Reporting and Analytics for ERP

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Topic

    Praveen Kumar
    OTBI/BIP Reporting Gap Analysis
    Topic posted June 13, 2019 by Praveen Kumar, tagged BI Publisher, Fusion Financial reporting, Fusion Procurement reporting, Fusion Project reporting, Fusion Supply Chain Management reporting, OBIEE Answers, OTBI, Reports, Sample Reports 
    220 Views, 5 Comments
    Title:
    OTBI/BIP Reporting Gap Analysis
    Summary:
    Implementing Oracle ERP in all 3 modules ( HCM,SCM & Finance)
    Content:

    Hi,

    In the process of implementing Oracle ERP modules, there are many custom reports to be built using either OTBI and BIP.

    We wanted to know on how to do the gap analysis for identifying the reporting requirements in terms of either using out of the box reports provided by oracle versus customizing the out the box reports and building  new reports all together based on the customer report requirements

    Need details on how to get started on performing gap analysis on reporting part and get the reporting work started.

    Need details on whether to use OTBI versus BIP? Which one is feasible option to implement?

    Any insight will be helpful.

    Below are our the versions of the Oracle products that we are using.


    Oracle Cloud Application 19B (11.13.19.04.0) 
    Oracle Cloud Integration Version: 19.2.3.0.0 (190518.1400.28490)

     

    Thanks

    Praveen

    Version:
    Oracle Business Intelligence 11.1.1.9.0

    Comment

     

    • Santosh Kumar Bhairi

      hi Praveen,

      My thoughts:

      1) Perform a product walkthrough to your key business users on the OOTB reports. They will get a fair idea on the inventory of OOTB reports
      2) Gap analysis is of no different from regular process (whatever you do on the application, same applies here as well)
      3) OTBI Vs BIP -> leverage OTBI as much as possible and use BIP when things are not possible within OTBI

      4) As you may be aware, OTBI data-model goes against a standard repository and if there are any gaps/columns, you cannot build them using OTBI. In such cases, BIP comes to your rescue and make sure you use BIP secured views to enforce the same security-levels that of OTBI

      If you have any specific questions, please let me know.

      thanks,

      Santosh

      • Craig Alderson

        There is some excellent advice within this update, I would always look to review what is available with the product as a first step before looking to customise content. Unfortunately, even with the Cloud release Oracle have not provided alternative layouts with the standard BIP reports so even though the content is exactly what is required, users will not be able to quickly manipulate the data in to a common excel layout to then pivot/interrogate etc. This increases the requirement for custom reports.

        Whilst reviewing existing reports ensure these are reviewed objectively and challenged where possible. There is a lot more functionality within Cloud that allows users to customise forms which negates the requirement for some reports. Also some pre-built dashboards within the core forms itself which provide some useful information which again should remove the need for some reports.

        For Finance users there is also Financial Reporting Studio and Smartview which deliver much more efficient reports, and with Smartview integrating with Microsoft it is easy to implement with a user interface people are already familiar with.

        Once you have identified key reports I'd suggest the following order for development:

        1) If a standard BIP report is available, use it. The data model is supported by Oracle and you can create a better layout to sit on top of the model. Any issues/discrepancies with data you can raise an SR with oracle.

        2) If no BIP report available, use OTBI. Much more user friendly and easier to change if/when requirements change. No real technical skill required

        3) There are occasions OTBI can not be used, normally complex requirements which require information from too many tables. Custom BIP would be needed in this instance.

        Hope this helps.

        Craig

    • Soumya Parhi

      Hi Praveen,

      I believe the OTBI reports are mainly meant for daily operational reports that maynot require more data to be fetched for the user. Additionally if you have a requirement to fetch more than 25K data and its a fixed layout / external party facing document you have to use BIP.

      OTBI analysis can be created by Business Users with a very minimal support / help but BIP cant be developed without having proper table level knowledge and expertise.

      Thanks,

      Soumya

    • Mark daynes

      Also it is worth thinking about this - especially if you happen to be coming from an older ERP system whereby over the years maybe loads of reports have been developed that users want to replicate in a new system  - is that with OTBI you have the opportunity to develop exception based analytics or even drill back into SaaS from some parts of AP/AR, etc so, for example you could be alerted to a bunch of Inovices on hold for a reason and then zoom back into the Invoice screen with the context of the invoice to assess the issue.  Sort of a 'closed loop' system.  This sort of analysis with the understanding what is possible could help to reduce the number of 'reports' (or extracts) that are specified.

      Mark 

    • Shakher Sharma
      • Go with BI Publisher report when you need print quality report such as Invoice Print Report.
      • Go with BI Publisher when you need data extracts. This is because OTBI was meant for analysis purpose and not for fetching bulk data from Fusion. Also, please note that there other solution available in Fusion for getting data extract.
      • Go with OTBI if you need data for analysis, or you need. In this case too, sometimes the data needed might not be available in OTBI. Go with BI Publisher report in that case.
      • If there is a tie, requirements can be fulfilled equally well by both OTBI and BIP, go with OTBI. This is because Oracle is constantly working on Fusion application and it might change one or more tables that you might be using in near future.
      • Within the application a listing of all the BIP reports and OTBI subject areas are available that you might find useful for your analysis. Please let me know if you need any help with that.

     

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