Implementing BusinessObjects™ Rapid Marts® packages for SAP® without a team of core experts is a very risky practice. A Rapid Mart expert isn't somebody who just knows Data Integrator; that expert is someone who has unpacked, loaded, customized, handled errors and produced BI content for multiple rapid marts. Along with a core understanding about Rapid Marts, these experts must have extensive expertise in Data Integrator AND Business Objects Enterprise. By using this definition, CSI-DeLeeuw's parent company CSI is one of the few expert rapid mart partners in the BI space.
What is the Rapid Mart?
To understand a Rapid Mart, you must first understand what goes into a traditional Data Mart. Core questions to answer in building a data mart or data warehouse are:
- Where is the data?
- What answers does the data need to provide?
- How do we transform the data to provide those answers?
Once these questions are answered and architected, the process of physically moving the data — the bulk of work — begins. Next, the BI metadata needs to be written and developed, resulting in Data Mart and BI solution in place moving forward.
At its core, this entire process is exactly what you get with a Rapid Mart. The advantages of a Rapid Mart include a subject-matter-oriented Data Mart with correlating sample BI content. This means you get prewritten ETL transformations which are ready for specific applications like SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft or Siebel. This represents a large portion of the required work in any data warehousing engagement. Rapid Marts also provide sample metadata and content.
Why trust CSI with your Rapid Mart solution?
In 2004, many Business Objects clients were using the SAP Integration Toolkit which worked very well with Crystal Reports; but it had limitations with other content types such as Web Intelligence. With CSI's extensive background in Data Warehousing, Rapid Marts became a natural match of software and service provider, making CSI the premier provider of this type of engagement. At that time, CSI implemented its first of many Rapid Marts; and the benefits of openness and flexibility became immediately apparent to our clients.
CSI is a leader in the Business Objects Rapid Mart arena, bringing the experience of having been there ahead of other implementers — adding knowledge and best practices with each Rapid Mart implementation. Our knowledge and hands-on expertise allows our clients to set realistic expectations with management laying the groundwork for success.
How do I engage CSI?
Rapid Mart implementations require full stack knowledge of Business Objects and Data Integrator. Engage CSI early in your Rapid Mart selection process. We can provide experience-based insight into resources and timing on your Rapid Mart, and help you gain even greater ROI on your investment. For more information, contact CSI at info@csiwhq.com