Politics of Hyperion (ODTUG)

Politics of Hyperion Presented by Gary Crisci, Oracle Ace http://garycris.blogspot.com

Objectives • • •

Discuss the concept of Shadow IT and the differences in purpose and culture between IT and Shadow IT. Look at the different personality types and politics within organizations that encourage Shadow IT groups to come into being. Discuss how the IT Organization should reposition itself to better align with the business to eliminate the need for Shadow IT groups.

Background • Hyperion Solutions Corporation started out as IMRS in 1981 with its financial consolidation software called Micro Control • Micro Control succeeded by Hyperion Enterprise • Hyperion goes public in 1991 • In 1992 Arbor Software releases Essbase • Hyperion and Arbor merge in 1998 • Hyperion begins to acquire a number of companies, including Brio • In 2007 Oracle acquires Hyperion for $3.3 Billion

Essbase • • • • •

Essbase is a multidimensional database management system (MDBMS) that provides a multidimensional database platform upon which to build analytic applications Essbase’s name derives from "Extended Spread Sheet dataBASE". Essbase was also marketed by IBM, until 2005, as DB2 OLAP Server The term "on-line analytical processing" (OLAP) was coined by database researcher E. F. Codd in a whitepaper that set out twelve rules for analytic systems Although Essbase has been categorized as a general-purpose multidimensional database, it was originally developed to address the scalability issues associated with spreadsheets such as Lotus 12-3 and Microsoft Excel

Essbase Competitors • Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (MOLAP, HOLAP, ROLAP), • IBM Cognos BI (MOLAP/ROLAP/HOLAP), • IBM Cognos Planning/Applix TM1 (MOLAP), • Microstrategy (ROLAP). • With the acquisition of Hyperion, Oracle OLAP (ROLAP/MOLAP) is now an internal alternative/competitor product to Essbase

Implementing Information Systems • What is IS? – An information system (IS) can be any organized combination of people, hardware, software, communications networks, data resources, and policies and procedures that stores, retrieves, transforms, and disseminates information in an organization”

• What is IT? – Information Technology (IT) refers to the actual hardware, software, and networks that enable information systems in the modern world. – As technology becomes more prevalent in everything we do, the IT department has become an integral part of modern day organizations

• IT is the “Central Hub” for information and a means for getting things done

IT’s Competing Purpose • Support the business in achieving the organization’s goals through the use of technology • IT is the tool by which organizations implement formalization – Formalization is “the degree to which jobs within the organization are standardized”

The History of the IT Organization

The IT Organization • IT has become the cornerstone of many businesses • Central point for regulations – IT becomes the corporate enforcer

Shadow IT

Shadow IT • Do it Cheaper and or Better than the formal IT group? • IT can’t meet requirements – Often have to cater to whole organization – Difficult to focus on individual BU

• IT is like government agencies – Large, often bureaucratic, and slow

• Shadow IT is like activists seeking freedom of information

Shadow IT Users • IT – “Tell me what you want” • BU – “Show me what you have”

IT vs. Shadow IT • IT – Inability to react quickly and satisfy immediate needs

• Shadow IT – long term detriment due to improper planning – lack of efficiently leveraging resources across the entire organization – development in a vacuum, where other interests are not considered

Finding Explanations in Organizational Behavior • Personality types – Narcissism • the tendency to be arrogant, have a grandiose sense of self-importance, require excessive admiration, and have a sense of entitlement”

• Condescending behavior results in users seeking out their own solutions

“We need to protect the business users from themselves and what they think they want or need” – Senior IT Executive for large multinational corporation

More Personality Types • Machiavellianism – the “degree to which an individual is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes that ends can justify means.”

Group Think • “Phenomenon in which the norm for consensus overrides the realistic appraisal of the alternative courses of action” • IT and the business units could better learn to segregate responsibilities as a way of bridging the gap between traditional IT and Shadow IT – “this is hard for IT to accept since they have always “known what’s best” for users, customers, and the business, and are still inclined to think users and customers don’t know anything about IT.”

Power and Politics • Legitimate power – “the power a person receives as a result of his or her position in the formal hierarchy of an organization”.

• Expert power – “influence based on special skills or knowledge”.

Conflict and Negotiations • Functional conflict – “supports the goal of the group and improves its performance”

• Dysfunctional conflict – “hinders group performance”

Leadership • It is up to the organization’s leaders to set appropriate guidelines and boundaries – As IT becomes more commoditized and knowledge workers become more tech savvy, the role of traditional IT must change to support the business units to achieve their goals by building a framework that is flexible enough for them to work within, but still has an overlying structure that looks at the long term goals of the business as a whole, not unit by unit.

Conclusions • Does Shadow IT get things done or are they “stimulated by the delusion of speed?” – “Some business units rationalize that it would take the IT department eight weeks to do what employee "Bob" can do in two weeks. – They fail to realize that Bob doesn't have to document requirements, decompose requirements into specs, and work with the right people to design schemas in enterprise-class systems where the data can be normalized and reused”.

Conclusions • Shadow IT downside – Poor resource utilization, improper processes, and lack of controls – “Lack of management control over business IT consumption has a tremendous cost. It is partly responsible for loss of the competitive advantage that IT can and does deliver, and is directly responsible for many lost opportunities, increased costs, and service outages.”

Conclusions • Goals for Traditional IT – Better understand the needs of the business and learn to work more aligned with the business – Focus on building a framework that will allow the business to leverage their technical skills to meet the daily one off requirements they have within the broader organizational IT framework – Solution reusability and flexibility should be central to the IT organization’s mission

Implications for Oracle/Hyperion Administrators • As Essbase platform becomes more technologically complicated (Shared Services, etc) IT must be involved • Essbase can be powerful Shadow IT tool, but can also be a tool that bridges the gap with formal IT • Oracle = Legitimacy with IT

Recommendations for Oracle/Hyperion Administrators • Consistently demonstrate value • Bridge the gap between BU and IT • Become an asset by being a knowledge expert (technology and business) • Lead with a unified vision • Compliment rather than compete

*This slide originally presented by Dave Collins and John Hite, of Oracle, at Collaborate 08