Transcript How do you Find the Pain? - Oracle Software Downloads

Developing a Corporate
Business Intelligence Portal
Alfred Adams
Avanco International, Inc.
[email protected]
(703) 749-7749 ext. 218
Business Intelligence
Agenda
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What is Data Warehousing?
What is Business Intelligence?
What are Enterprise Information Portals?
The Oracle 9iAS BI Architecture
BI Overview
A BI Portal Methodology
– Project Team
– Project Definition
– Requirements Definition
– Design Prototype
– User Interface
Q&A
Avanco Corporate Oracle Expertise
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ORACLE Customer Advisory Program (BI and Oracle Portal)
ORACLE Certified Developers
• Oracle 9iAS Portal, Discoverer, Developer, JDeveloper
Known Oracle authors (Oracle Press)
• Steve Vandivier ‘Oracle 9iAS Portal Handbook’
• Anissa Stevens ‘Oracle Security Handbook’
Oracle Data Warehousing expertise
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Oracle 9iAS expertise
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IT Doesn’t Matter
Harvard Business Review, May 2003
“…Information Technology has
become a commodity. Affordable and
accessible to everyone, it no longer
offers strategic value to anyone.
Scarcity – not ubiquity – makes a
business resource truly strategic.
Companies gain an edge by having
or doing something others can’t have
or do.”
Data Rich - Information Poor
“The typical Fortune 1000 company has a
big problem: it collects a lot of important
business data that never gets used.
Users who could take data and turn it
into competitive advantage can’t get
the level of access they need.”
Forrester Research
Ad Hoc Operational Data
Analysis
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Jeopardizes operational processing
Data is a moving target
Information fluctuates
Data accuracy diminishes over time
Inefficient database structure for query
Result - Users don’t trust the data
BI and Data Warehousing
• Data Warehousing is the process of assembling
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enterprise information into a report only format
that mirrors your business processes
Business Intelligence is the User Interface and
set of reporting tools that are assembled and
constructed to offer strategic reporting
In combination they offer significant
Return on Investment (ROI)
Data Warehouse - Defined
A Data Warehouse is that portion of an overall
Architected Data Environment that serves as
the single integrated source of data for
Informational Processing, and is:
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Subject Oriented
Integrated
Time Variant
Non-Volatile
Why a Data Warehouse?
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Integrates enterprise business processes
Organized and queried by subject areas
concerned strictly with historical data
data updated regularly – Right time not Real Time
loaded data rarely changes
structured to meet information requirements of the
enterprise
• Result - Users trust their information
Data Warehousing Concepts
Spreadsheets
Operational
Systems
Marketing
Sales
Accounting
Finance
Human
Resources
Sales
Finance
Data
Warehouse
External Data
Data Marts
Corporate Performance Management
What business managers want to know...
• What happened?
• Why did it happen?
• What will happen in the
future?
• What if we...?
Oracle Business Intelligence
Solutions
Oracle BI Client Products
Oracle Business Intelligence Systems
Reports
Standard
Reports
Discoverer
Query
Express
Modeling,
Drill Calculations
Time
Derived
Down,
What If
Series,
Data
Pivot
Financial
BI Increasing Complexity
What are Enterprise Portals?
“Web Applications that provide a single
point of entry for corporations to
identify and unlock structured and
unstructured information from many
sources, both inside and outside the
organization, and to tap into the
corporate knowledge base in order to
make better more informed decisions”
Enterprise Portals
What Problems do They Solve?
• Serve as a Corporate Dashboard
• Integrates Information Access under One Roof
• Organizes Information including unstructured content
• Provides Role-based Information Access
• Cross Referencing of Data Items with Like Items
• Collaborative Departmental Level Development
• Unifies disparate IT processes
Oracle Portal Provides Unified Access to
Structured and Unstructured
Information
Sales
Portal
HR
Portal
Business
Intelligence
Portal
Role Based User Interface
Unstructured Data
Network and Operating System
ERP
Data
Internet
Warehouse
Oracle Portal and Oracle 9i
ERP
Portal
Oracle 9iAS architecture
Oracle9iAS Portal Page Generation
Oracle9iAS Portal
Middle Tier
Oracle9iAS
Portal Database
Tier
mod_plsql
Parallel
Page
Engine
Page
Response
Page
Metadata
mod_oc4j
Page
Request
Oracle HTTP Server
Browser
Client
Cached
Metadata
& Content
Portal
Cache
Portal
Repository
Portlet
Content
Portlet
Content
Web
Provider
Database
Provider
Portal Middle Tier
• Oracle9iAS installation acts as
the Portal middle tier
• Portal directly leverages the
following Oracle9iAS services:
– Oracle HTTP Server
– mod_plsql
– mod_oc4j
– Web Cache
mod_plsql
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requests into stored
procedure calls
Gateway into Portal
Database
–Access to Portal
Repository, Portal UI and
Database Providers
• Provides connection
pooling for efficient
session management
mod_oc4j
• Apache plug-in
• Routes Servlet requests to
Oracle9iAS Containers for
J2EE (OC4J) Servlet engine
• Performance
• Supports latest J2EE
specifications
Oracle9iAS Web Cache
• Memory-based cache
• Combines caching,
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compression, and assembly to
accelerate both static and
dynamic content
Also provides load-balancing,
failover, and surge protection
to improve availability,
reliability
Portal Development Approach
• Secure Management Sponsor
• Scope the Project
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– Use client and
departmental
questionnaires to define
goals
Identify the Project Team
Identify Content Contributors
Use user identified
requirements to define the
Portal structure
Identify structured and
unstructured content
• Iteratively refine assumptions
through verification and
validation with users
• Perform Enterprise metadata
analysis
• Identify content and system
standards (Branding)
• Organization and Navigation
• Ensure ongoing content
maintenance
• Measure ROI
Suggested BI Portal Project Team
Corporate Sponsor
•Drives Project goals
Portal Development Team
•Portal Administrator
•Application Developers
•Database Administrators
•Graphics Designers
Portal Architect
Content Providers
•Manages
•Facilitates
•Identifies Bottlenecks
•Establishes Standards
•Content Manager(s)
•Content Contributors
•Graphics Designers
•Quality Assurance Specialists
What makes a BI/DW project
Successful?
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Corporate sponsorship chain
Management of expectations
Data quality
Design issues
User Interface
Scalability issues
Performance
Administration
Process alignment
Scoping the Project
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Define project goals in a Mission Statement
Define objectives of the site
Identify short and long term goals with questionnaires
Define ROI metrics
Use draft objectives to hone in on site requirements
Use a User and Data-centric approach
Manage user expectations for the site
Requirements Definition Process
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Define Business Processes
and roles
2. Perform Enterprise
Information Assessment
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4. Define hardware, software,
And security requirements
3. Define Look, Feel and
Branding concepts
Requirements Definition Process
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Define roles and privileges by user type
Define user functions and business processes
Perform enterprise information assessment (data architecture)
Define unstructured document and content standards
Define structured data and determine data quality
Organize information (categories and perspectives)
Define look, feel, and branding concepts
Define hardware capacity
Define software needs
Define security requirements (SSL, firewall, user access)
Content Planning Form and
Content Inventory Form
Define Corporate Data
Architecture
BI Portal Design
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Define site look and feel
Applications and content
Site organization
Navigation methods
Dimensional database design and sourcing
Architecture and security design
Labeling
Themes
User Interface
Develop prototypes iteratively
Develop Dimensional Model
from Enterprise Model
Discoverer Components
Warehouse
Builder
OEM
Discoverer
Administrator
Discoverer
Plus
Discoverer
Viewer
Oracle
Net
Export
HTTP
Discoverer
Portlets
Excel
Reports
End User
Layer
Discoverer End User Layer
User Sees
End
User
Layer
Ease of Use
Database
Client address
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cl_zipcode
Total Revenue
Forecast
sum(nvl(fcast_qty*
unit_price,0))
Hides the Complexity of the Underlying Database
It’s All in the Metadata
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EUL simplifies user access to database
Controls query environment
Controls summary table aggregate awareness
Provides consistent view of data
User access control
Object relationships grouped by business area
Metadata shared with OWB/Designer
repositories
Oracle Discoverer Design Issues
• Set up and group Business Areas by business function
• Refine relational structure - joins, calculated items,
conditions
• Edit/format properties using item properties work sheet
• Create date and Item hierarchies
• Create Item Classes
• Create date and item drills
• Create Summary tables
• Create complex folders last
• Develop Discoverer Viewer workbooks
• Develop multiple report looks/ multiple tabs
Oracle Portal and Discoverer
• Worksheet Portlet
– Customizable
– Data and/or graph
– Scheduled and cached
– Calls Viewer
• List of Workbooks
– Customizable
– Scheduled
Adding Discoverer Portlets
• Ensure Discoverer Services are running
• Ensure OC4J_BI_Forms are running
• Click on Discoverer link within OEM
– Enable graphs in Discoverer Viewer / Portlet
– Create a public connection using Create Connection
• Create workbooks with multiple work sheets
– Keep Portlet charts and reports simple
• Register Discoverer within the Portal Repository using
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‘Register a Portlet Provider’ on Portal Build tab
Check to ensure Discoverer Portlet is running by checking
http://<hostname.domain:7779>/discoverer/portletprovider
Add Discoverer Portlet to a Portal Page
Integrating Discoverer within Portal
• Edit your Portal Page Group
• Click on Add Portlets icon
on the region you want to
work with
• Within the Portlet
Repository find the
Discoverer Portlet
Repository and choose
Worksheet
• Click OK after Worksheet is
displayed as shown
Adding a Discoverer Portlet
• You will see an error that says
“Error This Portlet has not
been defined. The publisher
must define the portlet by
clicking on Edit Defaults….”
• Under Editing Views at the top
of the edited page, Click
Layout
• Choose Edit Defaults next to
the worksheet portlet
Discoverer Portlet Wizard
• Choose the Publishers
Connection for the workbook
you wish to display
• Click Next and choose the
workbook for display from the
workbooks available
– If the workbook is not listed
invoke Discoverer Plus and give
privileges to the publisher
• Select a Worksheet for display
if there are multiples
Portlet Settings Wizard
• In the Portlet Settings
wizard, provide a Portlet
Title and choose the content
type
– Both crosstab/table and graph
– Crosstab/table only
– Graph only
• Note: It is normally better to
display just the report or the
Graph
• Set Refresh Options as
appropriate for data volatility
Integrated Discoverer Portlet
Design Working Prototype
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Define ROI for the project
Organize Portal for end users
Group content according to Business Process
Populate dimensional model
Organize information within the Portal
Develop site navigation controls
Brand the Portal site consistently
Utilize application standards
Plan remainder of the project
Measure ROI after rollout
User Interface Considerations
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Use appropriate BI tools
Use Portal Publish with Approval privilege
Use reports and charts liberally and drill down/across
Use HTML forms or Java where possible to avoid
Oracle Forms and Jinitiator
Use Alerts where appropriate
Ensure role based security is enforced
Integrate Discoverer and Developer on Portal pages
Integrate non-structured information
Other Development Tools –
Portal PDK
• Omni Portlet
– component of Oracle9iAS Portal that helps page
designers quickly publish data (Tabular, Chart, Form,
List, News) from various different data sources
(CSV, xml, Web Services, JCA, SQL and Web Page)
• Web Clipping
– allows you to extract specific portion or "clipping"
(e.g., HTML table) of a Web page content and
publish it within Portal.
• Java applications
– Various Java apps including Discussion Forums and
integration apps
Author Contact Information
• Steve Vandivier
– Http://www.Avanco.Com
– [email protected]
– Oracle 9ias portal handbook
– Osborne McGraw-hill,
Oracle press: ISBN 0-07-222249-2