Monash Information Services Business Intelligence Overview

"Curt Monash's publications provide unmatched insight into
technology and marketplace trends. I have read them avidly for over a decade."

--Larry Ellison, Chairman
and CEO, Oracle

"Curt Monash possesses the rare ability to distill the essence of technological issues into understandable terms. He is particularly adept at melding a firm's product positioning, corporate strategy, and valuation parameters into a concise and coherent framework upon which one can make an informed investment decision. He is a trusted resource."

Matthew P. Kaufler, CFA
Portfolio Manager
Clover Capital Management, Inc.

Note To Folks Looking for Monash University

BI, CPM, EPM, and Analytic Applications

As transaction-processing technology gets ever more mature, much of the innovation and growth in enterprise software has been concentrated on the overlapping areas of BI (Business Intelligence), CPM (Corporate Performance Management), EPM (Enterprise Performance Management), and analytic applications. Some of our opinions on these subjects are below.

Information Systems for the High-Integrity Enterprise

In 2003, we published a white paper outlining our case that CPM (Corporate Performance Management) is a core technology for high-integrity information systems, and hence for high-integrity organizations. In particular we believe, CPM can help an enterprise achieve and maintain high levels of integrity in four important areas:

1. Integrity of financial reporting.

2. Integrity of operations.

3. Integrity of business relationships.

4. Integrity of management decision processes.

The Ten Layers of CPM

On pp. 13-15 of our white paper Information Systems for the High-Integrity Enterprise, we spelled out the ten key layers of a CPM/EPM system. In our view, these are:

1. Computing and networking infrastructure

2. Transactional applications

3. Transactional business processes

4. Data warehousing

5. BI/CPM tools

6. Ad-hoc decision analysis

7. Analytic applications

8. Tactical decision processes

9. Planning applications

10. Enterprise planning processes

It is certainly possible to jump further ahead in some parts of an enterprise than others (marketing departments are often early adopters), or to implement sophisticated tools without matching business processes. Ultimately, however, all ten levels need to be addressed.

How Oracle Does OLAP

Oracle has rather thoroughly integrated OLAP (OnLine Analytic Processing) into its core database. OLAP cubes are stored as LOBs (Large OBject data). These are then indexed by a descendant of the Express engine, in a manner analogous to the way Oracle handles text data.

Besides the Express language, the SQL Model clause offers an interesting additional way to get at OLAP data. However, it is not yet widely used.

For more information, please contact Curt Monash or Linda Barlow.

To reach Monash Information Services by phone, please call 978-266-1815.