Oracle EssbaseFinancial BI Starter Kit

April 14, 2009

Dave Bundy Oracle BI SpecialistMike Killeen Ranzal Practice Director

Ranzal & AssociatesRanzal & Associates

Agenda

• Introductions• About Ranzal• Oracle Essbase Overview• Finance BI Starter Kit Service Offering• Overview of Fusion Edition New Features

– Optional - Fusion Upgrade Considerations• Q & A

What This Presentation Will Not Be

• Best Practices session– See tips and tricks at the Ranzal Blog at

http://ranzal.worldpress.com• Detailed review of Fusion release or upgrade

tips– See our replay webinar at http://www.ranzal.com

Instead, we want to focus on:• How to identify quick fixes for reporting and

analysis challenges in finance departments• Share our methodology for leveraging Oracle’s

Essbase to deliver the fix

Regarded in the industry as one of the "BEST” at leveraging OLAP technology to develop EPM Applications

Regarded in the industry as one of the "BEST” at leveraging OLAP technology to develop EPM Applications

About Ranzal

• Founded in 1996, Ranzal has implemented Hyperion solutions for 350+ companies (600+ projects since the acquisition)

• Oracle / Hyperion Certified Advantage Partner - Highest Status• Hyperion “Americas Reseller Partner of the Year”

– 1999, 2005 & 2007• Certified EPM Consultants & Instructors• Vertical Expertise with High-Profile Clients from Coast to Coast

– East Coast & West Coast Presence• Sound Project Methodology Insures Project Success

– Support Business Applications from start to finish• One of the Largest Hyperion Practices in the U.S.• “Best Planning & Essbase Practices with Best HFM Practice”

– Hyperion Development utilizes Ranzal for Planning, Essbase, HPCM and HFM product direction

Applications & Industries

• Our team has been involved in 700+ successful EPM Implementations– Financial Consolidation & Management Reporting– Budgeting & Planning – Profitability Management Solutions– Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing – Infrastructure Planning and Performance Tuning – Business Process and Project Management

• Strong client portfolio across leading Industry Sectors including– Financial Services − High Technology / E-business – Insurance − Energy / Utilities– Retail / Consumer Packaged Goods − Distribution– Manufacturing − Government– Pharmaceutical & Hospital − Other– Hospitality / Travel / Entertainment

• Certified consultants and instructors– Hyperion Essbase, Hyperion Planning, Hyperion Financial Management, HPCM, Hyperion

Enterprise, Hyperion Strategic Finance, Hyperion BI+ (Web Analysis, Financial Reports, Interactive Reporting, Production Reporting), Hyperion Data Relationship Management, Hyperion Financial Data Quality Management, Data Services (including ETL, Warehousing)

Oracle Essbase Overview

What is Essbase?

• Multi-Dimensional Database that serves as the platform for building analytic applications– Essbase Databases are often called “Cubes”– Cubes are defined by dimensions, which themselves are collections of

hierarchies and members• Engine optimized to support On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP)

as opposed to the more traditional transaction processing (OLTP)found in relational databases – Provides rapid response times for large volumes of users– Proven Technology – originated by Arbor Software in the early 90s

• Top 10 Technology from Info World Magazine along with Google, Blackberry, etc• “Often imitated, never duplicated”

• Strategic Component of the Oracle Hyperion Product Suite– Engine Behind Packaged Applications such as Planning– Optimizer Behind Packaged BI Solutions– Multi-Dimensional Data Store for Analytical Applications

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE FOUNDATION

Essbase BI Server Real Time DecisionsCommon Enterprise Information Model

EPM Workspace

OLTP & ODSSystems

Data WarehouseData Mart

SAP, Oracle, Siebel,PeopleSoft, Custom

BusinessProcess

OLAP

Fusion Middleware

BI ApplicationsPerformance Management Applications

EPM Workspace

ExcelXML

HSF Planning HFMHPCM

* Slide courtesy of Oracle

Oracle EPM System*

Essbase

Why Essbase*

* Slide courtesy of Oracle

A Best in Class OLAP Server*

• Multi-source OLAP Server

• What-if calculations• Multi-dimensional

allocations• Multi-user read/write• Financial intelligence

* Slide courtesy of Oracle

Where does Essbase Fit?

• Essbase has been involved in successful EPM Implementations– Financial Consolidation & Management Reporting– Budgeting & Planning

• Is Essbase a data source or is it an application? – Essbase has elements of both– Potential Data Source for other Business Intelligence Tools– Stand Alone Application to eliminate spreadsheet reporting

• Is Essbase an IT product or a Finance product?– It’s both!– If you look around an Essbase training class, you will see:

• Someone from FP&A who is looking to use Essbase to get out of “spreadsheet heck”• Someone from IT who is looking at Essbase as an enabler of ad hoc, speed of thought

analysis against the data warehouse• An operations analyst looking for a way to build customized analytical apps• A line of business power user looking to create dashboards

Types of Essbase Applications

• Analytical Applications– Price-Volume-Mix Applications– Profitability Management and What-If Scenario Modeling

• Budgeting & Forecasting Consolidation• Financial Close Support

– Contract/Lease/Loan Amortization Modeling– Sophisticated Depreciation Schedules– SOX compliance – better than stand alone spreadsheets, not as good as

transaction embedded– Variance Explanation

• Stand Alone Business Intelligence Solutions – Self Service Dashboards and Management Reporting– Limited IT Support and/or No Data Warehouse

• Extending Investment in Existing Business Intelligence Solutions– Enabling speed of thought Ad-Hoc via Excel– Providing Drill-Through to granular data– Rapid Prototyping Tool for BI Implementations

Financial BI Starter Kit

The More Things Change,The More They Stay The Same

• Essbase ("Extended Spread Sheet dataBASE“) patented by Arbor Software in 1992

• Original premise for the invention of OLAP remains true today – there is still a need for a solution that combines the raw material of a database with the value added power of a spreadsheet

• In other words – “Please get me out of the importing/exporting, transcribing, formatting, cajoling business and into the business of figuring out what is working and what is not”

• “It takes me two days to get the file and then several hours of formatting to make the reports look right.”

• “How did you arrive at that number? My results are different.”

• “Put in a request for a new report NOW, we should have it in time for next months meeting.”

• “You want that analysis when? You do realize it is 4PM on Friday afternoon.”

You’ll know Essbase can helpif you find yourself saying…

Financial Reporting in Excel

Other Current State Reporting Practices

Essbase Has Out of the Box FeaturesThat Make it Ideal for Financial Apps

• Support for Ragged Hierarchies (Accounts, Departments, Legal Entities)• Support for “Measures” or calculated values in more than one dimension

– Accounts (e.g. Gross Margin %), Scenarios (Budget Variance %)• Out of Box Time-Series Intelligence

– Support for “Balance” and “Flow” Accounts– Automatic QTD, YTD, and HTD reporting

• Out of Box Currency Conversion Modules• Out of Box Expense Analysis - Favorable/Unfavorable Reporting• Robust integration with Excel to support write back of budget, forecast and

statistical data, with cell level security to control access• Comprehensive library of 350+ functions to support modeling and what-if

analysis– Linear Regression, Statistical, and Allocation Functions

• Support for Alternate Hierarchies and Custom Groupings– Same Store Sales Analysis– Internal vs. External Views of Financial Data

• Automatic restatements of data with hierarchy change

What is the Finance BI Starter Kit?

• “Quick Win” Implementation Methodology developed for finance departments to allow them to solve tactical reporting and analysis needs.

• Typical Deliverables:– Software Installation/Configuration– Essbase “Cube” to support financial budget/actual data collection, standardized reporting,

and speed of thought ad-hoc analysis– Suite of Standardized Reports for Information Consumers– Training for Power Users and Administrator– Automated Text File and Excel Data Interfaces for budget and actual data– Infrastructure, Application Design and System Admin Documentation

• Key Benefits:– Productivity – less time spent preparing numbers, more time spent analyzing numbers– Superior performance of reporting solution and easy office integration encourage power user

adoption– Timeliness and Accuracy of the Data – “One Version of the Truth”– Insight into key drivers that effect financial performance– Low Risk Entry Point into a more comprehensive EPM strategy

• Expand with Hyperion Planning for generation of budgets and forecasts• Expand with Hyperion Profitability and Cost Management for analyst driven customer, product, and

departmental profitability results• Expand with OBIEE for operational dashboards and production reporting

Detailed Elements of the Starter Kit

• Hardware Recommendations – Purchased from Hardware Vendor• New License and Software Maintenance Recommendations – Purchased from Oracle

– 15 User Essbase Licenses– 15 User License for Financial Reports

• Implementation Services – Purchased from Ranzal– Software Installation and Configuration in Two Windows Environments (Dev/Test and Prod)– Design Session with resulting Design Document and Implementation Timeline– Application Build

• Provide File Formats and SQL templates for defining flat file extracts out of a variety of packaged GLs• Build Dimensions and Hierarchies• Load and Validate Actual data from GL• Load and Validate Budget/Forecast data from Excel Workbooks or separate GL ledger• Implement Currency Conversion and Aggregation Calculations, and simple ratios/metrics• Create up to 5 Standardized Reports• Implement System Backups

– Training• Administrator Training Class for 1 User• Financial Reports and Smart View Customized Training Class for up to 12 Power Users

– Support for End User Testing– Rollout Support

• System Administration Documentation• Administrator Knowledge Transfer• Cutover to Production Environment

LEGACY

DW

CRM

ERP1

2

5

7

6

3

4

8

Financial Starter ToolkitSoftware Elements2 Foundation Services

• EPMA3

4

6

7

5

8

Shared Services• Security• Life Cycle ManagementWorkspace • Web Access• Smartview for Office

1 Enterprise Data Sources

Applications• Hyperion Financial Management• Hyperion Planning

- Addl: Capex, Workforce• Strategic Finance• Performance ScorecardBI Tools & Technology• Essbase• Financial reporting• Web Analysis• Production Reporting• Interactive ReportingData Integration• FDM (Upstream)• HAL (Vignette)• ODI (Sunopsis)• DIM (Informatica)Master Data Management• MDM (DRM)

Oracle EPM Offerings:

Fusion Edition includes:

Financial Model – Key Dimensions

• Financial Cube – Key Dimensions– Account (Sales, Cash)– Fiscal Period (Jan:Dec)– Fiscal Year (FY09, FY10)– Scenario (Actual, Budget)– Report Currency (Local, USD)– Legal Entity / Company

– Mgmt String Dimensions (Varies By GL)

• Line of Business• Geography• Cost Center/Department• Profit Center/Product Line• Project

Typical Implementation Timeline and Staffing

• Typical Engagement Timeline 8-9 Weeks• Order of Magnitude All-In Cost

(Hardware/Software/Services) - $150K to $160K

Optional Engagement Services

• Drill Through to GL Transaction Details• What-If Scenario Modeling• End User Interactive Dashboards• Management Allocations• Additional IT Needs

– SSL Configuration– Disaster Recovery– Failover– Installation/Configuration Training

Elements of the Fusion Release

Fusion Release

• Version 11.1.x – FKA “Kennedy release” or 9.5– Sometimes called “System 11”– Renamed and numbered to match Oracle’s naming conventions

• Key Elements– Simplified installation

• From 250+ install screens to 27• Includes a validation option to check installation

– Common Foundation Elements• Lifecycle Management• EPMA

– Essbase Features• Essbase Server• Essbase Administration Services• Hyperion Provider Services• Essbase Integration Services• Essbase Spreadsheet Add-In (Classic)• Essbase Studio (New!)

Lifecycle Management

• Consistent, repeatable movement of apps, cubes, repositories or individual artifacts between dev, test, prod

• User interface & command line capabilities• Auditing & application comparisons• LCM is managed via Shared Services

EPMA

• Enterprise Performance Management Architect (EPMA)– Central repository for metadata– Allows for quickly building out multiple

applications that share all or some parts of a dimension

New Features - Essbase

• Varying attributes (Slowly changing attributes)• Typed Measures – Text or Date• Backup, Transaction logging and Replay• ASO Features

– Partial Data Clear– Target of a Partition– Write Back to Level 0

• New Time Intelligence, Calc Script, and MDX Functions

• XOLAP (Relational Access)• Integration with Life Cycle Management

Varying Attributes

Text and Date Measures

Essbase Studio

• Next generation of Essbase application building and administration– Graphical modeling environment– Integrate Cube creation capabilities of EIS

and EAS– Promote reuse and consistency– Manage change through impact analysis and

artifact lineage– Update data source administration and

access

Upgrade Considerations

Vernacular

“Migration”– The process of moving an application from within the

same version from one environment to the another. (Development, Test, Production)

“Upgrade”– Installing a later version of software and the process

of converting applications from earlier versions of software to later versions.

– Upgrades typically involve a migration in order to facilitate a parallel production environment whilst the upgrade procedure and testing occurs.

Pre-upgrade Decisions

Supported Hyperion Upgrade Paths to Fusion– 9.3.X, 9.2.X– Other . . . Yes, of course

Relational Storage– Version Change – No Impact– Software Change – Example - SQL to Oracle or

Oracle to SQL• Impacts migration process

External Authentication Changes– Example - LDAP to MSAD?

• Change external authentication after applications are upgraded

Essbase Upgrade

• EAS Migration Wizard will Upgrade and Migrate objects from Source to Fusion– Register applications in EAS for HSS

(excepting planning)

• Essbase.CFG– Partitions

• NODENAME– BSO Logging and Recovery

• TRANSACTIONLOGLOCATION• TRANSACTIONLOGDATALOADARCHIVE

Legacy Spreadsheet Add-In

• Support for MS Windows SP3• Office Compatibility

– Compatible with Office 2007– Does not support Office 2007 Tiles

Presentation as opposed to Smart View• Consider transitioning Spreadsheet Add-In

VBA to Smart View

Upgrade BI Plus (Reports and Analyzer)

• Pre-System 9 Reports Migration Utility– Migrate Groups, Users, and Report Objects– Object Access Rights stay attached to reports– Provisioning migrated to HSS

• System 9 Migrations to Fusion– Export and Import Objects– Consider – Importing POV and Pre-set

Preferences

To schedule a live demonstration, contact Mike Killeen

at MKilleen@ranzal.com.

1996 350/600

PartnershipFocusMethodologyServicesCustomersPeople

Mike Killeen Mike Killeen ––mkilleen@ranzal.commkilleen@ranzal.com

Mija Deering Mija Deering ––mdeering@ranzal.commdeering@ranzal.com