From SAP BO Reporting to Self-Service Power BI for Manufacturing: A Case Study in Enterprise BI Modernization

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One-liner summary:
A global photonics manufacturer partnered with Ideas2IT to modernize its legacy SAP BO reporting stack to unlock faster reporting, better governance, and business-wide analytics adoption through a Power BI–driven platform.
Industry
Manufacturing
Location
Pittsburgh, USA
Tech Stacks

Power BI, Power Query, SAP Business Warehouse, Azure Data Services/ On-Premise Sap BW Warehouse

Challenge

Siloed reports, brittle ETL pipelines, and weak governance made it difficult to deliver timely insights or enable self-service analytics.

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The Problem with the Status Quo

The client, a global leader in photonics technology, was operating with a fragmented, legacy BI ecosystem centered around SAP BO. Reports were siloed across sites, turnaround times were slow, and users lacked access to timely insights.
Multiple ETL streams, outdated tooling, and low business alignment hindered enterprise-wide visibility and agility.

To scale analytics for strategic functions like Procurement and Sales, the client needed to consolidate reporting, standardize governance, and transition to a segment-driven data architecture.

Where the Gaps Were

  • Disjointed Reporting Infrastructure: SAP BO Universes and static reports created logic duplication and inconsistent data interpretation.
  • Slow Development Cycles: Business units waited weeks for new reports due to manual workflows and lack of reuse.
  • Underutilized BI Assets: Business users depended on legacy exports and lacked trust in data consistency.
  • Inflexible Data Pipelines: SAP BODS was the bottleneck for adapting to new reporting requirements.
  • Missing Standards & Governance: No QA playbooks, no reusable semantic layers, and weak security practices slowed down transformation.

    • What We Delivered

    Ideas2IT was brought in to stabilize existing reporting, transform the data architecture, and enable long-term operations.

    Here's what we did:

    • Migrated SAP BO reports into modular, Power BI–based semantic models
    • Rebuilt legacy Universes into dimensional models with reusable DAX measures
    • Consolidated Procurement and Sales reporting pipelines into a single governed stack
    • Developed an MRO Spend Analytics cube with Power BI + SAP BW
    • Established governance: role-based access, RLS, certified datasets
    • Delivered architecture options (SAP Datasphere, hybrid models with Databricks, Fabric) and implemented a scalable reporting layer
    • Implemented QA workflows, test automation for BI validation, and sprint-based release.
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    Outcomes We Achieved

    Hidden Problem Value-Creation Risk
    Legacy / monolithic architecture Difficult to scale or integrate; refactoring is costly and time-consuming
    Poor-quality or undocumented code Leads to bugs, unstable releases, high maintenance overhead, and slows down feature rollout
    Fragile or inconsistent data pipelines and ETL/ELT logic Data-driven decisions, analytics, AI-based features, cross-sell depend on clean, reliable data brittle pipelines make this a ticking time bomb
    No CI/CD, lack of test automation, weak DevOps / QA practices Increases risk of regressions, slows down delivery, increases time-to-market; makes changes risky
    Security, compliance, tech-stack debt, unsupported dependencies Post-acquisition legal/regulatory risks, vulnerabilities, potential breaches or compliance violations especially critical in regulated verticals or global ops
    Data governance and privacy gaps, poor documentation, reliance on tribal knowledge Onboarding becomes expensive, maintainability suffers, value declines over time
    Industry
    Manufacturing
    Location
    Pittsburgh, USA
    Tech Stacks

    Power BI, Power Query, SAP Business Warehouse, Azure Data Services/ On-Premise Sap BW Warehouse

    Challenge

    Siloed reports, brittle ETL pipelines, and weak governance made it difficult to deliver timely insights or enable self-service analytics.

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    Key Takeaways

    • Modernization must start at the semantic layer and not just UI-level report conversion.
    • Introducing agile sprints, story point estimations, and backlog grooming made the biggest delivery difference.
    • SAP Datasphere with Power BI enabled rapid SAP integration while keeping open extensibility.
    • QA playbooks, testing protocols, and reusable models build long-term adoption.

    Co-create with Ideas2IT

    We show up early, listen hard, and figure out how to move the needle. If that’s the kind of partner you’re looking for, we should talk.
    We’ll align on what you're solving for - AI, software, cloud, or legacy systems
    You'll get perspective from someone who’s shipped it before
    If there’s a fit, we move fast — workshop, pilot, or a real build plan
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    Tell us a bit about your business, and we’ll get back to you within the hour.
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