Oracle ReportingStrategy

With the final completion of Oracle’s acquisition of Hyperion,the postioning of the reporting elements of their recent aquisitions is starting to emerge.

Oracle's go forward strategy is termed Enterprise Performance Management (EPM). This has has three elements, Performance Management Applications, Business Intelligence Applications and Transactional Systems.

Performance Management Applications will be based upon Hyperion System 9, and includes Financial Consolidation, and Planning and Budgeting. Performance Management Applications extend beyond Oracle EBS, and can sit over non-Oracle systems ( and includes certification for SAP). This continues Hyperions position as the market leader in reporting from disparate systems. Oracle Press Release

The Oracle BI financial analytical application is based upon Siebel reporting tools. This will supply analytical subject areas such as revenue analysis, working capital and profitability. The ad hoc reporting capability will be provided through a tool called Oracle Answers.

One of the key questions is what now happens to existing products such as Discoverer, Daily Business Intelligence, Enterprise Planning and Budgeting, Consolidation Hub, and other existing reporting products? Many of the products will now become part of Applications Unlimited (AU), though the investment in development may be low, which would steer users to the EPM framework. It has been indicated that Discoverer will essentially become part of AU, though investment would continue and workbooks can be included in various dashboards, though Oracle Answers looks to become the go forward ad hoc reporting tool of the future.

Oracle's reporting strategy has been confusing for users. Various reporting tools and intelligence products have been released over the last 10 years with no real continuity. Let us hope we will get stability and see tools develop and not have to contend with a new offering evey two or three years.