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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.
Should I use EPMA or DRM?
Over the past several months, and quite possibly the past year or two, there have been numerous discussions regarding the need for a separate master data management (MDM) tool such as Hyperion / Oracle Data Relationship Management (DRM) to manage Hyperion metadata outside of the Enterprise Performance Management Architect (EPMA) tool that comes with Hyperion System 9 and Oracle Fusion 11.
Recently at a users’ conference, I heard comments like “EPMA is DRM ‘Light’” and “EPMA is DRM with a Web interface”.
Hyperion, and obviously now Oracle, has invested deeply in EPMA and it is difficult to identify how and where it might differ from the DRM product. Oracle has even used portions of the DRM base code and underlying architecture in EPMA and when looking at vapor-ware demos, you might draw similar conclusions to those quotes above. In reality, EPMA, in its current state, is a pumped up version of the old Hyperion HUB as it relates to metadata management. Granted, EPMA has updated the user interface leveraging the glyphs (icons) and nomenclature from DRM while completely missing the intellectual aptitude that a master data tool provides.
Below are the key uses that were provided in a recent Oracle presentation as well shows the difference between EPMA and DRM:
EPMA
EPMA
- Unifies and aligns application administration processes across the Hyperion EPM system
- Imports and shares business dimensions in the Dimension Library
- Builds, validates, and deploys applications in the Application Library
- Designs and maintains business rules in Calculation Manager
- Loads and synchronizes transaction data into and between EPM applications
DRM
- Manages change of business master data across enterprise applications
- Consolidates and rationalizes structures across source systems
- Conforms dimensions and validate integrity of attributes and relationships
- Synchronizes alternate business views with corporate hierarchies
- Key Features include:
i. Versioning and Modeling
ii. Custom rules and validation
iii. Configurable exports
iv. Granular security
v. Change tracking
*Oracle Hyperion Data Relationship Management, Fusion Edition 11.1.1- Robin Peel
Not well!!
Does this resemble your IT person managing your financial master data?
Traditionally, financial data marts and operation data stores are built and managed by IT. So how does the business user view and manage the hierarchies and metadata attributes without IT getting in the way? Coming from the IT side of the house, I have had the opinion that the business might “know the business”, but given the opportunity to manage a technical system they will take shortcuts and ultimately bring the IT solution back to a level they are comfortable with…and thanks to Bill Gates, Microsoft Excel ends up trumping the investment in technology.
I have found that there needs to be a bridge between IT and business users. By the nature of a bridge, there is a span that straddles an open gap with the potential if not built correctly the plunge can be a long and ‘fatal’ fall.
There are many companies offering workflow tools to bridge the gap by helping the communication between business and IT. Alone these solutions still leave opportunity for failure as IT is managing systems it does not have an intimate ownership in. Nor does IT have the knowledge to determine if the business is going to request a change that will impact the system. IT presumes that if the software allows the change than there is no reason why not to do it. As we all have experience one time or another, this is a bad assumption.
Of the many tools I have worked with, currently the Oracle Data Relationship Management (DRM) tool (formally Hyperion MDM / Razza Dimension Server) fills the gap between business and IT. Using a tool such as this gives a strong user interface that the business can use and buy into while allowing IT to be involved by building edit checks and integrity checks into DRM. Additionally it provides IT the vested ownership while keeping the business from impacting their own “business rules”. Not to mention IT’s data governance policies are enforced which keeps IT happy.
A win, win for everyone… right?
