Authentication Certificates for Contextual Business Intelligence

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Solution Overview

Problem

Business intelligence applications face usability and performance issues due to the need for manual intervention or remote data polling to incorporate contextual information, which can slow down processes and reduce user experience, especially in large enterprises and mobile platforms.

Innovation Solution

Utilizing authentication certificates, such as X.509 certificates, to cache user data and provide contextual information automatically to business intelligence processes, allowing for enhanced user experiences and improved performance by eliminating the need for manual input or remote data polling.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If contextual information is obtained through manual intervention or remote data polling, then the BI application can provide adapted user experience, but the usability and performance of BI processes deteriorate due to manual effort and polling overhead

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser experience adaptationVSAvoidmanual intervention requirement

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system automatically extracts contextual information from authentication certificates without requiring manual user input. The certificate data is cached and automatically utilized by the BI application to adapt reports and interfaces to the user's context, making the system self-serve the contextualization need.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

Contextual information is extracted from authentication certificates during the login process, before the user actually needs to use the BI application. This preliminary extraction and caching of contextual data eliminates the need for repeated manual input or polling during the user session.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Adaptability or versatility

If contextual information is obtained through manual intervention or remote data polling, then the BI application can provide adapted user experience, but the performance of BI processes deteriorates due to polling overhead

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser experience adaptationVSAvoidBI process performance

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Loss of information

If contextual information is obtained through remote data polling, then the BI application can access external data sources, but the usability and performance deteriorate on slower networks and mobile platforms

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontextual information accessVSAvoidusability on mobile platforms

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of repeatedly polling remote data sources for contextual information, the system creates a local copy of the relevant contextual data from the authentication certificate. This cached copy is stored locally and used by the BI application, eliminating the need for repeated network requests and improving performance on mobile platforms with slower networks.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

4Extent of automation

If authentication certificates are used to cache user data, then contextual information is automatically obtained, but the complexity of data management increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveautomatic contextual information acquisitionVSAvoiddata management complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Extent of automationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The authentication certificate serves multiple functions: it provides authentication credentials for secure login and simultaneously serves as a source of contextual information about the user. By extracting contextual data from the same certificate used for authentication, the system avoids adding separate data collection mechanisms, thereby limiting the increase in data management complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS9210161B2Authentication certificates as source of contextual information in business intelligence processes

Publication Date: 2015.12.08 SAP IRELAND LTD

AI summary

A certificate of a user is presented by a client to a server. The certificate is used to authenticate communications between the client and the server. Thereafter, data from the certificate is cached at the server. The server then initiates one or more business intelligence processes of a business intelligence application at the client using the cached data to provide context to the one or more business intelligence processes. Related apparatus, systems, techniques and articles are also described.