Oracle Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence Solutions

**Up-to-date, comprehensive coverage of the Oracle database and business intelligence tools Written by a team of Oracle insiders, this authoritative book provides you with the most current coverage of the Oracle data warehousing platform as well as the full suite of business intelligence tools. You'll learn how to leverage Oracle features and how those features can be used to provide solutions to a variety of needs and demands. Plus, you'll get valuable tips and insight based on the authors' real-world experiences and their own implementations. Avoid many common pitfalls while learning best practices for: * Leveraging Oracle technologies to design, build, and manage data warehouses * Integrating specific database and business intelligence solutions from other vendors * Using the new suite of Oracle business intelligence tools to analyze data for marketing, sales, and more * Handling typical data warehouse performance challenges * Uncovering initiatives by your business community, security business sponsorship, project staffing, and managing risk** Oracle® Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence Solutions......Page 1 Contents......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 16 Introduction......Page 18 Part I: Oracle Business Intelligence Defined......Page 19 Part II: Custom-Built Data Warehousing Solutions......Page 20 Part III: Best Practices......Page 21 From Here......Page 22 Part I: Oracle Business Intelligence Defined......Page 24 Oracle Business Intelligence......Page 26 Business Intelligence and Transactional Applications......Page 27 Daily Business Intelligence......Page 28 Balanced Scorecard......Page 29 Enterprise Planning and Budgeting......Page 31 Oracle Integration Components Enabling Business Intelligence......Page 32 Business Activity Monitoring......Page 33 Enterprise Messaging Service......Page 34 Custom Data Warehouse Solutions......Page 35 The Role of the Oracle Database......Page 37 Oracle Warehouse Builder......Page 38 Oracle Business Intelligence Standard Edition......Page 39 Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition......Page 41 Oracle Portal......Page 43 Spreadsheet Add-ins......Page 44 Building Custom Business Intelligence Applications......Page 46 Emerging Trends......Page 47 Oracle’s Transactional Business Intelligence......Page 50 Business Terminology......Page 51 Oracle’s Daily Business Intelligence......Page 53 How DBI Works......Page 56 Varieties of DBI......Page 57 Balanced Scorecards......Page 68 Oracle Balanced Scorecard Structure......Page 69 Creating an Oracle Balanced Scorecard......Page 71 The Oracle Customer Data Hub......Page 72 Other Oracle Data Hubs......Page 74 Is Transactional Business Intelligence Enough?......Page 75 Introduction to Oracle Data Warehousing......Page 76 Oracle Data Warehousing Basics......Page 77 Oracle Database Analysis and Schema Considerations......Page 78 Managing an Oracle-based Data Warehouse......Page 87 Where to Start?......Page 93 Oracle/PeopleSoft EPM......Page 94 Oracle/Siebel Business Analytics Applications......Page 96 Choosing Completely Custom......Page 97 Choosing a Platform......Page 98 Scaling Up Platforms Versus Scaling Out......Page 99 Hardware Platforms......Page 100 Availability Considerations......Page 103 Manageability Considerations......Page 106 Sizing the Platform......Page 107 Information Needed for Warehouse Hardware Sizing......Page 108 Benchmarking......Page 109 Sizing Hardware for Business Intelligence Tools......Page 112 Your Strategy......Page 113 Part II: Custom-Built Data Warehousing Solutions......Page 114 Designing for Usability......Page 116 Key Design Considerations......Page 117 Features for Design — Enhancing Performance......Page 121 Business Scenario......Page 129 Normalized Design......Page 131 Dimensional Design......Page 133 Hybrid Design......Page 136 Online Analytical Processing Design......Page 139 Other Considerations......Page 143 Selecting the Best Approach......Page 149 Business Intelligence Tools......Page 150 Oracle Portal and Portal Products......Page 151 Using Oracle Portal......Page 152 Building and Deploying Oracle Portal and Portlets......Page 155 Reporting......Page 159 BI/XML Publisher......Page 160 Oracle Reports......Page 163 Oracle BI Reporting Workbench (Actuate)......Page 164 Ad hoc Query and Analysis......Page 165 Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition......Page 166 Discoverer and Business Intelligence Standard Edition......Page 176 Oracle Spreadsheet Add-ins......Page 185 Building Business Intelligence Applications......Page 188 Data Miner......Page 189 Other Tools......Page 192 Data Loading......Page 198 Oracle Database Data Loading Features......Page 199 Embedded ETL in the Oracle Database......Page 200 SQL*Loader......Page 201 Change Data Capture......Page 202 Data Pump......Page 203 OWB Packaging......Page 204 Typical Steps when using OWB......Page 205 ETL Design in OWB......Page 207 OWB and Dimensional Models......Page 212 The OWB Process Editor......Page 214 Balancing Data Loading Choices......Page 215 Managing the Oracle Data Warehouse......Page 218 Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control......Page 219 Database Performance Monitoring......Page 223 Database Administration......Page 225 Database Maintenance......Page 241 Database Topology......Page 246 Management and Management Options......Page 247 Data Warehouse Performance Tuning and Monitoring......Page 250 Who Is Responsible?......Page 251 Causes of Poor Performance......Page 254 Successful Approaches to Performance Tuning......Page 261 Critical Tasks for Performance Tuning Lifecycle......Page 262 Hardware Configuration......Page 267 Software Configuration......Page 270 Database Application Design......Page 279 Where To Start......Page 280 Enterprise Manager Advisory Framework......Page 281 Approaches for Success......Page 296 Part III: Best Practices......Page 298 Scoping the Effort and an Approach for Success......Page 300 Where to Start......Page 301 Information Sources......Page 303 Accountability and Securing Business Sponsorship......Page 305 Project Review Board......Page 306 Choices of Methodologies......Page 307 A Business-focused Approach......Page 308 Organization Structure......Page 316 End-User Experience......Page 322 Communication — Managing Expectations......Page 324 Contingency Allocation......Page 325 Financial Risk......Page 326 Technology Risk......Page 327 No Place to Shortcut......Page 328 Understanding Business Needs......Page 330 Independent Data Marts......Page 331 Limited and Inflexible Reporting......Page 333 Limited Data History......Page 334 Lack of Current High-Quality Data......Page 335 Limited Growth Flexibility......Page 336 Financial Companies......Page 337 Healthcare......Page 339 Manufacturing......Page 341 Retail......Page 342 Telecommunications......Page 343 Educational Institutions......Page 344 Government Agencies......Page 346 Developing Scope and Gaining Business Support......Page 349 Justifying Projects and Claiming Success......Page 352 Where to Start Justification......Page 353 Measuring Value......Page 354 Common Metrics to Measure......Page 355 Common Budgeting Techniques......Page 372 Total Cost of Ownership......Page 379 Modeling Total Cost of Ownership......Page 380 Modeling Return on Investment......Page 383 Claiming Success......Page 386 Index......Page 388

Up-to-date, comprehensive coverage of the Oracle database and business intelligence tools

Written by a team of Oracle insiders, this authoritative book provides you with the most current coverage of the Oracle data warehousing platform as well as the full suite of business intelligence tools.
You'll learn how to leverage Oracle features and how those features can be used to provide solutions to a variety of needs and demands. Plus, you'll get valuable tips and insight based on the authors' real-world experiences and their own implementations. Avoid many common pitfalls while learning best practices for:

• Leveraging Oracle technologies to design, build, and manage data warehouses

• Integrating specific database and business intelligence solutions from other vendors

• Using the new suite of Oracle business intelligence tools to analyze data for marketing, sales, and more

• Handling typical data warehouse performance challenges

• Uncovering initiatives by your business community, security business sponsorship, project staffing, and managing risk

This volume shows readers how to use Oracle technologies to design and build the data warehouse, use Oracle's business intelligence tools to analyze data to solve business problems, and integrate specific database and business intelligence solutions from other vendors