Tag: data visualisation

Oracle Data Visualization -Hands on Lab


Triggered by both Mike Durran and the Amis Oracle OpenWorld & CodeOne review I went through the OOW18 Session Catalog. The Oracle Data Visualization Hands on Lab is an easy way to get in touch with this product. I decided to give it a quick try.

Next to this I am also trying out the Oracle Cloud. I already provisioned an Autonomous Data Warehouse Cloud database (ADWC). It could be nice to combine part of the Hands on Lab with the Oracle Cloud trial.

Impact of Social Media Campaigns on
Product Sales

According to Mike, the Hands on Lab material can be downloaded here.

The Hands on Lab material consists of a pdf with the different steps to be taken. Next to that there are two .xlsx-files with the data.

I decided to try and use Oracle SQL Developer to load the .xlsx-files into my Autonomous Data Warehouse Cloud database. This proces is relatively straightforward.

Make sure you have a SQL Developer connection to ADWC. How you should achieve that is described in the Oracle Help Center.

Via an Right-Mouse-Click, you can Import Data.

Import Data

As from here it is just following the wizard and load the .xlsx-files into ADWC.

Data Preview
Import Method
Choose Columns
Column Definition

Make sure all column names are valid. In the above example ‘DATE’ is a reserveren word. Special characters, like ‘#’, also need special attention.

Column re-Definition
Finish

If everything goes well, the data is loaded into a table, specified in the ‘Import Method’. In this case it is the table: KOOLKART_SALES_DATA.

Table imported

Repeat similar steps for the other .xlsx-file.

If you want to proceed with the Hands on Lab you need to connect Oracle Data Visualization Desktop (DVD) to ADWC. The Oracle A-Team has dedicated a blogpost to this process. When DVD and ADWC are connected, a Data Set can be created.

Create Data Set

From this point onwards, it’s easy to follow the Hands on Lab.

It’s nice to see how easy various components within the Oracle stack can communicate together. This blog only covers the first 58 or so pages. I guess the other steps can be followed just as easy. If there is anything worth mentioning or when I will take a sidestep again I will post again.

Good Luck.

Oracle Data Visualization Desktop for Mac is now available for download

Last week Oracle Data Visualization Desktop for Mac became available for download on OTN.

Unfortunately this version has not (yet) the same capabilities as the Windows version. According to a comment in the following thread on the Oracle OTN forum there are some issues with ‘R’ in the Mac version. Therefor the Advanced Analytics functionality is not available. Also because of driver availability DVD for Mac cannot connect to as many datasources as DVD for Windows.

Still for the Mac users amongst us, this is a first step in the ‘right’ direction.

 

 

Oracle Business Analytics from a different angle

Gartner’s latest version of the Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence and Analytics Platforms (#BIAMQ) caused a lot of noise in the Analytics Market. Gartner and Oracle have different views of this market. Gartner sees a difference; “…between a modern BI and Analytics Platform and a traditional, IT-centric Reporting and Analysis Platform”.

It’s clear that Oracle and Gartner have a different view on the Analytics Market. Is it Agile BI and / or Enterprise Reporting? There are probably several pros and cons for either view. In the end I don’t believe it’s a matter of right or wrong. Although Oracle is not included in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant, that does not mean that Oracle does not have a strategy when it comes to Business Analytics. It’s important that you see and understand the context of a certain view. I will try to give some more insights into Oracle’s Business Analytics Strategy.

Oracle Business Analytics Strategy

If an organization wants to stay ahead of the competition, it should focus on innovation. The Oracle Business Analytics Strategy supports this drive towards innovation with the Oracle Business Analytics Portfolio. This Portfolio consists of the following elements:

  • Operational Reporting (Monitoring)
  • Strategic Analytics (Optimization)
  • Visual Discovery (Innovation)

Operational Reporting (Monitoring) 

Although there is more and more focus on innovating an organization’s business, people still need (real-time) operational information to support their daily work. Employees use operational reports to solve problems or to monitor their daily operations.

Operational Reporting represents the current state of the different areas of the organization.

 

Strategic Analytics (Optimization)

Operational Reporting is specific per Line of Business. Business Leaders tend to look across the different Lines of Business. Strategic Analytics focuses on metrics that deliver insight. Questions like; ‘Why did it happen?‘ and ‘What will going to happen?‘ need to be answered.

Strategic Analytics represents the state of an organization as a whole.

Visual Discovery (Innovation)

The first two elements of the Oracle Business Analytics Portfolio are considered traditional forms of BI. Over the last years organizations have developed a need to explore various data sets without IT support. Organizations use visual data discovery tools to identify patterns and opportunities for innovation. These visual data discovery tools focus on ease of use and the ability to visualize different (complex) data sets.

Visual Discovery helps organizations answer questions like; ‚Should we invest in new sales channels?‘ or ‚Has a discount a positive effect on our revenue?‘.

To summarize, the Oracle Analytics Portfolio supports the drive towards innovation across the entire organization for all users and all analytic needs. According to Oracle, organizations need a bi-modal Business Analytics Strategy. This strategy is designed for IT-led (consistancy & scalability) and Business-led (speed & discovery) analytics initiatives.

 

Hybrid Cloud

Traditional BI platforms are characterized by IT-controlled reports and analysis on desktop dashboards. New BI platforms must be able to support the visualization of different (personal) data sets on mobile and wearables in the cloud or in a hybrid environment.

Oracle wants to extend existing investments in on-premise architectures with innovations in the cloud. Therefore the Oracle Analytics Portfolio can be deployed anywhere on-premise as well as in the cloud or in any hybrid form. It does not matter which deployment option is chosen, it’s the same architecture, the same standard and the same product.

Oracle’s Business Analytics Strategy aims at supporting IT-led buying as well as buying driven by the business. Next to that Oracle’s Business Analytics portfolio can be deployed on-premise as well as in the cloud. When it comes to; ‚buying driven by the business‘, Oracle offers Stand alone products as well as products integrated in the platform.The Oracle Business Analytics offering consists of the following products:

  • Data Visualization On-Premise
  • Data Visualization Cloud Service (DVCS)
  • Oracle BI Cloud Service (BICS)
    • Including Data Visualization
  • Oracle BI 12c
    • Data Visualization (add-on)

Oracle Data Visualization

With Oracle Data Visualization users can; ‚See the Signals‘. Oracle offers Visual Analytics in every solution, on every device, embedded in the cloud or integrated in the platform and even in the Big Data stack. Oracle Data Visualization enables users to create rich visuals of any data set in an intuitive way. Users can bring in different types of data sets to blend data together. Visualizations can be shared with others. Oracle Data Visualization supports; ‚Storytelling‘. This way users can help others see the same patterns and opportunities. Last but not least, Oracle Data Visualization is fully portable between any (mobile) device.

Oracle Data Visualization is simple but powerful. It is designed to support (small) departmental initiatives which should be performed without IT support. Oracle Visual Analytics projects can be started small, but can grow if necessary.

An organization can start with a subscription to the Data Visualization Cloud Service (DVCS) at a price of $150 per named user per month with a minimum of 5 users.

Sign up for a trial subscription to the Oracle Data Visualization Cloud Service here.

Oracle BI Cloud Service

The Oracle BI Cloud Service (BICS) is a complete Cloud Solution for Enterprise BI. With BICS it’s possible to combine any data from any data source. Via dozens of visualizations and calculations users can gain unique insights. BICS runs in the Oracle Cloud. The environment is fully managed, patched, backed up and upgraded by Oracle. This means that organizations running BICS can reduce significantly on operations, software, hardware and facilities.

Visual Analytics can be embedded into an Enterprise solution and that’s what makes Oracle unique. BICS makes it possible to integrate (blend) personal and enterprise data. Finally, BI applications are portable between on-premise and the cloud.

Sign up for a trial subscription to the Oracle Business Intelligence Cloud Service here.

Oracle Business Intelligence 12c

OBI 12c is one integrated platform which runs on-premise. Oracle Data Visualization can be embedded as a paid add-on. Oracle Business Intelligence 12c has a modern interface design. The new Alta UI, which is used across all Oracle’s applications, has a clean page design and is focussed on the data. One of the key new features in OBI 12c are the Advanced Analytics capabilities. This way a user can instantly answer predictive and statistical questions via a free distribution of R. Next to that Oracle made improvements to the mobile experience and the in-memory performance. Last but certainly not least, Oracle has made the OBI 12c a lot simpler. This means that Oracle has simplified the installation and configuration. This makes upgrading from 11g to 12c a lot less difficult than the upgrade from 10g to 11g. Also Regression Testing is made easy with the Baseline Validation Tool.

Oracle Business Intelligence 12c is an Enterprise Analytics Platform. It is Business Leader friendly as well as IT-friendly. OBI 12c allows users to upload their personal data and combine the results with IT-curated data for quick analysis and data visualization.

 

Summary

The Oracle Business Analytics Strategy is based on three pillars:

  • See the Signals
    • Visual Analytics in every solution
  • Sprint to Innovation
    • Cloud First strategy
  • Scale the Insights
    • One integrated platform

Quistor believes in Oracle’s strategy when it comes to Business Intelligence and Analytics. If necessary or desired, we would be happy to put things in context.

Daan Bakboord

This article is originally written for Quistor’s QPulse.