In case you missed the big news in the news smorgasbord of Oracle OpenWorld, Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) version 12.2.1 was released on October 30, 2015, just before Oracle OpenWorld. Dan will be presenting a BIWA TechCast detailing some of the features of version 12.2.1 (first of the 12c line) on November 19 at 12pm Central time. Register using this link. We anticipate that this TechCast will be even more heavily attended than the prior TechCast on new features of release 11.1.1.9. Dan will be giving a live demo using the latest version of SampleApp running on Oracle BI 12c and be talking about and demonstrating as many features as time allows such as:
• New Visual Analyzer data visualizations ease data exploration – new interface
• Data mashup capabilities – no RPD modifications
• Alta UI skin focuses on the content – clean page design
• Redesigned classic BI home page – consistent with other Oracle products
• Enhanced subject area pane – including search through metadata
• Improved view rendering using HTML 5 – including new Heat Matrix view type
• Improved methods of creating groups, calculated items and measures
• Improved analytic capabilities – new pre-built functions and add custom R scripts
• BAR files simplify application content backup and migration
• Baseline Validation Tool eases migration and migration – worry-free migration from 11g

We’re thrilled that Larry Ellison himself announced and demoed Oracle’s Data Visualization Cloud Service (DVCS) in his keynote address Sunday of Oracle OpenWorld (advance to time index 1:13:45). This seems to be a validation of the title that we chose for our Oracle Press book Data Visualization for Business Intelligence 11g. It is obvious that Data Visualization is an important new area of emphasis for Oracle.

DVCS is Oracle’s cloud delivery of Visual Analyzer (VA), a new option to Oracle Business intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) 12c. VA is a central part of Business Intelligence Cloud Service (BICS). BICS delivers much (but not all) of the OBIEE functionality, with the standard Answers and Dashboard front end, but also the VA front end.

DVCS delivers just the VA front end, leaving behind the rest of OBIEE. For customers that don’t want to have to deal with the intricacies (and don’t have a need for the benefits) of the OBIEE RPD mapping process, this could make a lot of sense. Just upload your Excel spreadsheets to DVCS and start visualizing the data yourself. Sure, if you have a couple spreadsheets, you’ll have to map how the columns relate (join) to each other. But this mapping exercise is designed to be done by end users, not IT professionals. See Oracle’s press release on DVCS for their official position on the new service. Dan will be presenting a techcast on December 9, 2015, soon after general availability. Register soon and join us so you can see it for yourself.