Oracle Applications Reporting – How Can I Get What I Need?

David FustonDirector, Business IntelligenceLinium, LLCCell: 816.729.1033Email: david.fuston@linium.com

About David Fuston

Technical and functional consultant since 1989 with experience in applications development, IT management, and financial controller positions for Fortune 500 and World 200 companies.

Oracle Beta Tester and Early Adopter since 1997 for numerous programs, such as Applications 11i (OFA, DBI, EPF & EPB), 9iAS Discoverer and Drake 10g, Warehouse Builder 9i, and 9i/10g OLAP.

Officer, speaker, or sponsor in OAUG, BI/DW SIG, OracleWorld, AppsWorld, OpenWorld, IOUG, ODTUG, Collaborate, Alliance, NCOAUG, RMOUG, SCOUG, KCOUG

About Linium

•Linium is a certified consulting firm, with practices in Business Intelligence, Oracle Applications, Configuration, Service & Asset Management.

•Linium combines Best-of-Breed products and industry best-practices with our talented and certified IT consultants. Every Linium engagement is managed by our PMI, ITIL, and PRINCE2 certified project managers.

•With offices in New York, Connecticut, and Virginia, we are celebrating 8+ years, still privately held, with steady growth year over year, currently 60+ consultants nationwide.

Partner Status with:

Agenda

• Reporting and BI definitions• Requirements Analysis• IT Reporting Skill Sets• Reporting Products Marketplace• Oracle’s Corporate Performance Management (BI)

– BIS and DBI– Financial Analyzer and EPB– Discoverer– XML and BI Publisher– OBIEE (formerly Siebel Analytics)

• Summary and Questions

Recent Reporting/BI Trends

• Shift from departmental to enterprise-wide

• BI Systems pressured to operate in (near) Real-Time

• Interoperability and integration is key trouble spot– BI and DW embedded in Applications– BI use in Portals – BI dashboards access the DW and transactional

systems– BI has expanded from the traditional On Line Analytical Processing

(OLAP) to now include Query and Reporting, Extract-Transform-Load (ETL), Data Mining, and Data Visualization.

• Return on Investment (ROI) for analytic applications range from 17% to more than 2,000% per IDC December 2002 study, document #dg20021202.

Agenda

• Reporting and BI definitions• Requirements Analysis (5 W(s) and H)• IT Reporting Skill Sets• Reporting Products Marketplace• Oracle’s Corporate Performance Management (BI)

– BIS and DBI– Financial Analyzer and EPB– Discoverer

• Summary and Questions

Common Oracle ERP Reporting Scenario

• ERP team has belief that basic reporting will be provided by standard and FSG reports out-of-the-box

• ERP team believes that Discoverer, OFA, DBI, etc. could be installed later for more complex reporting

• Reality is that neither assumption is correct

• Reality is that putting in ERP system without planning for reporting is like building a house without considering plumbing or electrical connections

Typical Oracle Reporting Scenario

User Type Categories (Who? Why?)

Executive Perspective: "What will happen?" This is the business owner's perspective, encompassing the full enterprise, adapting to changes, both internal and external, over time. The thought pattern is one of process control, strategic direction, and execution effectiveness.

Middle Management Perspective: "Why did it happen?" This is the architect's perspective, encompassing their department or area, and the workflow process for which they are responsible. The thought pattern is one of internal controls, quality checkpoints, and workflow efficiency.

End-User Perspective: "What happened?" This is typically the worker's perspective dealing with end-customer commitments and internal company relationships. The thought pattern here is workload scheduling, in-and-out baskets, daily tasks completed on time and under budget.

Report Level Categories (What? Where?)

Strategic: Enterprise-Wide reports: Line of business/division/Region quarterly and yearly reporting, dashboards, balanced scorecards, reports in finance/sales/operations, industry statistics and market share, regulatory and audit compliance, summary and aggregate data.

Tactical: Line of Business/Division/Region Monthly reporting, actual versus budget comparisons with commentary/notations/graphs, packaged analytical apps (BIS/DBI), OLAP (OFA/EPB/TM1/data mining), Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Portal red/yellow/green stoplights and gauges, three or more dimensions in ad hoc query and reporting

Operational: Daily and weekly reporting, Detail data from GL/AP/FA/PO, two dimensions in reporting, scheduled reporting, Departmental/cost center measurements against objectives, account and inter-company reconciliations

Frequency of Update (When?)

Process for Apps Reporting Success (How?)

• Establish the Vision• Evangelize the Vision• Prioritize the Portfolio• Allocate Sufficient Resources• Align Business and IT for Long Haul• Build Trust in System

Agenda

• Reporting and BI definitions• Requirements Analysis• IT Reporting Skill Sets• Reporting Products Marketplace• Oracle’s Corporate Performance Management (BI)

– BIS and DBI– Financial Analyzer and EPB– Discoverer

• Summary and Questions

Reporting/BI Skills Required

Agenda

• Reporting and BI definitions• Requirements Analysis• IT Reporting Skill Sets• Reporting Products Marketplace• Oracle’s Corporate Performance Management (BI)

– BIS and DBI– Financial Analyzer and EPB– Discoverer

• Summary and Questions

Agenda

Match User Types to BI Functionality

End-User Tool Categories – IT Perspective

Organizes end-user tools into four categories.

– Relational reporting – simple two-dimensional non-interactive reports, typically with rich formatting and low cost deployment

– Desktop reporting – more end-user friendly, transaction data oriented, limited data capacity, limited functionality, with limited customization supported reporting

– Analytic reporting – distinguished by access to large volumes of data (terabytes), read-only SQL based access, cube or multi-dimensional presentation layer, and more advanced financial calculations, such as formulas using solves (IRR)

– Analytic reporting with "write-back" capability – have a data write-back capability (such as for forecasts or activity based budgets), deal with summarized or aggregate levels of data (gigabytes), fast query performance due to proprietary languages, and higher cost to go along with higher functionality

• Type 1 Relational Reporting tools:– BO/Crystal Reports– Oracle Reports– Oracle BI Publisher– Cognos Impromptu

• Type 2 Desktop Reporting tools:

– Cognos PowerPlay

– Business Objects

– MS Excel

– Hyperion/Brio

– Old client server Discoverer 3i

• Type 3 Analytic Reporting tools:– MicroStrategy– Oracle Web Discoverer– Whitelight– OBIEE (formerly Siebel

Analytics)

• Type 4 Analytic Write-Back Reporting tools:– MS Analytic services– Oracle Express/9i & 10g OLAP

Analytic Workspace– Hyperion– Applix TM1– SAS– SPSS

End-User Tool Categories – IT Perspective

Agenda

• Reporting and BI definitions• Requirements Analysis• IT Reporting Skill Sets• Reporting Products Marketplace• Oracle’s Corporate Performance Management (BI)

– BIS and DBI– Financial Analyzer and EPB– Discoverer

• Summary and Questions

Financial Statement Generator (FSG)

• Report Writer for GL (only) – Type 1 tool• New in 11.5.10, can publish FSG reports in XML format• Has two required components created by an IT developer

– Row set – typically contains accounts and – Column set – often contains time periods for trend reports. – (Optional) third component is content set, which allows you to limit your

data, for example, to a single cost center, business line, division etc. • Using ADI to publish reports allows you to present the content set data as

separate pages in an excel workbook so each cost center would have it’s own sheet for instance.

• Re-Use same components or combine components in ad hoc reports or with multiple reports

• Able to combine several books into a single report prior to consolidation

Oracle Reports

• Type 1 Tool -- Supports all Oracle Apps modules

• Standard or static reports come pre-defined with Oracle Apps

• New in 6i, can create reports from Oracle’s Relational or Multidimensional Databases from same tool, and can publish reports in XML or PRT formats

• Can allow Super Users to Create Basic Reports

• Unlimited Data Formatting and High-quality Presentation

• Disadvantage – IT Developers Will Need to Create the Complex Reports, such as reports involving cross-module reporting, multiple database schemas, or using multiple data sources.

BI Publisher (formerly XML Publisher)• Type 1 Tool -- Supports all Oracle Apps modules

• Available to early adopters in 11.5.9, standard in 11.5.10 and version 12

• Can process data from both relational and multidimensional (analytic workspaces via SQL API) as well as flat file, MS Excel, images, etc to make a consolidated view of data in presentation layer.

• Can allow Super Users to Create Basic Reports via MS Word templates; still requires IT support to register the template

• Practically unlimited Data Formatting and High-quality Presentation

• Disadvantage – IT Developers Will Need to Create the Complex Reports, such as reports involving cross-module reporting, multiple database schemas, using multiple data sources, or dashboard graphs.

Oracle EDW/BIS/DBI Architecture

Oracle Business IntelligenceOracle Business Intelligence

DBI ManagementReporting

End User Layer

Discoverer Workbooks

Ad hoc analysis & reportingBIS PHPTables, Graphs,

KPI’s

BIS Views

Business ViewGenerator

Base Summary

EDW Facts,Dimensions

BI PortalTables, Graphs, KPI’s

Materialized Views

DBI

BIS

EDW

Other Data Sources

GeneratedBusiness

Views

CustomBusiness

Views

Custom Facts,Dimensions

e-Business Suite Transaction Tables

Business Intelligence System (BIS)

• Type 2 or 3 tool--First shipped in 1998, currently in maintenance mode, last enhancements made in Oracle Apps 11.5.4

• Predefined views and predefined discoverer workbooks using five common dimensions (Organization, Product, Geography, Sales Channel, and Time)

• A Flexfield Mapping form is provided to handle the mapping of customer-specific descriptive Flexfield or key Flexfield segments to any of the common dimensions

• Uses standard Oracle Apps security profiles• Covers GL, AP, AR, HR, PO, Projects, CRM, Manufacturing—process

and discrete modules• Standard advice on performance problems—setup BIS on a separate

reporting instance• Uses Discoverer technology stack and Oracle Applications schema

containing the Oracle Applications Foundation (FND) tables under the covers

Daily Business Intelligence (DBI)

• Type 3 tool--First shipped as Early Adopter in February 2003, had roughly 10 Early Adopters using versions 5.0, 5.1, and 6.0 in beta testing. Now in GA status with 11.5.10 with version 7.0

• Uses same HTML server as Performance Analyzer and Enterprise Planning and Budgeting, not same as Discoverer

• Covers GL, AP, AR, OM, HR, discrete and process mfg, INV, ASCP, PO, Projects, Sales, Marketing, contracts

• Uses same security model as Oracle Apps if installed in same instance

• Designed to be intuitive, and therefore no end user training should be necessary

DBI Limitations

• Since materialized views must be synchronized on a schedule (time or event driven), each html page in viewer must have all data updated at same time.

• Now allowed to extend or customize views or viewer; DBI Designer was released as part of DBI 7.0.1 for 11i.10 on Jan 21, and as part of DBI 6.0 Rollup 5 for 11i.9 on Feb 25.  You can download documentation for the

Designer from Metalink note 295677.1. In addition, you can create EUL on top of materialized views and use Discoverer for customizations.

• Requires 9.2.0.4+, 11.5.10 and FP ‘D’, Apps SSO, BIBeans 2.7.5, PMV and PMF 4.0.7; prefer RAC for performance reasons; if do not have RAC, then can use a bigger box.

• Expect 3-6 weeks to get up and running for each module

• If need to incorporate external data sources, you are currently outside of DBI support, unless loaded into FEM Schema via APIs

• If want to customize MV in FEM schema, then copy and make changes ONLY to copy for ongoing support, or can use NoetixViews.

Underlying required modules for DBI

• DBI for Financials:• GL, iExpenses, AR, AP, OM, HR* – for the Profit and Loss and Expense Management pages• AP – for Payables Management and Payables Status pages

• DBI for Supply Chain: • OM, AR – for Management pages• Discrete and/or Process Manufacturing – for Manufacturing Management page• Inventory – for Inventory Management page• ASCP – for Planning Management page

• DBI for Procurement:• Purchasing, iProcurement, Payables, HR*

• DBI for PLM: all of the above• DBI for Projects:

• Project Costing, Project Billing, Project Resource Management, HR*, Financials• DBI for HR: Human Resources• DBI for Sales: Sales Online, Marketing• DBI for Quoting: Quoting• DBI for Service Contracts: Service Contracts• DBI for Interaction Center: Advanced Inbound Telephony, eMail Center

(*) Foundation HR, obtained by installing DBI for HR, w/o licensing DBI for HR

Customizing versus Extending DBI

Remove Measures, Portlets, Table columns (*)Change Region Layout on Overview Pages (*)Change Report Labels / Column HeadingsRearrange table columns (within limits)

Customize------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Extend

Create Measures, KPIs, Dimensions (**)Create Scorecards, KPI Reports (**)Create DBI Overview Pages and Reports -- Upcoming

(*) Via Business Intelligence Administrator responsibility(**) Via Oracle Balanced Scorecard and/or DBI Designer Tools

Oracle Financial Analyzer

• Type 4 Tool--Distributed Approach in Using Express • Allows Users the Autonomy to Create and Manipulate Own Scenarios

of Data• Ability to Write Data Back

– Budgets and Forecasts• Ability to Create Asymmetric Reports• OFA integrates with the Oracle General Ledger via GL Link, or can

customize to use non-Oracle data sources• Custom Facts (FDIs), But Knowledge of Express Language Needed

may be needed• Needs more administrative time for support and maintenance than

other tools

OFA Architecture

Extract Files

SuperPersonal

SuperShared

Analyst

Sub-AdminSharedBudget

Analyst Budget

Sub-Admin

Personal

PayablesReceivables

OracleGeneralLedger

Oracle Financial Analyzer

AD

I

Drill - DownTo GL

Through ADI

Drill-down

Data

Structures

Enterprise Planning and Budgeting (EPB)

• Type 4 tool--Delivered as module of Oracle Applications, but can be run standalone

• Delivered as a patch to Oracle Applications 11.5.9 -- Included as part of the rapid install for 11.5.10

• Backports of EPB to 11.5.8 or earlier are not technically feasible• Requires Oracle9i Database 9.2.0.4 plus OLAP Option or above• If a customer has 10.7 or 11.0.x or no Oracle Applications, then the

product can be a standalone solution• More Planned Sources

– Projects– Fixed Assets– Human Resources– Grants

• Supports consolidated views and scenarios of Oracle and non-Oracle data via API(s) in FEM Schema, same as Enterprise Performance Foundation used by DBI, BSC, and PM

Migration From OFA to EPB

• OFA and OSA 6.4 will be supported until mid 2008 with error correction support until end of 2006

• OSA ROLAP customers will need to convert their warehouse schema into EPB format as part of migration

• Migration paper located at http://www.oracle.com/applications/cpm. These are migration tools, not a one-click upgrade

– Should I migrate or re-implement?

– OFA to EPB migration toolkit can be downloaded from Metalink Patch #3922422. It is geared for standard OFA objects ONLY and applicable to version ZPB.A only.

• Migration and OFA vs. EPB Feature Comparison whitepapers

– http://www.oracle.com/applications/cpm/epb.html

• License Migration

– OFA/OSA licenses can migrate to either

• Full user EPB licenses or Oracle BI licenses (Discoverer)

• Express licenses migrate to Database Enterprise Edition plus OLAP Option run time only licenses

Oracle EPB vs Oracle OFA

Feature OFA (Tool)

EPB (App)

Installation/maintenance

Express Server Oracle9i/10g DatabaseOLAP option and E-Business Suite 11i

Client VB, Java HTML

Graphics Good Outstanding

Text commentary Text FDI Cell-level annotations

Workflow None Built in feature

Process management None Built in feature

Exception alerts None Built in feature

Data processing set up Manual Automated

End user calculations Express expressions

Business calculation templates

Buy vs Build In Oracle (Reporting Infrastructure)

• Packaged Analytic Applications using Oracle

– Oracle EDW* – Teradata Decision Experts (Formerly DecisionPoint Applications**)– Jaros Analytics

– Noetix NETS

– Cognos Performance Management

– Business Intelligence System (BIS)*

– Enterprise Planning and Budgeting (replaces Financial Analyzer*)

• Custom Analytic Applications using Oracle

– Do-it-Yourself with Discoverer & OWB

– DBI (with DBI Designer, see Metalink note 295677.1 )

– OBIEE (formerly Siebel Analytics)*these products are in “maintenance mode”

”**Acquired by Teradata (NCR) in 11/2005

Discoverer

• Ad-hoc Query Tool used to analyze transaction data on the fly from Oracle relational (or AW databases starting with 10g)

• Integration With Oracle Warehouse Builder, Oracle Reports, and Oracle Designer

• Disadvantage - Need For Users to Know Underlying DB structures and/or SQL

• Weak security, either public or private, unless installed as part of Oracle Apps

• Discoverer Manager defines the following 4 types of drills:– Item to item drills (item hierarchies)– Date to date drills (date hierarchies)– Drill to detail item class (hyperdrills)– External application drills (hyperdrill plug-ins)

Discovered Integration Methods

• Four possible methods:– Custom EUL against Business Views– Oracle BIS, or EUL against DBI Foundation– Create Datamart– Enterprise Data Warehouse

Applications Certification (DIY Approach)

• Discoverer 3i, 4i, 9.0.2, and 10g work against Oracle Applications 11i, 11.0 and 10.7

• 11.5.7+ rapid install contains Discoverer 4i (4.1.48+ as part of iAS 1.0.2.2.2)

Applications Certification (Out-Of-Box” Approach)

• Customers who use BIS/EDW are certified to use 4i against 11i if iAS 1.0.2.2.2 installed on separate machine (metalink note 139516.1, ARU 1834171)

• Customers who use BIS/EDW and want iAS 1.0.2.2.2 in same Apps Oracle Home can use the 11.5.7 rapid install (metalink note 146468.1)

• Be sure to check these Debugging and Troubleshooting technotes (Metalink notes 186981.1, 130091.1, 216208.1, 165195.1, 175287.1)

OBIEE (formerly Siebel Analytics)• Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) is a stand-alone version of

the Siebel Analytics product, but it can be implemented in conjunction with both PeopleSoft and Oracle Applications.

• This same technology stack is being incorporated into version 12 of Oracle Applications sitting on top of DBI Enterprise Performance Foundation, and incorporating the existing DBI content.

• There is a migration path for Discoverer and DBI for Oracle Applications to OBIEE*

• Oracle supports OBIEE dashboards for the PeopleSoft Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Warehouse, including integration points for single sign-on (SSO), security synchronization and bi-directional drills between the dashboard and the PeopleSoft HCM applications.

• Oracle supports building dashboards on top of the Oracle Daily Business Intelligence (DBI) summary tables using OBIEE. All three components of OBIEE (Repository, Answers, and Dashboard) will be required along with a technical understanding of the EPF data model and schemas.

*technical session at ODTUG Kaleidoscope 2007 conference in June at Daytona Beach, FL

Agenda

• Reporting and BI definitions• Requirements Analysis• IT Reporting Skill Sets• Reporting Products Marketplace• Oracle’s Corporate Performance Management (BI)

– BIS and DBI– Financial Analyzer and EPB– Discoverer

• Summary and Questions

BI Strategic Maturity – Where Are You?

Typical Environments & Reporting Tools

Function RDBMS OLTP DSS or Warehouse

MDBMS OLAP

Analytical Requirements

Low Medium High

Data Level Detail Detail and summary

Summary and Derived

Age of data Current Historical and current

Historical, current and projected

Business Events React Anticipate Predict

Typical Tools In Use

FSG, Reports, BIS, DBI,

Noetix, Crystal Reports

Discoverer, PowerPlay,

MicroStrategy, Business Objects

OFA, EPB, Hyperion,

SPSS

More Questions?

Oracle Applications Reporting – How Can I Get What I Need?

David FustonDirector, Business IntelligenceLinium, LLCCell: 816.729.1033Email: david.fuston@linium.com