VSS Newsletter May 2007
In this newsletter we inform you about recent and upcoming events in Vlamis Software and the Oracle business intelligence and data warehousing communities. We hope you find this information helpful.
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Vlamis Software Solutions is a consulting company specializing in Oracle-related business intelligence and data warehouse solutions. Learn more about us at our web site at www.vlamis.com. Contact us at sales@vlamis.com or (816)781-2880.
If you are using Outlook 2007, you may find it easier to view this newsletter from our web site.
VSS Newsletter Returns!
After a lengthy break, the VSS Newsletter is back! Things have been very busy at Vlamis Software and Oracle. There's no way we can truly cover all of the changes that have occurred since our last newsletter, so we will jump in with news from this year. Please let us know if there are topics you'd like us to cover in future issues.
Demonstration of Oracle BI EE on Oracle OLAP May 14 at 3:00pm CDT on the Web
Our demonstration of running Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBI EE, formerly Siebel) against Oracle OLAP analytic workspaces has been extremely well received. We presented this in April at the Collaborate '07 conference, and then in a webcast on May 1. The demand for the presentation was so high that we have scheduled a repeat session on May 14, 2007 at 3:00pm Central Daylight Time. You can find details on what we'll be showing and how to connect to the web conference at ttp://www.vlamis.com/td. We plan other showings this month as well. Demo scripts, other webcasts, and other resources are at ttp://www.vlamis.com/td.
Demo of OBI EE on Oracle OLAP Available For You
Oracle has produced a VMWare image with multiple live working demonstrations of Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition. Our demo of OBI EE on Oracle OLAP is on this image. The image will be available in the month of May, 2007. It requires a copy of VMWare. All of the demos run inside a virtual machine with all of the Oracle software pre-configured. The appropriate licenses for Linux and all of the Oracle software are included; all you need is a VMWare, a browser, and about 15 gigabytes of disk space (works especially well from an external hard drive connected via USB 2.0). You can dissect the demos to see how all the software works. More information will be available soon at http://www.bic2g.com.
Send us an email at sales@vlamis.com if you'd like to have your own copy of this demonstration environment.
Oracle Buys Siebel and Renames it Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition
In case you missed the news, you should know that Oracle is focusing its development efforts and its strategy on Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition. The first release of this software (codenamed "Maui") with the Oracle name was released in February, 2007. You'll find much more information at http://www.oracle.com/bi. Vlamis Software is likewise focusing its consulting offering on the OBI EE product line and is ready to help you with your OBI EE implementations.
Vlamis Software Starts Blog on Oracle BI and Data Warehousing
We've launched a weblog (blog) to make it easier for us to cover the rapid changes that can occur in the Oracle BI and data warehousing space. Bookmark our blog at http://www.vlamis.com/blog and watch for more information.
Oracle OLAP 11g Details Released
We recently had a chance to "touch and feel" Oracle OLAP 11g beta. We were given permission to share this information at the Collaborate 07 conference and incorporated it into our presentations. To view the information, see the PowerPoint file on our web site on Oracle OLAP 11g Preview with several screenshots and bullets highlighting the features we found most exciting.
If you'd like to explore this in more depth, please let us know. Oracle OLAP 11g will make it MUCH easier to integrate OLAP into a data warehouse project.
Oracle Buys Hyperion
People often ask us what we think of Oracle purchasing Hyperion. This is a great move for Oracle. They have acquired the standard in financial analysis software. But nobody really knows what they are going to do regarding the integration of the software, especially the Essbase multi-dimensional database. Oracle says they are going to continue all product lines indefinitely and evaluate what to do once the companies are legally joined after June 30, 2007. After asking all sorts of friends in Oracle and Hyperion product management, I believe they truly have not decided what specifically to do. Everything else is pure speculation.
Dan Vlamis
Mark's OLAP Tip: Use OLAP View Generator to SQL-Enable AWs
One of the features of Oracle Analytic Workspace Manager is the ability to develop Java plug-ins for AWM. Oracle has made a plug-in available that creates views that use the OLAP_TABLE function to expose analytic workspace cubes and other objects for access via SQL. It really is easy; you can simply right-click a cube and select "Plug-in - Create Relational View..." and it creates a view for the selected cube. Download the OLAP View Generator for more information.
Look for more tips in upcoming VSS Newsletters and our blog, or contact me at sales@vlamis.com for more information.
Mark Thompson