Integrating Essbase & OBIEE: The Future of Reporting and Analysis

Jonathon Eastman, Director FDSM

Abstract

If your company has a data warehouse or is thinking of building one, come to this presentation to learn how Oracle EPM System, Fusion Edition (including the products formerly known as Hyperion) helps drive value from your warehouse solution. Understand the benefit of Essbase and OBIEE+ and how they fit into your overall information delivery platform. Learn about how Essbase and the Oracle technologies combine to provide seamless integration between your applications, relational databases, and multi-dimensional databases. Well show how the OBIEE+ Reporting and Analysis components provide a single interface into any type of data source, combining data from your data warehouse and data marts into in nicely formatted reports, user friendly dashboards, and easy-to-use analytic screens. Join us for this informative session to learn the best way to build a warehouse for integration with Oracle EPM System, and how to get information out of your warehouse if you've already built one.

About WellPoint
Our Brands

Largest health insurer in the country. Fortune 42 company 33+ million members 37,000+ employees

About Me, Jonathon Eastman

Jonathon Eastman, Director FDSM (Financial Data and Systems Management). Our department is basically CEE of EPM.
Cross functional team of CPAs to technical experts. Our Team: Jerry Ursetti, Giovanni Marrufo, Daniel Greenleaf, Irene Cua Dy, Kelly Tien, and Robert Blair We manage system tools and processes critical for the forecasting and budgeting, internal management reporting, and external GAAP and Statutory Reporting functions.

We report to Chief Accounting Officer in Finance even though we perform many functions traditionally considered IT. We focus creating development standards.

EPM & BI at Wellpoint

Our Oracle EPM + BI production Environment

Oracle EPM 11.1.1.3 and OBIEE 10.1.3.4 on AIX. We are a heavy Essbase users. Calculations/Reporting. Essbase shop since 2001. Use Oracle 10G relational, but not a lot for analytic data. Reporting Tools
Classic Essbase Excel Add-in. Financial Reporting Interactive Reporting (Dashboards). EPM Workspace. SmartView limited due to software delivery issues.

Forecasting and Budgeting

Oracle Hyperion Planning.

Custom tools including internally developed web apps. 2000+ Essbase, 200 Planning, and 25 OBIEE users.

Upgrade To OBIEE 11.1.1.5

Take advantage EPM integration advances.

Essbase Integration is a lot better. ActionFramework Integrate into anything with a java API. ESS_JAPI. EPM Workspace API. Shared Services API. Bringing OBIEE back into EPM workspace as Dashboards.

Introduction to OBIEE & Essbase

What is OBIEE?

The bridge between your data and reporting / analysis

OBIEE Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition Excellent all round reporting solution for enterprise level reporting requirements. The future of reporting and analysis.

Oracles Enterprise Performance Management System

Common Enterprise Information Model

Presentation Layer
User roles, preferences Simplified view Logical SQL interface

BI Server, Essbase

Semantic Object Layer

Dimensions Hierarchies Measures Calculations Aggregation Rules Time Series

Physical Layer
Map physical data Connections

Consistency, Security, Reuse, Flexibility

Broad and Deep End User Needs

Oracle BI Server Foundation of OBIEE 11G

Scalable, efficient query and analysis server Provides integration of many sources Intelligent caching services Calculation and integration engine Intelligent request generation and optimized data access services Three layers
Physical Business Model /Mapping

Essbase

Multidimensional cubes Dimensions Common grouping or hierarchy of master data Organization Product Accounts Multidimensional view Aggregated data stored for fast reporting and analysis Powerful calculation engine
New in 11.1.2.1 OBIEE can spin off Essbase cubes!

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Oracle BI Server 50,000 ft view

Federates the data with a virtual schema Virtual schema is created Moving the data virtually Do everything you do in your data warehouse without building the data warehouse physically Combine tables across sources (columns + columns) Combine data in tables sources (rows + rows) Perform transformations Aggregate tables for performance improvements

Whats New in 11G 50,000 Ft View

Improved End User Experience
Task oriented interface New Query Interface Actionable BI Framework Geospatial

Improved Integration Capabilities

All in one MOLAP/ROLAP Query Interface Improved Essbase Support Support for HFM Oracle Fusion Middleware Stack

Technical New Features / Changes

Enterprise Manager Identity Manager Multi-user RPD deployment

Add Ons
OSSM Collaboration Advanced Search

New Home page

Create Section

Create section provides links to create a new Analysis, Dashboard, Published Reporting, Actionable Intelligence, Performance Management and other objects.

Browse/Manage and Get Started

Under the Create is the Browse/Manage area with Get Started underneath it. (Just scroll down to view)

Recent & Most popular

List of recently accessed Dashboards

With easy access to open, edit, print and more

New menu item

Clicking on New displays a list of the objects available to create. Includes some old favorites and new ones

Create Analysis (a.k.a Answers)

A New Analysis asks you to select a subject area, and then opens the new version of Answers. Similar looks in that it has two panes, and you can select Criteria, Results, Prompts and Advanced tabs like before.

Catalog

The catalog link in the main menu takes you to the catalog view to navigate folders and objects in the catalog.

Dashboard

The Dashboard drop down reveals available dashboards including Most Recent (newly added feature), My Dashboard and Shared Dashboards (like before)

Search

There is a new search feature that permits searching through the catalog for object names and also by object type.

New Interactive Visualizations

New charting Animated transitions Range and paging sliders

Legend based interactions

Master detail linking

New Controls

Faster start e.g. charts

New controls

Slider

Master Detail linking

Master-detail linking selecting on the master automatically filters the detail.

Clicking on the detail in the report filters the chart

Check boxes

Checkboxes and check boxes inside drop downs

Action Framework

Find a business condition from visual cue

Navigate to relevant analysis

Next evolution in BI BI tells what happened; So what should I do next? In 10G you see issue, then email someone, get into a transactional app In 11G, the action framework tells you what to do next
Based on set of conditions Human driven Full automatic

Detect a business event

Respond automatically with alert to user

Take action via process

Initiate a process

Create all of the actions and then make available to report developers

New Navigate options

Navigate to BI content

Navigate to Web Page

Navigate to a webpage

- permits passing additional parameters to web page

Navigation

Standard Navigation

Navigation

Conditional Navigation

Spatial Intelligence

Layer BI data with maps Deeper insights through visualization In past required heavy IT, customization Now users can create their own spatial analysis; also no concern over upgrades

Improved Integrations in OBIEE 11G and Essbase

OBIEE 10G Essbase Considerations

Flat accounts No member select UDAs Alias tables DTS and other Time Intelligence support Alpha sorting vs. outline order Workarounds, custom MDX queries, functions (EVALUATE) help address some of the limitations noted above Essbase substitution variables are automatically retrieved and populated into corresponding BI Server dynamic system variables

To the Rescue!

Enhanced Support for Essbase 11G

11g supports improved support for aliases, Accounts dimensions, UDAs, alternate hierarchies, outline sort order, attribute dimensions and value based hierarchies
UDAs are created as separate columns Alias tables are created as separate columns and then you can choose the display column in reporting and analysis Alternate hierarchies are automatically imported as separate hierarchies Sort order is applied using a member order column

11g provides hierarchy and member browsing and member selection 11g supports asymmetric drilling

Hierarchies Support

Support for parent child attribute based hierarchies not restricted to level based Support for skip level hierarchies Support for ragged hierarchies

Hierarchy display

Note the drill on time progressively lower levels displayed within the same column

Step by step selection

Complex selection criteria can be broken down into manageable steps and executed in a specific order to generate the required member selection for the report. Includes ranking, sorting and specific selection.

Accounts Dimension Support

Final result in a report ragged hierarchy sourced from Essbase

Option 1 Blended Reporting Federated Essbase Data

Month and quarter Essbase data Week and day Relational data

Option 2 Blended Reporting Linked Reports

Integrating OBIEE & Essbase Applied at Wellpoint

Back to Why Upgrade To OBIEE 11.1.1.5

Take advantage EPM integration advances.

Essbase Integration is a lot better. ActionFramework Integrate into anything with a java API. ESS_JAPI. EPM Workspace API. Shared Services API. Bringing OBIEE back into EPM workspace as Dashboards.

Continuous Improvement Projects

Perfect time to integrate OBIEE into our continuous improvement projects.

1. Interactive reporting Dashboard Replacement.

Take advantage of better visuals. Strategic Oracle Product. EPM Navigation Action Framework

2. Security reporting, certification, and self service.

Report Essbase/PeopleSoft data security in OBIEE

3. Fully loaded named associate transfer tool.

Fully Loaded Named Associate Transfer Tool

We leverage Essbase hierarchies to provide Multiple Scenario Based Forecasting.

Transfer Process

Transfer name associates from one cost center to another.

Maintains the plan and builds automatically into the forecast. Current tool fat client requires too much maintenance. No real integrated reporting candidate besides adhoc excel.

Ideal candidate for OBIEE Dashboard.

Data stored in relational database. Data stored in Essbase. OBIEE plays well with external applications web applications.

OBIEE Challenges
Expected Challenges at Project Start
1.

2.

3.

Building Essbase and relational star schemas into the OBIEE admin tool RPD. Data security. Dashboard design and its integration with external web applications (ActionFramework). Web App or integrate more tightly into OBIEE with web services???

Expected Issue #1: OBIEE Admin Tool

Process was easier than expected. Tailored our Essbase cubes for OBIEE. Label Only issues. Relational integration into RPD was drag and drop. Create star schema with defined primary and foreign keys. Oracle SqlDeveloper 3.0s Data Modeler DDL generator and version control saved time. Didnt have a measure, only reporting transactional metadata.

SQLDeveloper Data Modeler Example

Expected Challenge #2: Data Security

Salary data for named users security very important. Did not have a good experience integrating PeopleSoft data security into OBIEE 10G Only read access to company LDAP directories. Very comfortable with Essbase data security.

Expected Challenge #3: ActionFramework

GOOD: Easy integration with external website. GOOD: Using session variables, pass USER to web app.

Expected Challenge #3: ActionFramework

Use EJB ActionFramework to interact directly with Essbase java api (ESS_JAPI). Use the combination of Analyis reports, filters, and prompts to mimic a web form.

Could work with limited number of input parameters and a lot of creativity. Could do a whole session on this.

Lessons Learned
Perls slogan TMTOWTDI There's More Than One Way To Do It. Big leap forward from OBIEE 10G. Exciting future for OBIEE.

Questions & Answers