Architecture contains three layers:

1) Database Server Layers
2) Web Application Layer
3) Data Services Layer

Source Layer

The source layers include different data sources like non-SAP RDBMS systems and SAP Presentations, and data integration happens in the performance area. SAP BODS different modules like Workbench, Data Server Manager, etc. The intent system can be a Data Warehouse system like SAP BW, SAP HANA, and Non SAP data warehouse system.

BODS Objects

Every object that is utilized in the SAP BODS is called an object. All the objects, such as jobs, projects, metadata, and system function, are maintained in the local object collection. All the objects store the following:

1) Properties: It explains the objects and does not impact their operation
2) Options: It controls the object’s operations

Types of objects

1) Single Use Objects: The objects that are specified particularly to the job or data flow are called Single Use Objects.

2) Reusable Object: We can reuse the object by creating calls for explanations. Every reusable object contains only one explanation and every call to the object reference to that of collection. If the object description is modified in one location, it impacts the object explanation at all the locations where that object performs. The object library is utilized to store the object explanation.

3) Job: A job is a small piece of work. We can schedule the job individually for execution.

4) Workflow: It lowers the manual process and raises the work quality. It raises the business flow and decreases the processing time and automats business process

5) DataFlow: It will extract, transform, and load the data from the source system to the target system. All the data transformation happens in the dataflow.

Object Hierarchy

Important terms in SAP BODS

1) Datastore

It provides a linkage to the data source similar to a database. It is the connecting interface between actual backend data services and the database. Data store also enables data services to import the data description of data sources like metadata.

2) Data Integrator Web Administrator

Data Integrator Web Administrator, also called DI web Admin. It allows us to maintain the repositories in the data services. The SAP BODS contained in the DI web admin are the meta-repository, job services, web services, and central repository.

3) Central Management Console(CMC)

It is the web administrator tool for SAP BOD. It is a useful tool for performing some core functions like user management, repository registration, etc.

Advantages of SAP BODS

• It offers the best profiling because of various acquisitions of other companies.
• The ETL learning tool is rapid and easy to use.
• It provides a customized user interface for performing data manipulation tasks.
• The functions and objects of the BODS in SAP enable you to carry out transformations and manipulations of data very effectively.
• SAP BODS contains system-provided functions and objects which we can easily drag and drop.
• It also enables you to implement several data transformations through the data integrator language.
• SAP BODS also helps you to carry out difficult data transformations to build personalized applications.
• Data Integrator Designer enables us to store the batch and real-world jobs and the latest projects in the repository.

Checkout Blog on SAP MDG Tutorial

Disadvantages of SAP BODS

• It is the most expensive tool. Thus, the initial purchase cost will be very high.
• Business Objects require several servers and comprehensive hardware.
• It is a developer platform that indicates enterprises that want to utilize business objects will require the support of a highly proficient development team.

ETL

The term “ETL” refers to extract, transform, and Load. The ETL tool extracts the data from different data source systems, transforms data like concatenating, applying calculations, etc, and then the data will be loaded into the data warehouse system. The data will be loaded into the data warehouse system in the form of fact and dimension tables.

Extraction

A staging area is needed in the ETL Load. There are several reasons why a staging area is needed. The source systems exist only for a particular period of time for extracting the data. This period of time will be less than the total data-load time. So, the staging area enables us to extract the data from the data source system and stores it in the staging area before the time period ends.

The staging area is needed when we have to fetch data from multiple data sources or if we have to join multiple systems together. For instance, we cannot perform the SQL query by joining two tables from two different databases.

Data Extractions time differs according to the operational hours and time zone. Data extracted from the source system can be utilized in different data warehouse systems, operational data stores, etc.

Transform

In the data transformation, we apply the group of functions on the fetched data for loading it into the intent system. Data that does not need any transformation is called direct move or pass through the data. We can apply many transformations to the extracted data from the source system. For instance, we can carry out personalized calculations. If we want sum-of-sales revenue and this is not in the database. We can apply the “SUM” formula while performing the transformation and loading the data.

Load

In the load phase, data is loaded into the end system, and it can be a data warehouse system or flat files.

What is Data Warehouse?

Data Warehouse is called a central repository for storing data from multiple diverse data sources. Data Warehouse is utilized for reporting and analyzing the data and stores both current and historical data. The data in the data warehouse system is utilized for analytical reporting, which is utilized by the Sales Managers, Business Analysts for decision-making. The data available in the data warehouse system is loaded from the operation transaction systems like Marketing, HR, SCM, Sales, etc. The following are the important features of the Data Warehouse:

• It is the central data repository where the data will be stored from multiple and diverse data sources.
• A data warehouse system stores both historical and current data. Normally the data warehouse system stores the previous 5-10 years of historical data.
• The data in the data warehouse system is utilized for different kinds of analytical reporting, ranging from quarterly to yearly comparisons.

FAQs

1. What is meant by SAP BODS?

SAP BODS is the ETL tool utilized for data quality, data profiling, data processing, and data integration. It enables you to transform, integrate, and transform the reliable data-to-data warehouse system for the data analytics reporting.

2. What is SAP BODS used for?

It is used for creating and monitoring jobs that take data from several kinds of data sources and carry out some difficult transformations on the data according to the business requirement.

3. What is the full form of BODS?

The full form of BODS is Business Objects Data Services.

4. Does SAP BODS require coding?

Yes, SAP BODS requires SQL knowledge.

5. What is SAP BODS Architecture?

The architecture of SAP Business Objects Data Services(BODS) contains different elements like the Data Service Management console, Data Service Designer, Data Services Server Manager, and Repository Manager.

6. Is SAP BODS technical or functional?

SAP BODS is a technical module of SAP.

7. What is the role of the SAP BODS Consultant?

The role of the SAP BODS consultant is to configure the DS components like the job server, service designer, and repository. The SAP BODS consultants are also responsible for developing and executing data profiling and data validation scenarios.

8. What is a full load in SAP BODS?

The Full load is the method that every time shortens the target data and loads the complete data. If your data source includes significantly low records and you don’t have to maintain the historical data, then full load is the best option.

9. What is the workflow in SAP BODS?

Workflow is used for determining the process for the execution. The primary intent of the workflow is to get ready to implement the data flow and for setting the system state when the data flow implementation is finished.

10. What skills are needed for SAP BODS?

Any who wants to start their carer in SAP BODS must have knowledge of building, debugging, testing, and optimizing SQL Queries.

Conclusion:

SAP BODS is the ETL tool that can extract data from different sources, transform them into understandable information, and load them into different types of systems. Management Console, Designer, Repository, and Access Server are the essential elements of SAP BODS. I hope this “What is SAP BODS” blog will give you sufficient information about SAP BODS. If you have any queries, let us know by commenting below.