Silwood Technology's Safyr tool enhances metadata discovery for complex enterprise packages like SAP, Oracle, and Salesforce, addressing the common challenge of identifying necessary data within vast, intricate databases. By automating metadata extraction and providing user-friendly visualization tools, Safyr significantly reduces project delays, costs, and risks associated with poor data management. Case studies demonstrate improved productivity and increased trust in data insights following the implementation of Safyr.

1. Silwood Technology Limited
How Safyr’s metadata discovery capabilities
reduce cost and time needed to understand
Enterprise package data
30th June 2015

2. Information management projects
• Imagine you are a data
professional
• You are involved in a
large project
• Which involves finding
data from SAP, Oracle or
Salesforce packages

3. The challenge is finding the data!
• Where is the data I
need? (which tables?)
• How do I find it
– Documentation?
– Ask a specialist?
– Hire a consultant?
– Hope one of the tool
vendors can provide?
– Use a data modelling
tool?

4. Why are these applications so difficult?
• Large
• Complex
• Customised
• Specialists only
• ‘Invisible’ data model
“The data in these (ERP) systems makes sense and are useful, but only in the context of the hard-coded processes. In
short, the data is trapped inside a complex web of thousands of database tables whose integrity is solely controlled by
a rigid fossilized collection of software algorithms. If you don’t believe me, just ask your SAP support staff for access to
directly update (or even read) a data table.”
John Schmidt (vice president of Global Integration Services at Informatica Corporation)

5. If you can’t access or understand the source data?
• Delay in project benefits
• Late or under delivery
• Increased risk from poor data
• Over budget
• Loss of trust

6. The essential question: “Where’s my data?”
Typical environment
• 000’s tables (but only
need a few)
• Complex relationships
(how are tables joined?)
• Descriptions
• Customisations
“How do I quickly and accurately find the right tables needed for my project?”

7. One customer’s experience
“The team was originally
informed that no data model
was available for the SAP
application or for SAP BW”
Scott Delaney
BI Team Leader
Hydro Tasmania

8. How did they initially approach the challenge?
• Read documentation
• Ask technical specialists
• Ask consultants (expensive!)
• Informed guesswork
• Internet search

9. Eventually they contacted us and bought Safyr
Automates rapid harvesting and
discovery of metadata including
customisations
Powerful scoping and
introspection tools usable by data
professionals
Fast and easy integration with 3rd
party tools

10. Safyr summary
• Extracts metadata
• Easy search and filter
• Show related tables
• Logical and physical
• Descriptions

11. Safyr visualisation
• Partial view of a
data model from
SAP
• Safyr ER
Diagrammer
• Logical and
Physical names
• Relationships

12. Safyr provisioning 3rd party tools
• Export results for
– Data modelling
– Metadata Management
– Data Warehouse / BI
– ETL
– Data Integration
– Master Data
– Data Governance
– Data Testing

13. Safyr main features
 Rapid start – metadata extraction and repository build < 3 hours
 Accurate – works with system as implemented
 Results of analysis in hours or days, not months
 Reverse engineers application metadata (inc. customisations)
 Finds all tables, fields, view, descriptions (logical AND physical)
 Automatically discovers all relationships and Application module hierarchy
 Search, filter, navigate functionality
 Comparison features (complete applications or individual subject areas)
 Pre-configured Subject areas for SAP, JD Edwards, Siebel, Oracle EBS
 “ETL for Metadata” supports other packages (eg Dynamics)

14. Case study details - Hydro Tasmania
• Problem
– New SAP and BW
– New DWH and BI (BOBJ)
– “No SAP data model”
– Reduced productivity
– Business losing faith
• Solution
– Safyr for SAP data model
• Benefits
– BI project back on track
– No backlog, high productivity
– Improved trust
– Rapid ROI
“As a result of our investment in Safyr we are able to take a more agile approach
to meeting the demands for new reports and data within acceptable timescales
and the business’ trust in the information provided is growing”
Scott Delaney,
Hydro Tasmania

15. Safyr solves this challenge for Enterprise packages
“..as any data warehouse manager
will confirm from bitter experience
the biggest technical challenge they
face is in understanding the source
systems for the warehouse,
extracting the data from them and
building a consistent set of
information from the combined
sources”
Barry Devlin (2011)
Data Warehouse Design Redux

16. A final quote
“After doing a quick prototype
metadata extract from SAP, the
response has been very
positive!
I’m really grieving for the lost
years without access to this
tool. It has met and exceeded
my lofty expectations.”
Brian Farish
IT Architecture Manager
AMD

17. Return and value from Safyr for rapid source metadata discovery
• Faster project delivery
• Manage/reduce costs
• Higher productivity
• Accuracy of deliverables
• Fewer surprises during
project
• Improved trust in data

18. Want to learn more?
Visit: www.silwoodtechnology.com
Email: info@silwoodtechnology.com
Request evaluation copy:
http://www.silwoodtechnology.com/safyr-evaluation-licence/
Call: +44 1344 876 553