Essbase Integration With OBIEE

Essbase Integration with Oracle BI EE Plus Mark Rittman, Director, Rittman Mead Consulting Oracle Open World 2008, San Francisco. Session #S301081 T : +44 (0) 8446 697 995 E : [email protected] W: www.rittmanmead.com

Who Am I? • Oracle BI&W Architecture and Development Specialist • Co-Founder of Rittman Mead Consulting ‣ Oracle BI&W Project Delivery Specialists • 10+ years with Discoverer, OWB etc • Oracle ACE Director, ACE of the Year 2005 • Writer for OTN and Oracle Magazine • Longest-running Oracle blog ‣ http://www.rittmanmead.com/blog • Chair of UKOUG BIRT SIG • Co-Chair of ODTUG BI&DW SIG • Speaker at IOUG and BIWA events

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Rittman Mead Consulting • Oracle BI&DW Project Specialists • Consulting, Training, Support • Works with you to ensure OBIEE and Oracle BI Applications project success • Small, focused team • OWB, Oracle BI, DW technical specialists • Clients in the UK, Europe, USA

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Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition

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OBIEE 10.1.3.3/4 Architecture Web Server (IIS, Tomcat, Websphere, iPlanet)

Oracle BI Publisher

Oracle BI Presentation Services

Delivery Server

XSL

TCP/IP (SSL) Web Catalog Service

SOAP Web Services, XML and URL Interface

Layout Interfaces

Oracle Interactive Dashboards

Data Logic

Web Browser

SAW Bridge (J2EE/ISAPI)

Oracle Answers

User Profiling, Security and Session Mngmt

XML Framework

Cache Services (Web) & Connection Mngmt

XML, HTML, XLS, PDF, TXT over HTTP/HTTPS

Javascript for Usability & Interactivity

HTML, SOAP over HTTP/HTTPS

External Applications and Portals

ODBC over TCP/IP (SSL)

Oracle BI Server Logical SQL ODBC/JDBC (Logical Business Model)

Load Balancer

Agent Execution Logic

Session Management

Device Adaptive Content

Intelligent Request Generation

Query Govern.

Externalized Authentication LDAP

Logical Request Generation

Security Services

Oracle BI Cluster Controller

Cache Services

Navigator Multi-Pass / Sub-Request Logic Fragmentation Optimization Aggregate Navigator

DB Authentication Custom Authenticator

Optimized Query Rewrites Execution Engine

Metadata Interchange

Scheduling/Event Services

TCP/IP (SSL)

System / Perf Monitoring

Oracle Delivers Server

Oracle BI Administration Metadata Management Services Multi-User Development Services Metadata Documentation Services Server Management Services

Data Source Adapters ODBC, CLI, OCI, XML, MDX Analytical and Operational Data Sources

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Oracle BI Server • Calculation and Data Integration Engine ‣ “Virtual Data Warehouse” ‣ Allows reporting across multiple sources ‣ Data accessed though metadata layer • Connects to RDBMS and OLAP data ‣ Oracle Database (including Oracle OLAP) ‣ IBM DB2 ‣ Microsoft SQL Server ‣ Teradata ‣ Microsoft Analysis Services (OLAP) ‣ SAP BW 'info cubes' • Security, Summary Management • Translates incoming “logical SQL” in to optimized, physical SQL T : +44 (0) 8446 697 995 E : [email protected] W: www.rittmanmead.com

Data Access • Reporting data may be sourced from multiple databases, applications ‣ Oracle Database (including Oracle OLAP) ‣ IBM DB2 ‣ Microsoft SQL Server ‣ Teradata ‣ Microsoft Analysis Services (OLAP) ‣ SAP BW 'info cubes' ‣ SAP, Peoplesoft, Siebel, E-Business Suite • Oracle BI Server joins this source data together and presents a logical business model ‣ Facts ‣ Dimensions T : +44 (0) 8446 697 995 E : [email protected] W: www.rittmanmead.com

Customer

Common Enterprise Information Model • Enables consistency, security, reuse, flexibility • Role-based views of the organization • Single metadata model of the business • Consistent definition of business measures, metrics, calculations • Drill paths, summaries, security • Model once, deploy anywhere • Across any data source • “Model First” development

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Essbase and Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition • Essbase is a key part of Oracle’s Business Intelligence Foundation Layer • Essbase and Hyperion EPM can play several roles in this architecture ‣ As a data source ‣ As a data consumer ‣ As a portal for all Oracle BI ‣ As a MS Office integration point • Essbase can benefit from Oracle BI Enterprise Semantic Model • OBIEE can benefit from Essbase calculations and analytics

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Essbase and Oracle BI EE Integration Points 1. Essbase can be a data source for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition 2. The OBIEE Semantic Model can be a data source for Essbase cubes 3. SmartSpace can consume both Essbase and OBIEE data sources 4. Hyperion Workspace can host OBIEE Dashboards, Answers, Delivers and Publisher 5. Informatica PowerCenter is the standard ETL tool for Oracle BI Apps and Essbase 6. Oracle Data Integrator is the future ETL tool for both Oracle BI Apps and Essbase

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Essbase Integration with OBIEE 10.1.3.3.2+ • OBIEE can connect to multidimensional as well as relational sources ‣ Microsoft Analysis Services, SAP B/W, now Essbase 9.3.1/11.1 • Import process converts the multidimensional view into a relational view • Essbase cubes, dimensions, hierarchies converted to a logical relational star schema • Essbase data can then be combined with data from sources • Typically used to bring in budget, forecast data etc from Essbase into OBIEE logical model

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Essbase > OBIEE Integration Features • Connection is via the Essbase Client C API • Essbase-specific MDX is generated by the Oracle BI Server • EVALUATE function supported for calling Essbase functions ‣ Essbase specific aggregate functions i.e. TopN, BottomN ‣ Member selection based upon UDAs • OBIEE Time-Series functions are function shipped to Essbase • Essbase substitution variables supported • Ragged and unbalanced hierarchies can be imported (but are then flattened)

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Registering an Essbase Cube in OBIEE Step 2 • Enter the server hostname, username and password • Connects via Essbase C API, requires Essbase Client to be installed on OBIEE Server • Compatible with Essbase 9.3.1, 11.1(?) • Select cube from available list

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Registering an Essbase Cube in OBIEE Step 3 • Essbase cube metadata then loaded into the OBIEE Semantic Model physical layer ‣ OBIEE Physical Database = Essbase Server ‣ OBIEE Display Folder = Essbase Application ‣ OBIEE Physical Cube = Essbase Cube • Essbase multidimensional model turned into a relational model • Value-based hierarchy converted to level-based hierarchies • Column names determined by outline generation names

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Registering an Essbase Cube in OBIEE Step 4 • OBIEE physical model can then be automatically converted into a logical model ‣ OBIEE automatically generates facts, dimensions, hierarchies ‣ Alternatively, Essbase model can be incorporated into existing logical model containing other (relational) data

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Registering an Essbase Cube in OBIEE Step 5 • View Essbase data in Oracle BI Dashboards, Oracle BI Answers • Data is now turned into a relational star schema, but with MDX being generated to retrieve data from Essbase • Essbase data can now participate in dashboards, cross-data source analysis ‣ Actuals vs. budget ‣ Actuals with forecast ‣ Sales data and production data

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Converting Value-Based to Level-Based Hierarchies • Essbase value-based hierarchies are converted into level-based ones for OBIEE based on maximum depth of hierarchy at the time of import ‣ OBIEE is a relational query tool, requires a column for each drill path level ‣ Can import ragged and unbalanced hierarchies, these will be converted into flattened level-based hierarchies • Issue comes when the depth of the hierarchy changes ‣ Essbase cube has to be re-imported into physical model and then re-created in the logical and presentation layers

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Demonstration Importing an Essbase Cube into OBIEE Semantic Model

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Oracle BIEE as an Essbase Studio Data Source • Essbase Studio can connect to Oracle BI Server as a data source • Oracle BIEE Presentation Layer Folders appear as databases • Connects via HTTP rather than ODBC, JDBC • Brings across tables, columns (not hierarchies) • Provides access to the data federation & metadata capabilities of OBIEE

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OBIEE as a Data Source Considerations • Data is unlikely to transform naturally into an Essbase cube ‣ Non-unique keys ‣ Presentation layer may not even feature keys ‣ Illegal characters • Will require key values to be exposed, then transformed and aliases added • Currently several manual steps • Process likely to be automated in future release of OBIEE

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Registering an OBIEE Model in Essbase Studio : Step 1 • Create a new data source in Essbase Studio, connect to Oracle BI EE via HTTP • Database names are the presentation folders in the OBIEE Semantic Layer

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Registering an OBIEE Model in Essbase Studio : Step 2 • Import table metadata and create Mini Schema model • Equivalent to the OLAP Model in Integration Services • Define keys, joins

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Registering an OBIEE Model in Essbase Studio : Step 3 • Create hierarchies for the dimension objects • Note that OBIEE hierarchies are not imported, need to recreate

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Registering an OBIEE Model in Essbase Studio : Step 4 • Define aliases for the ID columns used for member IDs • Avoids problem where descriptions are used as member ID but are too long or contain invalid characters

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Registering an OBIEE Model in Essbase Studio : Step 5 • Generate Cube Schema from selected dimensions • Equivalent to Integration Services OLAP Metaoutline • Make selection from all dimensions and measure dimensions in the repository

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Registering an OBIEE Model in Essbase Studio : Step 6 • Transform OBIEE column IDs so that they are unique across dimension and cube • Uses transform feature, accessible from Essbase Database Properties

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Registering an OBIEE Model in Essbase Studio : Step 7 • Verify Model and run Cube Deployment Wizard

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Registering an OBIEE Model in Essbase Studio : Step 8 • Set deployment options, generate outline and load members

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Registering an OBIEE Model in Essbase Studio : Step 9 • View outline and data within Administration Services • Data is now loaded into the Essbase database, will refresh as needed • Database can also be redeployed to the OBIEE semantic layer to replace original relational data source for logical model

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Demonstration Using OBIEE as a Data Source for Essbase Studio

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Integration of OBIEE Tools into EPM Workspace • From OBIEE 10.1.3.4 and Hyperion EPM 11.1, OBIEE tools can be embedded in Hyperion Workspace • Access all tools through a common UI ‣ Oracle BI Dashboards ‣ Oracle BI Answers ‣ Oracle BI Delivers ‣ Oracle BI Publisher

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Oracle BI Dashboards and BI Answers in EPM Workspace

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Oracle Smart View and Smart Space Integration • Smart View and Smart Space 11.1 support OBIEE from releases 10.1.3.3.1 + • Works through Provider Services, but Provider Services / Essbase license not required for use • OBIEE added as a data source, connects via JDBC • OBIEE content can be viewed within Smart Space gadgets ‣ Oracle BI Answers ‣ Oracle BI Publisher ‣ Oracle BI Delivers ‣ Oracle BI Dashboards

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Oracle Smart Space Integration Example

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ETL Tool Integration • Essbase and OBIEE share two common ETL tools ‣ Informatica PowerCenter, a.k.a. Essbase Data Integration Management ‣ Oracle Data Integrator, uses custom Knowledge Modules for OBIEE / Essbase load • ODI likely to be the strategic ETL tool going forward • Potential to combine Essbase and OBIEE loading with the main DW ETL process

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Essbase and OBEE in an Oracle BI/DW Architecture • Essbase will primarily be a data consumer in the Oracle BI/DW architecture, sourcing data either directly from applications, the Oracle DW or the OBIEE semantic model • Essbase can also be used a data source for OBIEE, to boost query performance and provide access to Essbase analytic capabilities

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Summary • With recent releases of Essbase and OBIEE, many integration possibilities are available • Essbase can be a data source for OBIEE • OBIEE can be a data source for Essbase • OBIEE reporting tools can be incorporated into the EPM workspace • Common ETL tools can be used to load OBIEE, Essbase and the Oracle DW • For more information, check out http://www.rittmanmead.com/blog • Please remember to complete your speaker evaluation forms • Thank you for your time!

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Essbase Integration with Oracle BI EE Plus Mark Rittman, Director, Rittman Mead Consulting Oracle Open World 2008, San Francisco. Session #S301081 T : +44 (0) 8446 697 995 E : [email protected] W: www.rittmanmead.com