Semantic layer

A semantic layer is a business representation of corporate data that helps end users access data autonomously using common business terms. Developed and patented by Business Objects, it maps complex data into familiar business terms such as product, customer, or revenue to offer a unified, consolidated view of data across the organization.

By using common business terms, rather than data language, to access, manipulate, and organize information, it simplifies the complexity of business data. These business terms are stored as objects in a universe, accessed through business views.

Universes enable business users to access and analyze data stored in a relational database and OLAP cubes. This is core business intelligence (BI) technology that frees users from IT while ensuring correct results.

Business Views is a multi-tier system that enables companies to build comprehensive and specific business objects that help report designers and end users access the information they require. Business Views enables people to add the necessary business context to their data islands and link them into a single organized Business View for their organization.

The semantic layer insulates business users from underlying data complexity, while ensuring the business is accessing the correct data sources and using consistent terminology. Benefits include improved end-user productivity and greater business autonomy from IT in accessing data.