Creating an Excel ODBC report.

1. Open a new Excel sheet.

2. Click on the 'Data' menu bar --> 'Import External Data' --> 'New Database Query'.

3. You will be prompted with a 'Choose Data Source' table. If you have not done so previously, you can now setup a Data Source / ODBC for the current SAP B1 company you are working with. This is explained further in the section below called 'New Data Source'.

4. Select the Data Source you require, and click ok. You will be prompted with an SA and Password field. Fill those in.

5. In the list of tables, views select the view.

6. Click the 'Next' button and choose how you would like to sort some fields.

7. Finally, click 'Finish' and choose to "Return Data to Excel".

8. When you return to Excel, it will prompt you with where you would like to place your data, select the A1 column (usually this is the first cell).

9. What happens now is that Excel has a dynamic report linked to SAP Business One's CRD1 table. Every time you amend / update the BP Addresses within SAP B1, you can come to this Excel sheet, right click over the data and choose 'Refresh Data' and the Excel sheet will 'draw' the data from SAP Business One. You no longer need to run any queries within SAP B1 and keep exporting it to Excel.

10. Don't forget to save the Excel sheet so you can keep re-using it later (and refreshing the report data).

Creating a New Data Source

(Windows XP / Windows 2000 / 2003 Server etc)

1. Go to the 'Control Panel' --> 'Administrative Tools' --> 'Data Sources (ODBC).

2. Select the 'System DSN' and then click the 'Add' button.

3. Select the Driver to be used from the pull down menu. This is usually "SQL Server" (unless you're using a different database).

4. Name and describe your Data Source. This should be an easy to refer name like the actual B1 company Name.

5. Key in or select from the drop down list your SERVER NAME and click the 'Next' button.

6. For the question "How should SQL Server verify the authenticity of the login ID?" select the second radio button "With SQL Server authentication"

7. Check the box that says "Connect to SQL Server to obtain default settings for the additional config operations" and in the LoginID field, put in your SA username. Key in the SA password as well. Click 'Next'.

8. Check the box that says "Change default database to" and select the company database from the pull down menu. Click 'Next'. Click 'Finish'.

9. Click the 'Test Data Source' and you should have a positive response "TESTS COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY!"

10. You are now ready to use the newly created Data Source in your Excel ODBC reports.

There are two SQL ODBC drivers that appear to work with SQL Server..

1) The SQL Native Client Driver installed as part of the SQL Server 2005 client services. Use this driver is the Project Node and the SQL Server 2005 are the same PC or if you installed the SQL Server 2005 client services on the WebAccess Project Node.

2) The SQL Server Driver part of Windows XP Professional and Windows 2000 dated 10/28/2003 and later (version 3.70.11.46 of SQLSRV32.DLL).  Use this if the SQL Server is on a remote node.

It is easier to use a System DSN. The System DSN allows access to the SQL ODBC drivers no matter who is logged on to the Project Node.  The System DSN also makes for less confusion later on. 

A User DSN will work as well. The User DSN is specific to each user and allows you to restrict which users have access.  However, you must configure a User DSN for each user that might be logged on the Project Node.

Any name can be given to the DSN. But make it one that you can remember  This DSN name must be entered into the WebAccess Project Manger as the ODBC Log Data Source.

1. Configure "Native Client SQL Server" DSN

1.                  From Control Panel open ODBC Data Source Administrator, on the Project Node.

Start -> Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Data Sources (ODBC).

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2.                  Select System DSN.

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3.                  Click on the ADD button. This will open the Create New Data Source dialog box, shown below.

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4.                  Look for the driver titled SQL Native Client. If this driver is not listed in the window and the SQL Server is, go to Section 2. Configure SQL Server DSN.

5.                  Double-click on the driver SQL Native Client. The Create a New Data Source to SQL Server Setup dialog box will open, as shown below.

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6.                  In the Name text box, enter a name for this DSN.  You will have to enter this name in WebAccess Project Node.
For example, bwSQLData

7.                  In the Server combo-box, you must enter the name of the computer running SQL server.

If SQL Server is installed on the Project Node, Select (local). 

Otherwise, select the computer with the SQL Server. (Note - if you do not see the other computer listed, you should try to Register SQL server as described earlier).

8.                  Click on the Next > button.

9.                  Select "SQL Server authentication". 

Enter the sa as the user login ID and the password you created in step 14 of Section 23.3.1 Install SQL Server 2005.

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Figure 23.3 Use SQL Server Authentication and SQL Server login ID and Password.

Select Next after you have entered the password for the sa account. (or whatever account you know will work).

10.              Check the Change the default database to.

         Use the Pull Down box or type the Database name you created in SQL Server Management Studio. This name has to match exactly. Go back to Section 23.3.2 Create and SQL Server Database if you skipped this step or forgot the Database name. In the example it was WebAccessPData.

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  Select Next.

11.              Check "Use regional settings.....". 

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12.              Select Test Data Source.

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13.              You should see "TESTS COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY!". Select OK.

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If it did not Test Successfully. Try these steps:

If the SQL Server is a remote node, verify that TCP port 1433 is open on the SQL Server Node (i.e. check any firewalls or Windows Firewall).

Verify the SA Login Password or whatever Login ID you used to configure this DSN.

Verify the Database name.

  Verify that SQL Server is running.

14.     Select OK three times (one for each dialog box) to exit ODBC configuration.

15.              You should remember the DSN name, because this is what you will tell WebAccess to use.  In this example the ODBC DSN is bwSQLData. It could have been any name that you used, just remember it.

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16. Next and last step is to tell WebAccess to use the DSN. See Section 20.8.1 Create an ODBC Log Data Source.  and 20.8.2 Select new ODBC Log Data Source. And be sure to Select the ODBC Data source (section 20.8.2).

2. Configure "SQL Server" DSN

Use this section if you do not have the SQL Native Client as in the above example 1. on your project node. You can instead use the SQL Server ODBC Driver of Windows XP Professional and Windows 2000 (version 3.70.11.46 of SQLSRV32.DLL dated 10/28/2003 and later).  It is common to use this ODBC driver if the SQL Server is on a remote node.

It is recommended to use the TCP Network Library connection instead of Named Pipes.

1.                  From Control Panel open ODBC Data Source Administrator, on the Project Node.

Start -> Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Data Sources (ODBC).

2.                  Select System DSN.

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3.                  Click on the ADD button. This will open the Create New Data Source dialog box, shown below.

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4.                  Look for the driver titled SQL Server. If this driver is not listed in the window, then the ODBC SQL Server driver has not been installed properly.

5.                  Double-click on the driver SQL Server. The ODBC SQL Server Setup dialog box will open, as shown below.

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6.                  In the Name text box, enter a name. For example, bwSQLPdata.

7.                  In the Server combo-box, use the pull down list or type the name of the computer running SQL server.

If SQL Server is installed on the Project Node, Select Local.  Otherwise, select the computer with the SQL Server. (TUNA in the example).

   Click on the Next > button.

8.                  Select "SQL Server authentication" if you followed the examples earlier.

It is also possible to use Windows Authentication if both the Project Node and the SQL Server are in the same domain and you know the login information for a user with access to the SQL Server node. 

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Figure 23.3 Use SQL Server Authentication and SQL Server login ID and Password.

9.       Select Client Configuration and select TCP/IP  for Network Libraries. 

          Also verify the  Port Number is correct. 1433 is the default port for SQL Server (but your network Administrator may have changed it).

          Select OK.

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10.            Select Next.

11.              Check the Change the default database to.

In the Change the default database to box, use the pull down list to select the SQL database name that you created using SQL SERVER 2005 MANAGEMENT STUDIO. 

The name in the above examples is WebAccessData. 

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12.               Check Use ANSI quoted identifiers.

13.              Check Use ANSI nulls, paddings and warnings.

14.              Select NEXT.

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15.              Select Use regional settings......

16.              Select Finish.

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17.              We recommend using the Test Data Source.

18.              A successful test should look like the following

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19.              Select OK three times (one for each dialog box) to exit ODBC configuration.

If it did not Test Successfully. Try these steps:

If the SQL Server is a remote node, verify that TCP port 1433 is open on the SQL Server Node (i.e. check any firewalls or Windows Firewall).

Verify the SA Login Password or whatever Login ID you used to configure this DSN.

Verify the Database name.

Verify that SQL Server is running.

20.     Remember the DSN name, because this is what you will tell WebAccess to use.  In this example the ODBC DSN is bwSQLPData. It could have been any name that you used, just remember it.

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21.     Next and last steps are to tell WebAccess to use the DSN. See Section 20.8.1 Create an ODBC Log Data Source and 20.8.2 Select new ODBC Log Data Source. And be sure to Select the ODBC Data source (section 20.8.2).

One of the advantages of the HANA database is that capabilities like high availability automatically become available to the applications that run on top of the database – dependent of course on the underlying hardware.

So that means that SAP Business One version for HANA when paired with the right certified hardware automatically supports High Availability.

***Please note that the same also applies to SAP Business One Analytics powered by SAP HANA

So what exactly is High Availability for HANA about?

Well, a good place to start is with a definition of High Availability which I have taken from a White Paper on the subject written by Chaim Bendelac from the SAP HANA Development Team which you can find in the SAP Business One Technical Toolkit and you can also find it here - http://www.saphana.com/docs/DOC-2775 .

High Availability is a set of techniques, engineering practices and design principles for Business Continuity. This is achieved by eliminating single points of failure (fault tolerance), and providing the ability to rapidly resume operations after a system outage with minimal business loss (fault resilience).

So it is fundamentally about business continuity….a discussion around load balancing and performance optimization requires more detail so I am not going to cover it in this blog.

The area that I want to touch on here and is hardware redundancy as this seems to be the main area of concern for customers and partners that I talk with about the subject of up-time management and fault tolerance.

Of course, hardware redundancy is a well established subject and the basics include the provision of UPS based power protection, hot swappable and redundant power supply units, hot swappable network cards, RAID disk arrays and even hot swappable memory units.

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Clik here to view.So to ensure that you are maximizing your fault tolerance in a single server environment you need to consider each of these components when specifying your hardware…of course all of the HANA certified servers provision one or more of these options….you can also find details of these in the SAP Business One Technical Toolkit and in the Product Availability Matrix document for SAP Business One version for SAP HANA also in the toolkit.

You'll need to ensure that at a bare minimum you have a RAID array, UPS power protection and redundant power supplies in your server to provide a minimal level of protection against failure and I would recommend RAID 10 (striping and mirroring) for your data and log storage and RAID 1 (mirroring) for your O/S.

Of course the next and more expensive option is to go with complete server redundancy and deploy multiple servers in a mirrored configuration where all data is automatically written to both HANA environments and the underlying hardware/software manages the fault detection and recovery.

HANA handles this scenario and manages the process automatically once configured correctly…the good news is that when your servers are configured in a live replication mode, your single HANA server license applies to both machines so you only need to license one instance to run two instances in a fault tolerant mode.

Here's a graphic that summarizes the options quite well.

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You’ll need to be on HANA SPS04 or higher to support these scenarios….but this should be your situation anyway as we only support SPS04 or higher with SAP Business One version for HANA.

Again, I refer you to the excellent introductory white paper written by Chaim Bendelec and I would like to express my thanks to him for providing a great intro to the topic and for allowing me to reproduce the graphic and description of Fault Tolerance from his white paper in this blog.

Introduction

This how-to guide introduces the report scheduling function of SAP Business One. You schedule report executions by running queries and specify recipients of the generated reports. The recipient either obtains the reports via email or views them directly in SAP Business One as a user. Formats of generated reports include PDF, HTML, and XML.

Via email, these reports are sent as attachments;

reports in HTML format can also be sent as the email message body.

The following situations are the main triggers for setting up report execution schedules:

• You cannot or do not want to wait a long time for a report to be executed.
• You need to obtain data of certain reports on a regular basis.
• You have no immediate  access to SAP Business One, either frequently or for a long time.
• You want to compare the different results of one report executed at regular intervals.

Prerequisites

• You have full authorization for the report scheduling functionality. For more information about authorizations, see the SAP Business One online help.
• You have configured SBO Mailer. For more information, see Configuring SBO Mailer for Report Scheduling and Mailing.

Scheduling Report Execution

You can schedule executions of reports only by running queries without parameters.

Prerequisites

• You have assigned at least one layout to the query you want to run. For more information, see the SAP Business One online help.

• You have configured SBO Mailer.

Procedure

1. From the SAP Business One menu bar, choose Tools → Queries → Query Manager.

2. In the Query Manager window, select a query and choose the Schedule button.

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3. In the Report Execution Scheduler window, in the general area, specify the required details.
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4. In the Recipients area, specify information about recipientes of the generated reports.

To add recipients, choose the Add Recipients button.

In the Add Recipients window, select required SAP Business One users and distribution lists and choose the OK button.

To save specified recipients as members of a new distribution list, choose the Save as Distribution List button.

5. To enable viewing the report execution results in SAP Business One, select the Access to Overview checkbox.

6. To enable sending emails with generated reports to a recipient, select the Email checkbox and specify an email address.

7. Specify in which formats you want the generated reports to be sent via email as attachments.

8. Choose the Add button.

The scheduled report will be executed and sent to the specified recipients via email at specified times.

To modify a specific report execution schedule, you can access the Report Execution Scheduler window to find it or access it directly from the Scheduled Report Overview window.

Report Execution Scheduler Window

To open the Report Execution Scheduler window, from the SAP Business One menu bar, choose Tools → Queries → Query Manager.

General Area

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Recipients Table

This table lists all recipients of the generated reports and other relevant information.

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Viewing Scheduled Reports in SAP Business One

In the Scheduled Report Overview window, you can view the details of scheduled report executions and the generated reports. The scheduled reports include reports that have not yet been executed or whose schedules have been deactivated.

Prerequisite

In the Report Execution Scheduler window, you have been granted access to the Scheduled Report Overview window.

Procedure

1. From the SAP Business One menu bar, choose Tools → Scheduled Report Overview.

2. In the Scheduled Report Overview window, to view the details of executions of a scheduled report, click the arrow next to the report title.

To view the details of executions of all scheduled reports, choose the Expand button.

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3. To view a generated report of one execution, double - click the row.

To view a particular format of a generated report, click the corresponding icon.

To view the execution schedule of a report, double - click the scheduled report row (first level).

If you are the creator of the report schedule, in the Report Execution Scheduler window that opens, you can

Modify and update the scheduling settings.

If you are the creator of a report schedule, to remove the report execution details and results, do one of the following:

To remove all execution details and generated reports, right - click the scheduled report row (first level) and choose Remove.
To remove details and generated reports of one execution, right - click the corresponding row (second level) and choose Remove.

Configuring SBO Mailer for Report Scheduling and Mailing

To schedule report execution and send generated reports via email, you must first define the mail settings and scheduled report settings. For more information, see the SAP Business One Administrator’s Guide.

Procedure
1. In the Windows system tray, double – click  Image may be NSFW.
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choose Start → Programs → SAP Business One → Server Tools → Service Manager.
2. In the SAP Business One Service Manager window, in the Service drop down list, select SBO Mailer and choose the Settings button.
3. In the General Settings window, define the mail settings according to your company settings.

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4. In the Scheduled Report Settings area, specify the file path of the SAP Business One client.
5. Optionally, enter an email subject prefix which precedes the subject of each scheduled email with the generated report.
6. Enter a name as the email sender.
7. Enter the sender email address.
8. Specify the timeout period for unsuccessful report execution.
9. Specify the logging level.
10. Choose the OK button.
11. Connect to a database for which you want to enable the mailing services. For more information, see SAP Business One Administrator’s Guide, available from within SAP Business One.
12. In the SAP Business One Service Manager window, in the Service dropdown list, select SOB Mailer, choose Image may be NSFW.
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Establishing User Credentials for SAP Business One Messaging Service on Microsoft Windows

When the SBO Mailer service is first started, the default Microsoft credentials for the SAP Business One messaging service are local system credentials. To fully deliver this service, you need to change the credentials to user credentials.

The authenticated user should meet the following two requirements:

• Has a user account in SAP Business One with full authorization for the report scheduling function
• Has a physical printer (not virtual) available

Procedure
1. In the task bar of Microsoft Windows,choose the Start button or (Start).
2. In the start menu, choose Run, enter services.msc and choose OK.
3. In the Services window, configure SAP Business One Messaging Service as required.

Information obtained about the authorizations required for report scheduling:

https://websmp108.sap-ag.de/smb/sbocustomer/documentation

Regards,

Marcelo Silva Santos

The B1SiteUser password cannot be recovered, but can be overwritten:

1. Open SAP Business One Server Manager

2. From the Drop down list choose License manager
3. Click on Settings
4. Click on "Configure Security"
5. Click on "Change Site password"
6. Validate Credentials by Server Database credentials
7. Fill in Database type (MSSQL 2005, 2008 or 2012)
8. Fill in the Database Server (Name or IP of SQL Server)
9. Fill in User name (e.g. 'SA') and fill in the related password for the chosen user
10. Type in "New Site Password
11. Repeat (confirm) the "New Site password”
12. Memorize the new password

In SAP Business One 8.8x

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In SAP Business One 9.0

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In browser https://server:30010/ControlCenter/index.html

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*Validate Credentials by Server Database credentials

Information obtained in:

https://websmp108.sap-ag.de/smb/sbocustomer/documentation

http://scn.sap.com/message/8407091

http://scn.sap.com/thread/3344347

http://scn.sap.com/thread/1948161

http://scn.sap.com/thread/1854904

http://scn.sap.com/thread/3256802

Regards,

Marcelo Silva Santos

Hi All....

Define your business goals–

      A certain amount of planning and insight are required from senior management within your business to ensure the SAP Business One solution you put in place meets your unique business requirements.

You will need to define your business goals, and the problems that your business wishes to overcome with SAP Business One. The better your understanding of why your business needs to implement an ERP, the more likely it is that the information you provide to your chosen solution partner will help increase the success of your implementation. The detailed information you provide allows your solution partner to tailor your SAP Business One solution to your specific needs to help grow your business.

Set Priorities–

     The opportunities for improvement with SAP Business One are limitless however, in most cases you will be constrained by the resources you can  dedicate to an implementation project, be that human resources, budget,  time constraints etc. Thus, it is important to priorities the goals you  want to achieve now and the main problems you want to resolve through  implementing SAP Business One.

Dedicate Resources–

     The cost of software, licenses, maintenance etc are only part of the true cost of implementing a new software solution. Success will often depend on the human resources you dedicate to the project. You will require someone within your organization to act as a project manager; this person will need a deep understanding of your company, your business processes and the industry you operate in. The chosen person or people will often need to be focused on the implementation project right up until your implementation is in the go live phase. This means dedicating a substantial portion of their time.

Manage Change– '

     preparation is key when undertaking a major change to your business processes such as implementing SAP Business One. Employees, customers and even suppliers should be aware of the change and how it will ultimately benefit the business and them.

Ensure Success– With the right solution partner to drive your SAP Business One implementation you mitigate any risk associated with implementing a new business software solution. The more you get involved at a strategic level, and dedicate adequate resources to underpin the implementation, the more likely it is that your IT strategy will well align with your business goals and ensure a highly successful ERP implementation.

Please Comments with your valuable points regarding to Make a Successful Implementation  ..

Thank You

Kennedy

My first computer was a Commodore SX-64 back in 1984 that I purchased to play games….and shortly thereafter when I started my own contracting business in the building industry I started using it to produce proposals and bills of materials (which by the way won me  a lot of work as none of my competitors were producing these on a computer).

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Over time I moved from the SX-64 to a Commodore Amiga and then to my first 8086 based PC and on from there.

A lot has changed in the IT industry since I first purchased a computer but there are some key drivers that are the same relating to what businesses (particularly SME's) want from their IT purchases. Even though the buzz words change over time, the fundamentals dont.....

In 1998, I was working at Great Plains Software and I was representing Great Plains as a member of what was then called the ASP Industry Consortium (Application Service Provider)…the very first industry group focused on the OnDemand delivery of applications over the Internet and comprised of industry pioneers in this space such as Citrix, Microsoft and a slew of equipment and infra-structure players such as Lucent, Corio, Cisco and others.

The holy grail in those days was focused initially on developing new “pay as you consume” license models which were even more of a challenge for incumbent software vendors then than they are now and many opted to construct finance offerings that gave the perception of a per user per month license payment model but at the end of the day….most people really got it that it was about financing by another name.

Of course, back then we could deliver applications over the internet thanks to the early implementation of the RDP and ICA protocols from Citrix and Microsoft and early adopters grabbed hold of this deployment methodology as a way of getting the applications they wanted to run at a price they could afford without the big up front investments in infrastructure…..sound familiar?

Of course – it’s the same thinking that drives people to todays cloud offerings whether from Salesforce.com, SAP or Microsoft and interestingly having been involved in these models since 1998, the thing that sticks for me is that at the end of the day the customer is still focused on one thing and one thing only.

Give me an application that delivers the functionality I need to run my business effectively at a price I can afford, in a way that I can easily consume without having to become a computer expert in the process.

Of course, those of us in the software industry and associated influencers, analysts and architects then get tied up in knots around the details of what is involved in doing this but at the end of the day, it always comes back to this key point.

When we launched SAP Business One OnDemand at CeBIT 2012, there was quite a bit of conjecture and discussion around whether or not the solution supported multi-tenancy and whether or not the architecture was single tenant, multi-tenant or whatever name the vendor chose to give it.

For a good sample of this here’s two posts from Dennis Howlett and Jon Reed that specifically dove in to this discussion along with a contribution from yours truly on exactly how we at SAP are delivering this multi-tenancy with SAP Business One and our Lifecycle Management Tools and architectural changes known collectively as the Cloud Control Center for SAP Business One.

Jon Reed on Google+ -https://plus.google.com/108599728945908192751/posts/QaW7M9x3ZGJ

Dennis Howlett on AccMan Pro -http://www.accmanpro.com/2012/03/13/why-the-sap-businessone-multi-tenancy-discussion-matters

Multi-Tenancy Deployments with SAP Business One OnDemand

I figured that now that we are 15 months on from that original announcement of SAP Business One OnDemand and that another SapphireNOW has come and gone with its raft of additional announcements and product re-naming’s, including SAP Business One OnDemand which is now called SAP Business One Cloud and sits under the Money group of SAP Cloud Apps from a branding perspective, it would be a good time to revisit the discussion and put a stake in the ground to give some view of the progress we have made with the solution.

Of course the primary indication people look to is how many customers have purchased the solution and I am pleased to say that we have sold more than 10,000 user licenses of SAP Business One OnDemand in a number of deployments and the amazing thing is that we are seeing many different models coming in to play with the customers that are purchasing – not just the traditional 3, 5 10 user deployments.

Many of the biggest investments from customers have come from large enterprise organizations that would prefer to keep their names out of the discussion as they are early in their deployment cycles but to give you an example of the industries and scenarios we are seeing, heres a few and interestingly we are getting a real mix of public cloud and private cloud deployments….all of which are facilitated by the “cloud-ability” of the solution (can I say that?)

Banking:Providing SAP Business One in an OnDemand model to customers as part of a full service package of financial services and software tailored specifically to the needs of SME’s together with pre-built integration to the banks financial transaction systems.

Retail:Providing SAP Business One OnDemand to downstream suppliers and manufacturers of product to enable better visibility of the supply chain with integration to the Large Enterprise Business Suite deployment for forecasting, master data management and vendor efficiency analysis.

Telecommunications:Providing SAP Business One OnDemand as part of an integrated package of applications, data, devices and deployment services to allow SME’s to get access to state of the art applications and devices with everything on a single bill from a single provider.

So whilst you probably heard SAP Business One mentioned briefly by Bill McDermott, Vishal Sikka, Jim Snabe and Hasso Plattner at Sapphire NOW in their respective keynotes, you probably didn’t here a lot of detailed shouting from the rafters about SAP Business One and how we are quietly plugging away in the background delivering on SAP’s On Premise, OnDevice, OnDemand product strategy.

You’ll probably be happy to know (especially if you are an existing customer) that the solution continues to grow in leaps and bounds ….and a lot of this is due to the team we have at SAP Labs in China who are really delivering on the product roadmap faster and at higher quality then ever before and the great and positive feedback we are getting from our customers that contributes to the development as well.

Speaking of roadmaps, here’s the latest roadmap for SAP Business One as well in a video presentation in case you didn’t get a chance to catch it in my original post.

if you have been reading this and are now thinking, wow, I didn’t know SAP Business One could do all these things, here’s an overview presentation I have put together as well that you can take a look at.

And if that’s not enough and you are still having difficulty wrapping your head around exactly what the solution is and what it does, here's a link to 6 hours of complete end to end demonstrations of the different components for you.

http://www.richardduffy.com/sap-business-one/complete-demonstration-of-sap-business-one

In my next post I will show you exactly how we deliver SAP Business One Cloud , the components of the architecture and why SAP Partners are succeeding with this by noting exactly what Jon Reed pointed out in his post ….”customers don't care - at least not about the technical guts of this”

Cheers

Richard Duffy

SAP Business One Product Evangelist and SAP Mentor

Master Data Cleanup Utility

How to Prepare for and Perform Master Data Cleanup

Introduction

You can use the Master Data Cleanup wizard to remove or deactivate data in SAP Business One Data can be business partners, item master data, G/L accounts, project codes, cost centers, distribution rules, and tax codes.

With the Master Data Cleanup wizard, you can perform the following tasks:

• Initiate a master data cleanup wizard run

When the master data cleanup wizard run is complete, a certain amount of data is permanently removed or deactivated from the database. This action is irreversible

Note

You are required to back up the data base before any data is removed. I f needed, you always can restore the backup file, review the database, generate reports, and print documents.

• Load a saved data cleanup wizard run

All data cleanup wizard runs are saved. You can view any master data cleanup wizard run executed in the past and check whether a specific document is included in a master data cleanup wizard run.

What Data is Removed or Deactivated?

The following table lists the database objects that you can remove or deactivate during the data cleanup process. The table is followed by a detailed explanation about the removal guidelines for each type of master data.

Financials

G/L Account– You can cleanup G/L accounts that are not connected to any nonremovable data. G/L accounts with the status Inactive can be removed but not deactivated. If you select items or business partners for removal, connected G/L accounts are recommended for removal.

VAT Groups– You can cleanup VAT groups that are not connected to any nonremovable data. VAT groups with the status Inactive can be removed but not deactivated.

Cost Center– You can cleanup cost centers that are not connected to any nonremovable data, unless they are system cost centers. Cost centers with the status Inactive can be removed but not deactivated. If you select distribution rules for removal or deactivation, connected cost centers are recommended for removal or deactivation accordingly.

Distribution Rule– You can cleanup distribution rules that are not connected to any nonremovable data. Distribution rules with the status Inactive can be removed but not deactivated. If you select G/L accounts for removal, connected distribution rules are recommended for removal.

Project Code– You can cleanup project codes that are not connected to any nonremovable data. Project codes with the status Inactive can be removed but not deactivated. If you select G/L accounts or business partners for removal, connected project codes are recommended for removal.

Sales Tax Code– You can cleanup tax codes that are not connected to any nonremovable data. Tax codes with the status Inactive can be removed but not deactivated. If you select G/L accounts, items, or business partners for removal, connected tax codes are recommended for removal.

Business Partners

Business Partner– You can cleanup business partners that are not connected to any nonremovable data. Business partners with the status Inactive can be removed but not deactivated. If you select items for removal, connected business partners are recommended for removal.

Inventory

Item– You can cleanup items that are not connected to any nonremovable data. Items with the status Inactive can be removed but not deactivated.

Removing or Deactivating Data

This chapter explains how to perform a master data cleanup wizard run. At the end of this process, a certain amount of data is permanently removed from or deactivated in the company database. 

Prerequisites 

You have made all the relevant preparations as detailed in the How to Prepare for Data Cleanup chapter.

There are no other users logged on to the company database.

Procedure 

1. From the SAP Business One Main Menu, choose Administration → Utilities → Master Data Cleanup Wizard. In the Introduction to Master Data Cleanup window, choose the Next button.

2. In the Wizard Options window, select the Start New Master Data Cleanup Run radio button and choose the Next button

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3. In the Master Data Cleanup Selection window, specify a unique name for this data cleanup run.

Note

By default, SAP Business One assigns to each Master Data Cleanup wizard run a unique name based on the following formulation: Database name_data cleanup wizard run sequential no._run date If you choose to specify a different name, the name must be unique and can consist of up to 100 alphanumeric characters.

You can specify the types of data to remove or deactivate by selecting the corresponding check boxes. To continue, choose the Next button.

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4. You can use the following windows to remove or deactivate master data.

If you specify to cleanup item master data, the Item Master Data Cleanup Selection window appears.

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The following table lists the fields in the Item Master Data Cleanup Selection window.

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The Item Master Data Cleanup Recommendations window displays the results of the database analysis by SAP Business One. This window indicates which item master data can be removed or deactivated and which cannot.  Select the items you want to cleanup and choose the Next button to continue.

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The following table lists the fields in the Item Master Data Cleanup Recommendations window.

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The following table lists the fields in the Business Partner Cleanup Selection window.

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The following table lists the fields in the G/L Account Cleanup Selection window.

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The following table lists the fields in the Project Code Cleanup Selection window.

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The following table lists the fields in the Distribution Rule Cleanup Selection window.

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The following table lists the fields in the Cost Center Cleanup Selection window.

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The following table lists the fields in the Tax Code Cleanup Selection window.

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5. The Save & Execute Options window appears. To save the data cleanup wizard run, select the Save Parameter Set and Exit radio button and choose Finish. To remove or deactivate data, select the Execute radio button and choose the Next button to continue.

6. The Progress Bar window appears, providing you with an overview about the upcoming process. To continue, choose the Next button.

7. Once the process is complete, the Master Data Cleanup Summary window appears. This window displays an overview of the main results of the data cleanup. To continue, choose the Next button.

8. A window appears informing you the master data cleanup completed successfully. To complete the data cleanup process, choose the Finish button.

Loading Saved Data Cleanup Runs

You can load master data cleanup wizard runs to do the following:

• Track documents that are removed or deactivated
• Examine each step of previously executed master data cleanup runs
• Modify and execute saved master data cleanup runs The following procedure describes how to load master data cleanup runs. 

Procedure

1. From the SAP Business One Main Menu, choose Administration → Utilities → Master Data Cleanup Wizard. In the Introduction to Master Data Cleanup window, choose the Next button. 

2. In the Wizard Options window, select the Load Saved Master Data Cleanup Run radio button. A table listing all saved master data cleanup wizard runs appears.  Click the row of the master data cleanup wizard run you want to load and choose the Next button.

The following table lists the fields in the Wizard Options window

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https://websmp108.sap-ag.de/smb/sbocustomer/documentation

Regards,

Marcelo Silva Santos

Fixed Asset in SAP Business One 9.0

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• Fixed Asset Overview
• Fixed Asset Setup
• Fixed Asset Application
• Product Demo

PSD Enablement Session “Fixed Assets in SAP Business One 9.0"

https://websmp106.sap-ag.de/~sapidb/011000358700000554272013E.zip

Link to the recorded session

Regards,

Marcelo Silva Santos

Exciting news!

As many of you know I provide a fairly significant chunk of infrastructure to allow SAP partners, SAP employees and customers to see, use and demo SAP Business One solutions for themselves over the Internet in a demo environment including SAP Business One Cloud, HANA and more.

As of next Wednesday I will be moving all my demo servers in to the Equinix Sydney SY3 IBX Data Center which is strategically located with close proximity to the Central Business District and has direct and redundant fiber access to Southern Cross Cable Head which provides the main and secondary fiber optic internet links to and from Australia.

The Data Center is already providing  secure co-location for a diverse ecosystem of network, enterprise and cloud companies and is where Amazon have located their newest Asia Pacific data center (http://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2012/11/12/announcing-the-aws-asia-pacific-sydney-region/) and all data on the SAP Business One One Server Farms will be backed up daily to the Amazon AWS S3 Secure Storage Service -  http://aws.amazon.com/s3/ .

Backed by state of the art security, network connectivity and redundant power, Equinix SY3 is the ideal location for the SAP Business One Demo Server Farm

The 3 HANA servers, multiple Windows servers and associated storage arrays will be located in a secured private suite.

The suite is secured by a biometric scanner and the suite is actively monitored internally 24x7 by camera motion, door status (open/closed) as well as temperature and humidity.

In addition the available pipe is 30 Gbps download and 40 Gbps upload which represents and bandwidth boost of 80 x over what is currently in place and should alleviate any speed challenges that may have been encountered in the past.

The data centre meets the following ISO standard for security management:

ISO / IEC 27001:2005 Information Security Management System Standard

Security is of paramount importance and ISO 27001 is the most widely-accepted certification available for supporting information and physical security and business continuity ISO 27001 ensures that:

• risks and threats to the business are assessed and managed
• physical security processes such as restricted/named access are enforced consistently
• audits are conducted regularly at each site that include tests of security and cctv planning and monitoring.

Key Power and Security Infrastructure

• N+1 Power, A+B power feeds, 6 x 2.275 MVA diesel generators
• 2 x 3.7 MWr + 2 x 600kWr (N+1) water cooled centrifugal chillers
• 24/7 manned security, access control lists, biometric readers

In fact after the relocation, the servers and data center will meet and actually exceed SAP’s own certification requirements for the hosting of SAP solutions which will also make it even easier to demonstrate our SAP Business One HANA and SAP Business One Cloud solutions to potential customers and partners all around the world as every one of our solutions with full integration capabilities will be available from the new infrastructure.

I look forward to sharing the new infrastructure with you next week!

Richard Duffy
SAP Business One Product Evangelist and SAP Mentor

The Equinix SY3 Data Center Main Entrance

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The SAP Business One Demo Server Farm will sit in one of these racks

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With lots of power backup batteries

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And a central Network Operations Center keeping watch

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And lots of chillers to keep them cool

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Hi,

I was currently assigned with SAP Business one implementation for Ice-Cream retail business. I was finding some difficulty in mapping the retail sales process.

I just explain the process flow if anybody assist me with the solution means it will be very much helpful.

In the retail shop different flavors of ice-creams were arranged in transparent bins, the customers walk-in through the shop will select their own combination of ice-creams and nuts and the shop supervisor ll stuff all the required flavors and nuts as per customers selection in a plastic box. the sales price of the ice-cream was fixed as per the weight of the ice-creams and nuts in the plastic box and not with respect to the flavor of the ice-creams.

currently they are calculating the sales quantity by manually calculating the difference between opening stock and closing stock.

This is the process flow, need a solution for this, Kindly suggest if any add-on is available in the market for this process flow.

Regards,

Vinoth Florian.Z

Hello!

SAP Business One 9.0, version for SAP HANA is already in rampup for some weeks and we will like to share with you some information about this release.

.

The first point is how to download it.

In order to be able to download SAP Business One 9.0, version for SAP HANA please contact the Local Product Expert in your region to get all details about the software download enablement process.

.

Once youhave access to the SAP Business One 9.0, version for SAP HANA software:

1. Download SAP Business One 9.0, version for SAP HANA package from the SAP Business One
   download catalog(SAP S-user required) as any other SAP Business One products.
   SAP Business One 9.0, version for SAP HANA installation package will be
   available inside Installations -> SAP B1 VERSION FOR SAP HANA -> SAP B1
   9.0 FOR SAP HANA.
   SAP Business One 9.0, version for SAP HANA upgrade packages will be available
   inside Updates -> SAP B1 VERSION FOR SAP HANA -> SAP B1 9.0 FOR SAP HANA.
   .
2. Check the following very important SAP Note giving details about SAP
   HANA matching version:
   1841037 - Central Note for SAP Business One 9.0, version for SAP HANA (SAP S-user required).
   .
3. Read carefully the B1_for_SAP_HANA_Admin_Guide.pdf in order to proceed with the installation.
   Note: Don't forget to check the prerequisites. One very important prerequisite is to upgrade SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 to SP2 (x86_64)).
   .

Note:

If you have any B1 problem/doubt while trying to do the installation please use the available SAP Business One forums to discuss with other SAP Business One version for HANA experts (use the corresponding forum depending on the topic your question is related to and add HANA in the title of your query so it can be easily identified). All SAP Business One forums can be accessed from SAP Business One main SCN page: http://scn.sap.com/community/business-one.

If your question is related to SAP HANA topics in general please use the SAP HANA Developer center forum: http://scn.sap.com/community/developer-center/hana.

Finally if you want to report a bug please use the standard SAP Business One support messages as usual for SAP Business One components.

.

Learn more about SAP Business One 9.0, version for SAP HANA at: http://sappartneredge.com/B1/hana.

.

Hope you will enjoy all new features of the SAP Business One 9.0, version for SAP HANA very soon!

The SAP Business One Solution Architects Team.

To request and install SAP HANA license key, follow the procedure below:

Step 1: Requesting a permanent SAP HANA license key:

Go to SAP Partner Portal to request the license at https://service.sap.com/smb/sbo/licensekeys. It is the same as you request the license for SAP Business One.

1. Choose the "Request license key" link.
2. In the "System Details" page, in the "System ID" dropdown list, select “NDB”.
3. You need to provide your SAP HANA hardware key. The system will generate the license file and send it to you via email.

NOTE: To get your SAP HANA hardware key, follow the procedure below:

1. In the SAP HANA studio, right-click your NDB system, and choose "Properties".
2. In the "Properties for xxx" window, select "License". You can find your hardware key in the "Request License Key" section.

Step 2: Installing the SAP HANA license key:

1. In the SAP HANA studio, right-click your NDB system, and choose "Properties".
2. In the "Properties for xxx" window, select "License", and choose the "Install License Key" button.

NOTE: After installation of the license key, check whether the SAP HANA studio can connect to SAP HANA. If not, go to step 3.

(Optional) Step 3: Restart the SAP HANA server with command “reboot”.SAP HANA license key

Source:
1739427  - How to request and install the SAP HANA license key

The New Cloud-Based Platform for SAP Business One

The SAP Business One Cloud solution meets the needs and expectations of small businesses without the typically higher costs and increased complexity of on-premise deployment. This proven web-based approach delivers an entirely new perspective for those eager to move on from myriad point-to-point applications or spreadsheets that lack the cohesion and fundamental value of SAP Business One. Managed and hosted by SAP partners, SAP Business One Cloud provides secure end-to-end functionality at predictable per-user fees. A highly intuitive interface simplifies training and ensures users get up and running quickly.

Dear Expert,

Bring SAP Business One on Management level with an Unique passion .....

If you have a Business Intelligence (BI) project that you need to get off the ground, I can help.  From concept to deployment,we provides the fastest, most cost-effective way to create, manage, and deploy actionable BI solutions with SAP Business Objects Dashboards and Reporting solutions. We excel in deploying BI solutions on Mobile devices (iphone / ipad).

The top three issues we address are 

               •Reduce dashboard development time and total cost of ownership

               •Accelerate adoption and deployment of actionable dashboards

               •Promote effective decision making through increased interactivity and greater accessibility

I’m at my desk right now if you’d like to mail me for more information.

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Thanks

Kevin Shah

Here are all clip version 9 features

Multiple Unit of Measures

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0omysY1mrqA&hd=1

Purchase Request in SAP Business One 9.0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUB-i7qf_hU&hd=1

Advanced G/L Account Determination

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBlN2u1Vz_I&hd=1

Bin Locations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgAFgdKyuao&hd=1http://

Fixed Assets

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UIZ2Fgl8pI&hd=1

Implementation Center

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGaGqfsqZ34&hd=1

Inventory Counting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_-mTrlc9iQ&hd=1

For more details version 9

https://websmp104.sap-ag.de/partneredge/b1/90

Thanks

Kevin Shah

On 12th June 2013 the UK and Ireland SAP User Group held the June Special Interest Group meeting for Business One customers. 30+ Business One users gathered at the Manchester Metropolitan University for a day of SAP Business One related sessions. The Manchester Metropolitan University Business School is a great venue for sessions like this, the inside has a resemblance to The Death Star!

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The Busines One Chariman, Martin Lewis, introduced the day and handed over to newly appointed SAP Mentor and Business One Evangelist, Richard Duffy. Richard had just arrived in Manilla and talked to us via Google Hangout. The only slight frustration was that our microphone and camera did not work so communication with richard was via keyboard. Richard talked about the plans for Business One and it was reassuring to hear that, although SAP are putting a lot of money in to HANA development, SAP Business One on SQL server is in the long term product roadmap. "We want to give Business One users the choice to utilise the power of HANA, either Analytics or full ERP. SAP are making HANA very affordable for Business One users but we are not going to force anyone to take it." Said Duffy. Richard went on to offer all Business One users access to his demo databases where users can get cloud access to the new version 9 of SAP, Business One an HANA and SAP Business One Cloud via his Academy www.sapbusinessoneacademy.com Richard spoke for an hour and had the audeince captivated. We really hope he will make a personal appearance at the Annual Confernece in November.

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Next up it was the SAP Mentors Update. I spoke about why I think it is important for Business One users that we now have two Mentors representing Business One. SAP are really increasing the importance of Business One in their porfolio of products and we are no longer the poor relation to the Business Suite family. I talked about ideas to get more SME representation at SAP events like TechEd and Sapphire Now with the Business One users sounding interested. We then jumped in to the SAP Community Network to recap on how to ask questions and post blogs in the SAP Business One space. We talked about the SAP Idea Place and encouraged users to post ideas then let me know so I can promote it within the SAP Community.

I then put my SAP User hat on and presented about why we are looking to buy Coresuite Mobile Application for SAP Business One. My company is Zoedale Plc and we are a Value Added Reseller of Solenoid Valves and Actuators in the UK. We have 5 Sales People who need to get access to SAP from customer sites to check sales history, stock levels and place orders. I handed over to Steven Ditmore from Coresuite who showed the family of products including The Country Package which can be used to customise Business One and includes some nice reports and an Enterprise Search similar to the one found in SAP HANA.

After lunch, Business One user Peter Linton from Industrial Lubricants company Metalube talked about how he taught himself SQL Queries. Peter is a great example of how intuitive SAP Business One can be, he now uses SQL Queries to report on many aspects of his business that just wouldn't be posisble without an understanding of SQL. We highly recommend the book Mastering SQL Queries by Gordon Du as it is great for learning the basics then  moves on to more tips and tricks.

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All in all the users said they had a really good day and the content was good. We had lots or audience participation and the users shared their experiences with SAP Business One and helped each other find solutions they can take back to their businesses. This is one of the appeals of the User Group, you get to meet other people using the same software as you and share stories and experiences.

Our next SIG is at the UK and Ireland SAP User Group Annual Conference in November. More details will follow.

SAP Business One integrates with iVend Retailusing the standard DI APIs provided as a part of SAP Business One Software Development Kit. iVend Retail also integrates UDFs (User Defined Fields) defined on Business Partner and Item Master in SAP Business One.

There are over 25 masters and numerous transactions which integrate between iVend Retail and SAP Business One.

When installed, iVend Retail configures 2 services – integration and replication, which are utilized for integrating both applications and to replicate retail data and transactions across the retail enterprise.

Considering the sensitivity of retail operations, only a few masters have a bi-directional integration. Most of the others are defined in the core ERP – SAP Business One and integrated into iVend Retail and the entire Retail enterprise.

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iVend Retail and SAP Business One are normally configured at a central location, typically the Head Office. Retailers prefer to configure these applications on two eparate servers with the iVend Retail server having a static IP (one that can be searched on the Internet). This is done so that the store servers are able to ‘locate’ the central iVend Retail server, called iVend Enterprise, for the purposes of integration and replication.

The application is so designed that it is not necessary for the stores to be “Always Connected” to the central iVend Retail server (iVend Enterprise). The synchronization between the store operations and iVend Enterprise can be scheduled on a pre-defined frequency and whenever the Internet connectivity is restored, the store operations get synchronized with iVend Enterprise.

All the stores are configured as warehouses in SAP Business One. In-transit warehouses are also configured to track the inventory while in-transit from the distribution center to the retail store.

By implementing SAP Business One with iVend Retail, retailers can:

• Streamline their In-Store & Head office operations by seamlessly integrating key business processes.
• Integrate their retail process including sales, fulfillment, inventory, finance, Taxes
• Take proactive control of their business through automatic alerts, workflows, and response to key business events and customer needs.
• Customize SAP Business One to support your changing needs and individual user preferences with easy-to-use customization tools.

List of masters integrated between iVend Retail and SAP Business One

List of transactions integrated into SAP Business One

Overview of SAP Business One License User Types

The license comparison chart details the access rights for the various SAP user licenses in the SAP Business One software. For your convenience, this chart is now available as MS Excel format, in English, French, German and Spanish.

This chart is valid for following releases:

• SAP Business One 9.0
• SAP Business One 8.82

  The chart also details the access rights for the previous user types, for contracts based on the former pricelist (before May 1st, 2008).

Note that these previous user types continue to be supported in SAP Business One releases 8.82 and higher

The license comparison chart can be found on the Channel Partner Portal (S-User login required).

https://websmp201.sap-ag.de/~sapidb/011000358700001169092011E/B1_LicenseComparisonChart.xls

https://websmp203.sap-ag.de/~sapidb/011000358700000953982007E

https://websmp201.sap-ag.de/smb/sbo/license

Regards,

Marcelo Silva Santos

Training Date: July 11, 2013 at 2:00 PM Eastern.  This is a one and a half-hour online course - learn from the comfort of your office.

Course Description: What's the next step beyond Drag & Relate for reporting?  Queries!  During this course you will learn how to use the SAP Business One Query Generator to extract data.  The Query Generator tool features a simple language for creating database queries and defining reports. Users can use all the data from any field to create a detailed or summary report. Once a query is defined, it can be saved in the query library for future use. The report editor can be used to refine and change existing queries. Basic SQL syntax will be discussed.  Use for both standard SAP Business One data or Enprise data.

SAP Business One Query Generator Training Course Outline        

• Rules for using SQL with SAP Business One — no inserts, updates, or deletes ever!
  • How to find the query generator and the query preview window
  • How to save queries
  • How to execute queries
• Creating SELECT statements in the query generator
• How to find which tables to use in SAP
• System information
• Database reference
• How to choose columns to display in your query
• How to restrict the rows that display in the query
• How to add parameters and prompt users for information
• How to group data and perform aggregations
• Examples

Training Session Cost:  $350.00 USD per participant.

Training conducted by:  Aether Consulting, an SAP Gold Reseller partner for SAP Business One based in Michigan.

Register by emailing sales@aetherconsulting.com.