We are following the below approach to create xcelcius dashboard:
BEx Query->Universe->WebI->Live Office->Xcelcius
However,we want to explore another option wherein we can directly dump the BEx query data into excel model and use the excel model in the xcelcius dashboard design.
pawan8785 (BOB member since 2008-09-09)
hi!
yes you can do that! see the SAP Netweaver BW connection in the data manager. and i think it only supports bw 7.2 or higher or something like that.
regards,
r.A.
R.A. 
(BOB member since 2008-10-28)
Which Version or Service pack supports this SAP Netweaver BW connection in the data manager?
Raghvendra Deshpande 
(BOB member since 2008-05-26)
hi!
sp3 supports it. you can download it here https://websmp130.sap-ag.de/sap%28bD1lbiZjPTAwMQ==%29/bc/bsp/spn/bobj_download/main.htm
regards,
r.A. [/url]
R.A. (BOB member since 2008-10-28)
Direct access from within Xcelsius to Bex queries (via BICS, which is a WebService) is available since Xcelsius 2008 SP2+ and SAP BW 7.01 SP5+
Andreas 
(BOB member since 2002-06-20)
Thanks.
Andreas,could you please provide me some more details about this process or you can provide some useful links wherein I can find the documentation for same.
Also,do u think this approach will save a lot of time for us as we will no longer be required to create universes and webi reports.
Pawan
pawan8785 (BOB member since 2008-09-09)
hi!
try to see this, i hope it helps
http://myxcelsius.com/2009/11/23/xcelsius-2008-and-sap-netweaver-bw-sap-mentor-webinar/
r.A.
R.A. (BOB member since 2008-10-28)
One of the main problems is that one cannot schedule Xcelsius dashboards directly, so with direct access to Bex (via BICS) you must always choose to refresh the connection.
With LiveOffice (accessing WebIntelligence or Crystal Reports) one can access scheduled instances.
Andreas (BOB member since 2002-06-20)