You are on page 1of 7

The Build Versus Buy Decision:

Building a custom data warehouse and BI solution is a huge project. It involves


creating both a data management architecture (consisting of a data warehouse, st
aging area, and data marts) as well as a data access architecture (consisting of
reports, analytics, dashboards, and scorecards). For large enterprises, teams o
f up to 50 people are required to gather requirements; architect solutions; docu
ment metadata; train and support users; and purchase, configure, and integrate a
wide variety of tools.1 Expertise in consolidating and integrating data from he
terogeneous systems and applicationsas well as reconciling and validating data qu
alityis also required. In fact, the average data warehousing project costs $1.1 m
illion and takes 10 months to deliver, while a data mart project costs $544,000
and takes six months to deliver.2 In addition, these systems do not deliver insi
ght and information to the majority of the companys decision makers. They general
ly only provide a departmental view of the data. Packaged analytic applications,
on the other hand, offer 1) a faster time to value, 2) enhanced functionality,
and 3) a single BI foundation for the enterprise.
First, packaged analytic applications drastically reduce the time and cost to de
ploy a BI solution. One leading BI implementer has estimated that the cost of de
ploying a custom solution is typically 2.5 to 3.5 times greater than the cost es
timate of deploying prebuilt applications.3 Properly designed analytic packages
come with an integrated set of tools, data schemas, business views, and predefin
ed reports and dashboards that significantly accelerate the time it takes to get
a BI solution up and running. When deployed correctly, leading packaged analyti
c applications can shrink the time required to complete back-end ETL mapping; de
sign the data warehouse data model; define metrics and dashboards; and roll out
the solution and train business users. As Figure 1 illustrates, Oracles packaged
analytic applications can compress the entire systems time to value.
Second, a robust packaged analytic application can deliver functionality and ben
efits that would be difficult or impossible for you to reproduce on your own. Al
though these features and functions may not be the main driver in the selection
process, some of them may prove useful as your company becomes more analytically
sophisticated.4 Packaged applications provide an end-to-end view of corporate p
erformance and deliver role-based views for employees of all levels in most depa
rtments. When using Oracle Business Intelligence Applications, you can also leve
rage functional and industry best practices that are built into via reports, das
hboards, metrics, and guided analytics.
Finally, packaged applications like Oracle Business Intelligence Applications al
low organizations to deploy BI on a small scale for a single department and then
expand seamlessly to support other departments using the same model and platfor
m, delivering a consistent view of enterprise information. This is in contrast t
o the distinct data marts built for each departments custom solutionnone of which
uses the same data model or dimensions. The build-your-own
approach often creates silos of information that must eventually be replaced or
consolidated into a single enterprise data warehouse at great expense.5
The value of Oracle Business Intelligence Applications compared to traditional,
in-house BI solutions is clear: quicker time to deploy, less overall cost, an en
terprise view of data, role-based views for all employees, closed-loop processin
g, and built-in best practices. However, not all packaged applications are the s
ame. To get the most from your implementation, you need a complete analytic appl
ication that can collect and make sense of data from across the enterprise. That
data must then be packaged up and delivered to users in a format that enables t
hem to make the best possible decisions.
Solving the Data Access Challenge:
Most organizations struggle to obtain timely and relevant data from their enterp
rise systems. The reasons are twofold. First, the volume and the complexity of e
nterprise data have increased exponentially. To compound the problem, that data
is often fragmented across many disparate systems and departments. Second, the t
raditional BI systems used by many organizations cannot provide timely, cross-va
lue chain insight nor deliver it to large numbers of front-line users where it h
as the greatest impact. While other BI vendors place the expensive costs of inte
gration on your IT staffor on outside consultantsOracle assumes the integration bu
rden so you can focus on higher-value work.
Prebuilt Integrations and Adapters:
Oracle Business Intelligence Applications were developed with the expectation th
at data resides in multiple places and that enterprises use multiple packaged an
d custom-built operational applications. Oracle Business Intelligence Applicatio
ns offer prebuilt integration to the Oracle family of transactional applications
, including Oracle E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft Enterprise, Siebel CRM, and JD E
dwards EnterpriseOne. This includes support for Oracle E-Business Suites flexfiel
ds, PeopleSoft Enterprises department trees and department security, Siebel CRMs c
ustomer segmentation structure, and JD Edwards EnterpriseOnes category codes.
Only Oracle Business Intelligence Applications leverage the unique roles, profil
es, and security setups of each application family so business users can securel
y and contextually drill all the way to a transactional level of detail.Compleme
ntary to the prebuilt adapters for Oracle applications, Oracle Business Intellig
ence Applications also provide universal adapters to extract, transform, and loa
d (ETL) data from non-Oracle or legacy applications such as QAD or SAP. In addit
ion, call center operational informationsuch as interactive voice response (IVR)
and computer telephony integration (CTI) data, Web logs, and flat filescan be acc
essed and analyzed. Information can pulled from these multiple source systems an
d be integrated across multiple Oracle Business Intelligence Applications to giv
e a single view across the organization.
Dashboards and Metrics:
Oracle Business Intelligence Applications includes dashboards that deliver power
ful financial metrics directly to executives, managers, and analysts in the form
of easy-to-read charts, graphs, and tables. The complete environment contains o
ver 500 dashboard pages.
Alerts and Guided Analytics:
Oracle Business Intelligence Applications provide hundreds of prebuilt, guided a
nalytics and workflows. These proactive, event-based, and scheduled alerts are d
elivered directly to a users handheld device via e-mail or personalized dashboard
.
Reports:
The complete suite contains more than 3,000 prebuilt reports (with 18,000 data e
lements and metrics built in, documented, and available for use)
Different Oracle BI Applications:
=================================
**Oracle Business Intelligence Applications support eleven different functional
areas with best-practice analytics.
1. Oracle Financial Analytics
+Oracle Financial Analytics provides organizations with better visibility int
o the factors that drive revenues,costs and shareholder value.
2. Oracle Procurement and Spend Analytics
+Oracle Procurement and Spend Analytics benefit from increased visibility int
o corporate expenditures and a complete view of the procure-to-pay processi
ncluding comprehensive analyses of procurement, supplier performance, supplier p
ayables, and employee expenses.
3. Oracle Supply Chain and Order Management Analytics
+Oracle Supply Chain and Order Management Analytics delivers deep customer in
sight into the order-to-cash process and supply chainincluding inventory manag
ement and finished goods so organizations can make better decisions at each stag
e of the order lifecycle. Oracle Supply Chain and Order Management Analytics
enables organizations to assess inventory levels, predict product fulfillment ne
eds before an order has been booked, identify potential order backlog issues,
and stay on top of critical accounts receivable and DSO issues.
4. Oracle Project Analytics
+Oracle Project Analytics delivers insight into the financial performance of
projects so all team members can seamlessly track the project lifecycle. Orac
le Project Analytics provides hundreds of out-of-the-box, standards-based KPIs a
nd reports for project profitability analysis, funding and budgets, cost,
revenue, and billing. Information is personalized, relevant, and actionable to i
mprove project performance and profitability. Oracle Project Analytics also d
elivers cross-functional analysisincluding project-based analysis of accounts rec
eivable and accounts payable, invoice-aging analysis, or status of procuremen
t transactions by project. As a result all employeesgiven their level of securityc
an see a personalized, consistent version of the truth and take timely, corre
ctive actions to achieve project objectives.
5. Oracle Human Resources Analytics
+Oracle Human Resources Analytics helps organizations manage their talent and
analyze workforce performance by integrating critical data from HR, financia
l, and other enterprise systems. It transforms information silos into comprehens
ive, timely, and actionable insight into how various factors impact workforce
and business performance. Managers and line-of-business managers receive timely
information headcount costs and overtime payall segmented by geography, job c
ategory, division, and pay grade. This relevant information is delivered to exec
utives, HR managers, and business line managers through personalized dashboar
ds, metrics, and alerts. As a result, they can understand how workforce factors
affect individual departments and can take appropriate actions.
6. Oracle Sales Analytics
+Oracle Sales Analytics provides timely, fact-based insight into the entire s
ales process. This insight is proactively delivered to salespeople in the
field via laptop, personal digital assistant, or mobile phonesensuring they alway
s have the latest information they need to make informed decisions and incr
ease win rates. Sales executives can receive alerts when the pipeline suddenly c
ontracts or territory bookings drop below weekly targetsenabling them to take
appropriate corrective action. The benefits are faster and more informed decisio
ns that help the sales organization compete more effectively, lower sales
costs, and achieve better results. Oracle Sales Analytics includes prebuilt data
models, more than 200 metrics, and best practices based on Oracles experience
across thousands of sales force automation implementations.
7. Oracle Price Analytics
+Oracle Price Analytics provides organizations with valuable insight into pro
duct demand,customer price sensitivity, and overall pricing effectiveness. Th
e application allows organizations to analyze and understand important informati
on on product velocity, the impact of discounting, price promotion effectiven
ess, and product profitability across channels. Performance analysis offers fact
-based insight into product, customer, and overall business unit profitabilit
y. Drill-through capabilities provide access to detailed transactional informati
on. Leader-laggard charts and price waterfall analyses compare customer reven
ue and product performance against forecasts, commitments, and previous time per
iods. Oracle Price Analytics takes the guesswork out of setting prices by del
ivering consistent data to managers who can make insight-driven pricing decision
s, measure pricing effectiveness, and adjust or correct prices as needed.
Oracle Price Analytics enables companies to effectively manage prices, improv
e margins, and enhance business performance.
8. Oracle Marketing Analytics
+Oracle Marketing Analytics provides marketing professionals with a new level
of business insight by unlocking valuable information hidden in systems a
cross the enterprise. With Oracle Marketing Analytics, marketing professionals c
an manage and track campaign performance, segment customers with data from
enterprisewide systems, retain the most valuable customers, generate demand at
the lowest costs, and reduce wasted spend. Access to actionable informatio
n drives greater returns on marketing spend, reduces marketing costs, and increa
ses revenue-generating opportunities.
9. Oracle Loyalty Analytics
+Oracle Loyalty Analytics provides timely, fact-based insight into the entire
loyalty program processincluding the effectiveness of loyalty promotions and
partner relationships. It delivers insight that is personalized, relevant, and a
ctionable. As a result, loyalty marketing managers can analyze member segment
s, identify which promotions to run and which members to target, and measure pro
motion effectiveness. Loyalty partner managers can analyze partner contributi
ons to program success and measure joint promotion effectiveness. And executives
can analyze loyalty program status, track budgets, evaluate membership trend
s and details, and summarize rewards and redemption trends. With Oracle Loyalty
Analytics, loyalty programs can be optimized to drive member behavior, bui
ld value, and reduce costs.
10.Oracle Service Analytics
+Oracle Service Analytics allows companies to rigorously track and analyze ke
y service center metricsincluding service request aging, service request resol
ution, and service activities per employeeand take the appropriate action to main
tain or improve performance. Customer service representatives (CSRs) can view
the entire customer relationship; discover potential issues; and identify oppor
tunities to cross-sell, up-sell, and improve customer satisfaction. The solut
ion provides best-practice metrics, alerts, and reports that allow employees to
make the best possible decisions. By providing powerful insight to analyze al
l aspects of service center performance, Oracle Service Analytics can help deliv
er a best-in-class service center with satisfied customers, low operating cos
ts, and high revenue per customer.
11.Oracle Call Center Telephony Analytics
+To provide a complete picture of contact center performance, Oracle Contact
Center Telephony Analytics accesses information from Web servers, interactive
voice response systems, automatic call distributors, and computer telephony int
egration systems as well as from CRM, financial, HR, and e-mail applications.
When the key reasons behind operating trends are understood, managers and CSRs
are able to increase customer satisfaction and retention, monitor channel usa
ge and migration, improve CSR effectiveness, reduce employee turnover, and maxim
ize productivity and resource utilization.
>>The list of projects in the 11.1.1.8.1 RPD includes the following:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Financial Analytics Fusion Edition
2. Human Resources Analytics Fusion Edition
3. Marketing Analytics Fusion Edition
4. Partner Analytics Fusion Edition
5. Project Analytics Fusion Edition
6. Sales Analytics Fusion Edition
7. Supply Chain and Order Management Analytics Fusion Edition
8. Student Information Analytics
9. Service Analytics
10.Price Analytics
11.Manufacturing Analytics
12.DataLineage_Project
Note: The RPD contains projects in addition to those listed above. These project
s are included for future content delivery and upgrade support.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------
Types of Customizations in Oracle BI Apps:
Category 1. In a Category 1 customization, you add additional columns from source
systems that have pre-packaged adapters and load the data into existing
data warehouse tables.
Category 2. In a Category 2 customization, you use prepackaged adapters to add ne
w fact or dimension tables to the data warehouse. Category 2 customizations
normally require that you build new SDE and SIL mappings.
Category 3. In a Category 3 customization, you use the Universal adapter to load
data from sources that do not have pre-packaged adapters.
Upgrade Consideration (Informatica+OBIA):
One of the most difficult aspects about working with customizations is handling
the customizations at the time of an upgrade. Informatica does not provide a 'di
ff-merge' capability that would automatically detect changes introduced by custo
mers and add them into upgraded mappings. Therefore, customizations must be reap
plied manually to upgraded mappings. Oracle BI Applications attempts to minimize
the amount of effort required to reapply customizations after an upgrade. As lo
ng as the customization methodology is followed, the effort at upgrade time shou
ld be minimal and in many cases there may be no manual effort required at all.
**Review Table Partitioning for Human Resource Analytics
The Human Resource application will benefit from table partitioning especially o
n larger systems where the amount of data is greater.
The main benefits of table partitioning are:
* Faster ETL, as indexes are rebuilt only over the table partitions that have ch
anged.
* Faster reports, as partition pruning is a very efficient way of getting to the
required data.
Optional or Mandatory?
#This task is optional, however by default no tables are partitioned. Applies to
Systems where Oracle Business Analytics Warehouse is implemented on an Oracle d
atabase.
Dependencies?
#No dependencies.
Task
The latest recommendations for table partitioning of Human Resource tables can b
e found in Tech Notes in My Oracle Support. These should be reviewed before any
action is taken.
*** There is a table partitioning utility provided in ODI which can be used to c
reate partitioned tables. This utility can be run at any time to implement a
particular partition strategy on a table. It is re-runnable and can be used to c
hange the strategy if needed. It will backup the existing table, create the part
itioned table in its place and copy in the data and indexes.

You might also like