First of all, you’re very welcome for putting that song in your head. If you don’t know what I’m referring to, then you are way too young and not quite 90’s hip.
Second. Do you even know what OAC is? Oracle Analytics Cloud. If you try to call it Essbase in the Cloud, you will get funny looks and possibly a lifetime ban from the OAC community (not really) .
Every year, my hip hoppin’ company takes a trip that is not only fun, but very educational. This year, I was able to actually get my hands on two new products which are about to drop to the Oracle community: OAC (Oracle Analytics Cloud) and DV (Data Visualization).
The initial challenge was getting used to the new tool. When you’ve developed in Essbase and EAS for 15 years, learning a new way to develop a cube can be rather challenging. I found myself having to step back a few times to re-wire my brain. Which then led me to start thinking about the intended target. The excel power user, who knows their data, and knows how they want to report and slice and dice. The same user who knows if he/she asks for a server, along with the package for On-Prem Essbase, with a handful of user licenses, is going to get shot down (again). The same user who spends countless hours copying and pasting numbers into spreadsheet after spreadsheet, creating various images that will best depict the data scenario.
What do you need to use OAC?
- You will need a browser
- You will need Excel, with Smart View version 11.1.2.5.620 (for now)
- You will need to be able to install a few items on your computer
- You will need an understanding of Parent/Child/Generation
- You will need a solid understanding of your environment
- You will need a solid understanding of your source data
- You will need a solid understanding of your intended results
- You will need an OAC consultant (in my humble opinion)
Some may tell you that you won’t need any consultants for OAC. In situations where that MAY be true, I would advise against it. Using a consultant, especially in the design and build phase of your new OAC project will prove more helpful than harmful. Whether they have experience in the Cloud or On-Prem, the consultant(s) can provide guidance on best ways to build your application, with the best results, the best performance, and the least amount of maintenance for YOU in the long run. Essbase is STILL your powerful data engine, quietly running in the background. So, the better you build your application, the better Essbase will run for YOU!
WAY earlier in this blog, I mentioned DV. Let me just say this…..if you are a dash-boarder, a master graphic data displayer, a lover of pies & charts, then this is the tool for you. I have a small confession. I would rather see data than pictures. It’s how I’m wired. But, I know you. You who love the graphs and dots and area maps, pies, and trees and donuts (OH MY). Y’all, those are just a handful of the different ways in DV to look at your data. Your CEO just might give you a Christmas gift this year with all of these very cool graphical ways to display the data.
Now it’s time for YOU to decide if you are down with OAC. (Yeah, you know me!)
Enjoy!
~Sum
If you want to learn more about OAC, check out the blog hop participant posts below! What is a blog hop? A blog hop is a group of bloggers who all get together to blog on a particular topic. We share each others blog posts in an attempt to share a lot of great information in one place. Enjoy!
- Opal Alapat, interRel Consulting
- Stewart Bryson, RedPill Analytics
- Brian Dandeneau, interRel Consulting
- Tim German, Qubix
- Cameron Lackpour, ARC EPM Consulting
- Matt Milella, Oracle
- Glenn Schwartzberg, interRel Consulting
- Summer Watson, interRel Consulting
- Sarah Zumbrum, Oracle
EPMSxSW 
Every morning I wake up I see something new about data analytics. Isn’t it hard to follow?
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