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Business Intelligence Technology Environment or BITE is my own little tag line and acronym (maybe I should copyright it) to express the host of solutions available in the Business Intelligence application world today. (It could also be used as a verb to describe the plethora of poorly designed solutions… ahh but that is another story.)
My current blog series will be Oracle EPM/BI+ solution centric while remaining Oracle EPM/BI+ application agnostic (now dictionary.com is paying off). I hope that you will enjoy this real life approach to the process of decision making on software solutions interspersed with some genuine tips and tricks of the trade — some that you have seen before and some you have never imagined.
In other words, I hope that you will not find this blog to be represented by my newly coined acronym — BITE.
Rules of conduct while at the Buffet
First we need a definition. Yes a definition! Don’t be afraid, definitions are a good thing, they keep us grounded, they set limits and finally they determine if we are true to our mission. I define BITE as processes, software and goals needed to precisely solution the business data critical to the legal, accounting and business decision needs of a specific entity.
Inventive techno junkies, single tool consultants and one track sales people – CLOSE YOUR EYES / SHEILD YOUR COMPUTERS for this next statement else you might go blind. “Precisely Solution” in the definition of BITE includes the moral imperative of not misusing software for intent other than its design and picking software that fits the current business life cycle of a company. (Those of you with Software Misuse problems, I will be posting a number you can call to get help. Remember the first step is admitting you have a problem.)
The application stack for EPM / BI+; HFM, Essbase (with all its add-on modules), Smart View, OBIE, OBAW, FDM, DRM, ODI and a few products you might not have heard about or you’ve heard about but never assessed for your purposes. NO, NO, No, no folks this is not a software sales blog, it’s a solutions blog and in our solutions toolbox we need to do more than use a single hammer creatively to remain competitive from an efficiency and business life cycle standpoint.
The Personalities in the Buffet Line
Now that we have some parameters (and I know it was painful for you left brainers) by which we can solution, we need some realistic company situations to solution. Let’s start with four companies each different in their business life cycle, staff sizes and demands for a BITE at success. You can email me if you will absolutely die without a very specific company example however, I cannot boil the ocean here in this blog (small ponds are all that will be possible).
Our four companies need to be different to see solutions in the work. Let’s pick a manufacturer, a technology company, a retailer and a commodity group. In my next addition we will outline the companies, their mission, their needs and their resources.
OBIEE (Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition)
In this part of my OBIEE blog, I’ll guide you through basic steps to create an Oracle server repository and use it to bring over a relational data source for use in OBI Answers. As of OBIEE version 10.1.3.3.2, Essbase is supported as an OBI data source allowing the user to integrate Essbase data with OBI Answers, OBI Interactive Dashboards, and OBI Publisher. The latest version of OBIEE is 10.1.3.4x. Refer to my part 2 blog (OBIEE and Essbase – Defining OLAP Integration) for importing Essbase content into OBIEE.
For the below steps, I will be using SQL Server 2005 relational database as my source but you can use Oracle 10g or older versions of either tool.
To create an Oracle repository, open the Oracle BI Administration Tool and select File | New and name your new repository.
Set security by selecting Manage | Security. Assuming you are the admin, select Users | Administrator. Right click Administrator, select Properties to enter an admin password and confirm the password. Close out Security Manager.
To import a relational data source, select File | Import | from Database.
Select a connection type.
Select the relational data source, enter login credentials and click OK.
Enter the relational table to import. Deselect all but Tables, Keys, and Foreign Keys and click Import. If you are using Views instead of Tables, change accordingly.
The relational table will import into the Physical layer of the Administration Tool.
Test the import by right clicking a column (Branch_Name is selected in this example) and select View Data. Values for the selected column should populate in a view data table.
Drag the imported relational table folder from the Physical layer to the Business Model and Mapping (BMM) layer. In the BMM layer, here you can create logical tables and joins to develop the type of model needed for presentation.
Next, drag the relational table from the BMM layer to the Presentation layer to finalize its presentation for the user. Manipulation by presentation can be performed in this layer for Subject Area use in OBI Answers.
For your reference and as a recap from my part 2, here is the significance of each layer:
| 1. Physical layer – imported tables and views come from the relational data source; physical joins can be performed here |
| 2. BMM layer – this layer organizes imports from the physical layer into logical categories |
| 3. Presentation layer – BMM entities are organized for user presentation |
Once your Presentation layer is complete, it can be made available for OBI Answers to create dashboard content bringing both relational and multidimensional data sources into one view. A sample of an Answers view is displayed below combining both relational and multidimensional data sources into a combo box allowing for choice among regions. Any selection of region updates both relational and multidimensional tables for view.
This is just one simple example of the product’s capabilities. OBIEE is redefining how we approach BI with the evolution of this product improving on how we develop it. There is a great deal of flexibility within OBIEE for relational and multidimensional reporting and those who understand how to leverage this tool will see its impact upon their organization for the better.
