Anyone with experience going from BOBJ to WebFocus
sfaridi 
(BOB member since 2002-08-29)
Hi Safridi,
I would like know if you got anyupdate on this?
Could you please share your experiences with WebFocus if you are working on this product.
GowthamSen 
(BOB member since 2006-08-31)
I did not get any information on the conversion here or anywhere else for that matter. But I have done some rewrites. What is your question?
sfaridi 
(BOB member since 2002-08-29)
Thanks for your quick response.
My user is suggesting me to check out the WebFocus. I am a newbie to this tool. I am working on BO XI R2 since 3.5 years. I would like to know, how WebFocus makes difference than BO. I am working in a Telecom Domain.
I have gone through Information Builders Website. It seems they have all the features as same as BO. Generally in Telecom Domain there will be lot of data. I am looking for the following capabilities in the tool. I am not sure which one is good.
–> Adhoc reporting capabilities - for simple and easy to create reports
–> Geographica Charts and flexibility in the charts
–> Reports using Google Maps and drill downs
–> Able to handle huge amount of data
If you could show me some light on the comparison of these tools, that would be really helpful.
Thanks in Advance.
Regards,
Gowtham Sen
GowthamSen (BOB member since 2006-08-31)
–> Adhoc reporting capabilities - for simple and easy to create reports
this may depend on what you consider Adhoc. Business Objects has a superior ad hoc reporting capability than any other tool IMHO. If you are looking for ready to consum fancy report in a dashboard type custome interface webfocus can do a very good job by combining 4th GL, html, and javascript. The type of things you typically do using Business Objects SDK. If adhoc to you mean you want a simple interface where business user can develop fairly powerful reports without any IT interaction than Business Objects would be the hands down winner. Keep in mind the two tools can be use together to deliver a better solution to the business. One tool only solutions will have limitations.
–> Geographica Charts and flexibility in the charts
Charting is superior in WebFocus provided you dont mind coding in 4th GL.
–> Reports using Google Maps and drill downs
Both are about same. WebFocus may have an edge due to 4th GL code
–> Able to handle huge amount of data
This is an inherit weakness of Busiess Object. WebFocus can handle large chunks of data efficiently by using temporary data hold files.
One very real difference between the two is WebFoucs has a major advantage when it comes to the commitment to help its customers and excellent cusotmer services.
Good luck my friend
sfaridi (BOB member since 2002-08-29)
I cannot agree on this one. Accessing huge amounts of data is not the issue, it depends on your DBMS or OLAP system. Webi can handle millions of rows, but what use is a report 5000 pages long anyway.
I was part of a project at a large telecommunications company, can you hear me now ;), and we used a Teradata datamart and BusinessObjects Enterprise XIR2 on top (Webi for dashboarding)
By the way, with SAP BI Accelerator product/add-on there is also in-memory technology available.
Andreas 
(BOB member since 2002-06-20)
First of all how are you doing Andreas.
I still insist that IF there was a real need for insanly large reports (users complaing that BO breaks after 800 pages) WebFOCUS can deal with it more elgantly. Lots of Fed/State mandated reporting end up creating such reports.
sfaridi (BOB member since 2002-08-29)
No wonder that the government is so bloated 
Andreas (BOB member since 2002-06-20)
For larger reports you can use Crystal Reports
jp.golay 
(BOB member since 2002-06-17)
That would by nor business objects neither WebFocus if you get my point
sfaridi (BOB member since 2002-08-29)
Thanks a lot Sfaridi.
Your inputs surely help me to get more details of WebFocus.
I have one question, when it comes to implemetnation of a project based on WebFocus, what is the level of complexity in this tool?
For example, if we have a simple plain report, that would take 1 day to 2 days. (lets say around 10 hours) in Business Objects.
What would be the case for WebFocus? Is the development of reports of webFocus easier than BO ?
When it comes to map reports, what would be scenario?
Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Gowtham Sen.
GowthamSen (BOB member since 2006-08-31)
simple reports are compareable but WebFocus does a poor job of report formating out of box so you will have to do some extra work.
Business Objects is about twice as fast when it comes to highly formatted reports.
Meta data development is faster in WebFocus but if you like to created anything close to a universe than you have to do a lot of work in WebFOCUS.
Plus you are limited in WebFOCUS GUI interace unless you know the 4th GL
sfaridi (BOB member since 2002-08-29)
I started a thread in which I am posting comparison information between Business Objects and WebFOCUS.
See the following thread.
Business Objects and WebFOCUS Comparison
mgrackin 
(BOB member since 2002-08-29)