In the past, all CRM reporting — with limited exceptions for simple lists — was created on a separately installed SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence (SAP NetWeaver BI) system. Now in SAP CRM 2007, you can create basic reports right in SAP CRM by using the new interactive report wizard. The reporting philosophy has not changed, but has been made a little less stringent. You still need SAP NetWeaver BI for more complex reporting.

The interactive report wizard originates from the hosted version of SAP CRM called CRM on-demand. The wizard’s purpose was (and still is) to offer limited reporting capabilities. In SAP CRM 2007, interactive reports provide real-time data from SAP CRM without the need to extract the data to a separate SAP NetWeaver BI or to use other reporting tools. These reports are best when you need a quick report for a very limited simultaneous user load. An example would be a report for a particular sales group listing the number of opportunities by salesperson.

Add the CRM WebClient UI Profile

To access Interactive Reports, you need the correct logical link for the new CRM WebClient UI framework. This link is included in the CRM WebClient UI business role. It is not the same thing as a transaction PFCG-based standard authorization role. Instead, this is a role for organizing the new CRM WebClient UI output.

Go to the new CRM WebClient UI Business Server Page (BSP) application. To add the CRM WebClient UI, right-click Favorites, select Add other objects, and then select BSP application. Figure 1 shows the information you need to add to this screen.

Figure 1

Add the CRM WEB UI to your Favorites

Then you need to add the CRM WebClient UI profile to your user. Use menu path System > User Profile > Own data. Click the Profile tab, and then click the Parameters tab to add the data shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2

Add the CRM WebClient UI profile to your user profile

Use Interactive Reports

After you complete the steps in the previous section, select the CRM Web UI favorite and log on. From here you access the default AnalyticsPro role (Figure 3). Click the Report link to create Interactive Reports with the wizard.

Figure 3

Click the Report link to access Interactive Reports

The wizard walks you through the steps to create and distribute a report to various business roles. Figure 4 shows the first wizard screen. For each step, fill in the necessary information and then click Next.

Figure 4

Enter the Report Area information in the wizard

When you have entered all the information, click Preview to see your report. Figure 5 shows an example output with my sample data — the more data in the system, the more you can do with the reports. Although I didn’t use the Define Table and Define Chart options for my report, entering information for these wizard steps gives you graphical output options for your report.

Figure 5

Basic sample report built with the Interactive Reports wizard

In the last step in the wizard, Share Report, you distribute the report (Figure 6). I shared the report by person, but I could share it by finding users that are connected to a CRM organizational unit. Once shared, the users see the report in a work center link group called Shared Reports (Figure 7).

Figure 6

Determine how you want to share your report

Figure 7

Users access your report in the Shared Reports work center

Ned Falk

Ned Falk is a senior education consultant at SAP. In prior positions, he implemented many ERP solutions, including SAP R/3. While at SAP, he initially focused on logistics. Now he focuses on SAP HANA, SAP BW (formerly SAP NetWeaver BW), SAP CRM, and the integration of SAP BW and SAP BusinessObjects tools. You can meet him in person when he teaches SAP HANA, SAP BW, or SAP CRM classes from the Atlanta SAP office, or in a virtual training class over the web. If you need an SAP education plan for SAP HANA, SAP BW, BusinessObjects, or SAP CRM, you may contact Ned via email.

You may contact the author at ned.falk@sap.com.

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