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Designing Enterprise Security
by:
Troy Gottfried, Sr. Consultant,
BECP, CRCP
There are two types of security in BusinessObjects Enterprise:
(1) Content security and (2) application security.
Securing content includes setting permissions at the global level, folder
level, and sometimes even the object level (i.e., report level or document
level). Application security
encompasses all of the application components that make up the Enterprise
platform: Infoview, Central
Management Console, Designer, Web Intelligence, etc….
While application security is a very important topic, it is difficult to
make suggestions at a conceptual level without full knowledge of the user
environment. Therefore, the
remainder of this article will focus on content security.
Securing content is usually directed by two goals:
(1) Enforcing that users only see the content they should have access to,
and (2) easy navigation to the content users need.
The following questions should help direct your decision-making process
when it comes to planning your security:
-
Does this solution facilitate easy navigation for the users?
Is the folder or category structure intuitive, and do the naming
conventions make sense for the users of the system?
-
Are users and groups able to access only the content they are supposed to
access?
-
Is it possible for users to copy or move content, and how might this impact
them when newer versions of the content are provided?
-
Do I have several versions of the same content in Enterprise, and if so,
might the complexity be reduced if I could provide a single report or
document that meets the same requirements?
There are several options available to Enterprise architects and administrators
that help to ensure that the security paradigm that is designed meets the
criteria inherent in the above questions.
1. Plan, Plan, Plan…
Designing a successful security paradigm requires a significant time-investment
for planning. The planning process
is the most important aspect of administering an Enterprise platform, and given
due attention, it will reduce future administrative and maintenance overhead.
A well-designed security plan usually takes longer to devise than to
implement, which is exactly the goal of planning.
2. Use Semantic Layers (Questions 1,
2 and 4 above)
Universes and Business Views allow for both row- and column-level security at
the information layer. By utilizing
the security provided in the semantic layers, administrators and report
designers may be able to greatly reduce the number of reports needed in the
system. Additionally, secure
semantic layers provide a centralized place to update security and can also
reduce the number of folders needed in Enterprise.
3. Keep It Simple (Questions 1 and 2
above)
By making effective use of groups, folders, and access levels, administrators
can greatly reduce maintenance of the system.
In other words, try to stay away from applying security to users at the
object level.
4. Utilize Categories where
Appropriate
Categories were used in the Business Objects classic
security paradigm; they were synonymous with folders in the Crystal Enterprise
classic paradigm. Since version XI,
categories have become a new methodology that essentially allows Enterprise
Administrators to group shortcuts to reports and documents outside of folder
security. While folder security
trumps category security, categories can be useful tools in helping
administrators demystify the folder structure.
5. Maintain Documentation
Proper documentation of the Enterprise platform is essential for all of the
components that make up the system:
Hardware, installation and configuration settings, and storage, to name just a
few. The same holds true with
security. By maintaining
documentation that details the security settings at the various levels, any
administrator with proper access can add new users or modify existing settings
without creating unforeseen problems in Enterprise.
While the above checklist is by no means exhaustive, if used as a guideline for
implementing security, it can greatly reduce the complexity of the Enterprise
architecture. Of course, a complete
understanding of the security paradigm from Business Objects is the foundation
upon which all of the above suggestions rest.
Make sure that your knowledge of access levels, groups, folders, and
inheritance is solid before implementing your plan.
If the plan has been implemented successfully, then the final step in the
process should be understood without further explanation:
6. Test, Test, Test…
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