One of the new universe security features in Information Design Tool (IDT) is the Business Security Profile, which allows universe designers to assign column-level security on objects and apply profiles directly to users and groups. Business Security Profiles provide advanced and flexible object security, which is an overall improvement compared to the all-or-nothing approach with legacy Universe Design Tool.

Pros and Cons

The added flexibility means fewer universes to develop and maintain since you can achieve more with a single universe. I am particularly pleased that SAP included a distinction between “Create Query” and “Display Data” object security. This is a relatively simple security method with powerful possibilities.

There is no denying that all these new features (and the extra steps involved at every level) have greatly complicated the universe design process. The learning curve is steep, but I still find many of these features useful. Business Security Profiles are…