OBIEE & Essbase Integration with Oracle BI Foundation 11.1.1.7 (ODTUG 2013)

T : +44 (0) 8446 697 995 E : enquiries@rittmanmead.com W: www.rittmanmead.com
OBIEE and Essbase Integration with BI Foundation Suite 11.1.1.7
Mark Rittman, Technical Director, Rittman Mead
ODTUG KScope’13, New Orleans, June 2013
Wednesday, 26 June 13

About the Speaker
•Mark Rittman, Co-Founder of Rittman Mead
•Oracle ACE Director, specialising in Oracle BI&DW
•14 Years Experience with Oracle Technology
•Regular columnist for Oracle Magazine
•Author of two Oracle Press Oracle BI books
•Oracle Business Intelligence Developers Guide
•Oracle Exalytics Revealed
•Writer for Rittman Mead Blog :
http://www.rittmanmead.com/blog
•Email : mark.rittman@rittmanmead.com
•Twitter : @markrittman

About Rittman Mead
•Oracle BI and DW platinum partner
•World leading specialist partner for technical excellence, solutions delivery and innovation in Oracle BI
•Approximately 50 consultants worldwide
•All expert in Oracle BI and DW
•Offices in US (Atlanta), Europe, Australia and India
•Skills in broad range of supporting Oracle tools:
‣ OBIEE
‣ OBIA
‣ ODIEE
‣ Essbase, Oracle OLAP
‣ GoldenGate
‣ Exadata
‣ Endeca

OBIEE 11g: Where Are We Now?
•OBIEE 11.1.1.7 release came out in April 2013 - many new features + updated look and feel
•Fourth major release of OBIEE 11g since the initial launch back in 2010
•Enterprise BI platform centered around the Common Enterprise Semantic Model (RPD)
•Mobile BI apps, MS Office integration, ad-hoc,
dashboard and published reporting
•Built around Oracle Fusion Middleware
•Deployable on Windows, Unix, Linux
•Accessing a range of enterprise data sources
‣ Oracle and other RDBMSs
‣ Essbase and other OLAP servers
‣ Files, XML, web services
‣ ADF and SOA sources
‣ TimesTen in-memory database

Embedded and Leveraged Throughout the Oracle Tech and Apps Stack
•Packaged EPM and CRM analytics through Oracle Business Intelligence Applications 11.1.1.7.1
•Embedded in the Oracle Fusion Applications
•Available as BI components within Oracle Fusion Middleware

Part of the Wider Oracle BI Foundation Suite 11g
•Typically now sold packaged as Oracle BI Foundation Suite 11g
‣ Includes Oracle BI EE (dashboard analytics + enterprise semantic model)
‣ Oracle BI Mobile
‣ Oracle Scorecard & Strategy Management
‣ Oracle Essbase Server
•This provides the context, and the driver, for
integration between Essbase and OBIEE
‣ Essbase is the “go-to” OLAP server
for Oracle BI EE, and Oracle’s analytic apps
‣ It’s also the standard software bundle
when licensing Oracle Exalytics

Runs Better on Oracle Exalytics In-Memory Machine
•Engineered System for running Oracle’s BI and EPM products
•1TB RAM, 40 CPU cores, Oracle Linux 64-bit OS
•Optimizations to move more
of BI + OLAP processing
in-memory
•Lower TCO through
co-ordinated patching, support,
software releases
•Comes with OBIEE,
Essbase (ASO + BSO),
TimesTen in-memory cache
Exalytics
In-Memory
Machine
Spans Relational, Multi-Dimensional, and Unstructured analysis,
combined with Financial & Operational Planning
‣ In-Memory Optimized Hardware
‣ In-Memory Oracle BI, TimesTen, Essbase, and Endeca
‣ Many In-Memory Software Innovations
Tightly-Integrated with Exadata, and
Big Data Appliance

The Long-Standing Opportunity (and Threat?) from OBI / Essbase Integration
•From the point that Oracle acquired Hyperion, the
talk was always around integrating EPM and OBIEE
•Seen by many as an opportunity
‣ Swap-out old Brio/Hyperion web tools for OBIEE
‣ Make Essbase data available to a wider audience
‣ Deliver world-class reporting tools able to
access both relational, and OLAP data source
•But also as a risk or threat
‣ Make Essbase relational (e.g. Oracle OLAP)
‣ Dumb-down the Hyperion tools
‣ Oracle gets side-tracked into infrastructure work
‣ Lose whats good about Essbase, Planning etc
•So how’s it gone, and where are we now?

High-Level Integration Goals (and for All Oracle’s BI Platform Integration)
•Make Essbase available as a data source for OBIEE, and vice-versa
‣ Also applies to Endeca Information Discovery, TimesTen etc
•Make Essbase an option for OBIEE aggregate persistence
‣ Speed up ad-hoc reporting,
‣ Support agile BI development
‣ Maximise the value in a customer’s Oracle BI deployment
•Deploy Essbase alongside OBIEE as part of the BI product install
‣ Do all the product wiring, resolve security etc differences
‣ Make Essbase use as seamless as possible for BI developers / users
•Preserve the benefits of standalone Oracle EPM Suite
‣ Recognize that most users of Essbase use it for Planning etc
‣ Support running EPM in two modes; as part of BI, or as EPM Suite

Essbase and OBIEE Data Source Integration
•The first widely-used example of OBIEE / Essbase Integration
•Oracle BI EE’s BI Server can connect to Essbase and use as data source
‣ Generates MDX queries, translates to/from OBIEE’s relational model
‣ Ability to call-out to specific MDX functions if required; access to aliases and other Essbase oddities
‣ “It’s been a journey” - initially underwheming, much better now, but still with some issues
•OBIEE as a data source for Essbase, via Studio
‣ Leverage OBIEE data integration + metadata
•Support for HFM as a data source, but not Planning
•Works well, but suits Essbase best when in a
sales analysis / star-schema context
‣ But a great way to get Essbase data to
a wider, dashboard-style audience

Introduced with OBIEE 11.1.1.6.2 BP1 : Aggregate Persistence in Essbase
•OBIEE’s Administration tool has the ability to define aggregates,
and then persist them in an RDBMS
•Repository then uses these aggregates to speed up
dashboard queries that otherwise aggregate on-the-fly
•Basis of the Summary Advisor used with
•Oracle Exalytics In-Memory Machine
•OBIEE 11.1.1.6.2 BP1 bundle patch enabled
storage of these aggregates in an Essbase ASO database,
using headless Essbase Studio and OBIEE Admin tool
Oracle BI Server
Component
Physical
SQL, MDX
Physical
MDX
BI Presentation Server
Component
Oracle BI Repository
Logical Business
Model
Read model
Logical SQL Results
HTTP(S)
User requests
from dashboard,
ad-hoc queries etc
Pre-computed aggregated
data, stored in an Essbase
ASO database
Detail-level, and dynamically-
calculated
aggregate data

So How Did OBIEE 11.1.1.6.2 BP1 Aggregate Persistence in Essbase Work?
•Developer/Administrator selects slice of business model to aggregate
•Aggregate Persistence Wizard then creates a logical SQL script, processed by BI Server using nqcmd
•BI Server uses Essbase Studio dmaservlet to create ASO outline, and rules file
•Detail-level data sourced via BI Server logical model through to source databases
Oracle BI Repository
Logical Business
Model
Oracle BI Server
Component
nqcmd script
containing logical
DDL and DML for
creating and populating
aggregate tables
Logical SQL
via BI Server
ODBC interface
Physical
SQL, MDX
Create outline
Read model Add aggregates
Essbase Studio dmaservlet
XML request SQL queries
Data load via
Essbase rules file
Essbase Server
Developer uses
BI Administrator
tool to select
aggregates for
creation, with an
output of a logical
SQL script for DDL
and DML
1
2
3
4
5

Aggregate Persistence Benefits & Limitations
•It worked! (sort of)
•OBIEE developers had the choice of Essbase ASO, or relational storage, for their aggregates
•Transparent to the developer and end-user: BI Server and Essbase Studio took care of the details
•But ... it was a strange way to create an Essbase cube
‣ Separate ASO database per aggregate
‣ Rather than one ASO database for entire OBIEE cube
‣ Also restricted Essbase (in this install type) to
just this use, hard-wired to OBIEE using a single user
‣ More of a PoC than a full feature

The First Integration of Essbase into the OBIEE Tech Stack
•What was more interesting, was how Oracle integrated Essbase into the OBIEE tech stack
•OBIEE 11.1.1.6, and the 11.1.1.6.2 BP1 bundle patch, included Essbase + administration
tools as part of the install bundle, but these were not by default enabled
•Needed to be patched to 11.1.1.6.2 BP1, then installed using options in a response file
[DATAMART_AUTOMATION]
ESSBASE_STUDIO_URL = "http://localhost:9080/dma/dmaservlet";
ESSBASE_SERVER = "localhost";
DMA_DATABASE = "DMA_DB";

New in OBIEE 11.1.1.7 : Full Integration of Essbase into OBIEE Tech Stack
•From OBIEE 11.1.1.7, Essbase is now an install option
within the OBIEE product installer
‣ Has to be licensed separately, or as part of BI Foundation
•Installs Essbase Server, Essbase Studio,
Financial Reporting and other BI-related/complementary
tools alongside OBIEE
•Management of Essbase Server, Security, start/stop etc
all from single Enterprise Manager farm

Essbase and OBIEE within Oracle BI Domain - EM Management
•Essbase can be stopped, started, restarted from EM via OPMN
•Essbase metrics reported on from EM
•Integrated security tools via OPSS
application roles and policies

Essbase Role within Oracle BI Foundation Suite
•Essbase is deployed alongside OBIEE to complement OBIEE’s existing relational capabilities
•Adds an enterprise-class OLAP server to the stack, deeply integrated
•Essbase is supporting BI; elsewhere, in EPM Suite, it runs the show alone
•All integration work in this context is about making BI run better,
not replacing Essbase-specific tools or removing EPM Suite

Integration of Essbase with Fusion Middleware (OBIEE) Security
•Essbase security in this context is aligned with FMW security
‣ Application roles and policies, use of WLS LDAP server vs. Essbase Native / HSS
‣ Extensible via WebLogic providers / OPSS
•Fusion Middleware Control used for almost all Essbase security tasks
‣ Data and Metadata filters still defined using EAS,
provisioned using EM using application policies
•Shared Services still exists for EPM Suite, but cannot be
used to integrate with OBIEE in the same way as this

Creating Essbase-Related Application Roles, and Assigning Filters
•The FMW policy store, and application roles/policies, replace Shared Services for assigning filters
•Filters still created using MaxL or EAS, but now granted through application policy resource permissions
1
2

Application Roles and Data / Metadata Filtering
•Users, groups and application roles have the Essbase-related application policies assigned to them
‣ Note - need to type in resource names, do not auto-populate with list of Essbase filters
•RPD database connection pools use USER: and PASSWORD: variables to pass credentials to Essbase
3
4
5

The Return of EPM Workspace Integration from OBIEE 11.1.1.7
•EPM Workspace integration returns with OBIEE 11.1.1.7!
•SSO via shared OPSS (FMW) security
•Launch BI content from within Workspace
•Store FR reports in Catalog (must launch from
EPM Workspace though, not from OBIEE dashboard)

Also - Full Essbase Cube Spin-Off in OBIEE 11.1.1.7
•More of a developer preview at this stage, but ...
•... OBIEE logical SQL command CREATE CUBE provides
ability to create whole Essbase ASO or BSO cube from RPD
•Rather than just a single aggregate slice
•One for the future - full OLAP data mart automation?

Essbase Cube Spin-Off and Aggregate Persistence / Data Mart Automation
•Cube Spin-Off process uses OBIEE aggregate persistence feature
•Maps cube into RPD physical layer, and as properly-mapped business model LTSs

And for a Bonus: SmartView Compatibility across Essbase and OBIEE
•From OBIEE 11.1.1.7, SmartView can now be used with OBIEE for Office integration
•Ability to create new reports as well as analyze Catalog content via Excel, Word etc
•Replaces BI Office (and original SmartView from OBIEE 10g)

Creating a SmartView Connection to OBIEE Pt.1:
•OBIEE connections generally creates as “private connections”
•Install Smartview (64-bit MS Office requires MOS patch 16238382)
•Select SmartView > Panel > Private Connections > Create New Connection

Creating a SmartView Connection to OBIEE Pt.2:
•Enter connection URL to OBIEE’s SmartView provider in the format
http://[machine_name:port]/analytics/jbips
1
2

Creating a SmartView Connection Pt.3:
•Enter connection credentials for OBIEE, save as a private connection
1
2

Opening an OBIEE Analysis within SmartView
•Existing Catalog analyses can be opened and viewed, similar to BI Office

Creating a New SmartView Analysis
•View Designer feature allows new reports to be created from scratch in MS Office

Saving Back to the Catalog
•Content created using SmartView can then be saved back to the catalog, to
then be viewed as a regular BI analysis
•Or saved to the local filesystem, just
like any other Excel file

Summary
•Essbase integration with OBIEE has come a long way since the Hyperion acquisition
•Use-cases have crystallized around Essbase providing the OLAP server for OBIEE
•Has required changes (or alternatives) to how Essbase security works, to align with OBIEE
•Progress also made on having Essbase work as an automated data mart engine for OBIEE
•EPM Workspace is back, but really in the context of BI - not full Planning etc integration
•Starting to deliver now on the promise of Essbase taking OBIEE to the next level
•Perfect complement to Exalytics - in-memory ROLAP/OLAP with low TCO

Thank You for Attending!
• Thank you for attending this presentation, and more information can be found at http://www.rittmanmead.com
• Contact us at info@rittmanmead.com or mark.rittman@rittmanmead.com
• Look out for our book, “Oracle Business Intelligence Developers Guide” out now!
• Follow-us on Twitter (@rittmanmead) or Facebook (facebook.com/rittmanmead)

OBIEE & Essbase Integration with Oracle BI Foundation 11.1.1.7 (ODTUG 2013)

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