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.
Copyright 1996-2003, Monash Information Services. All
rights reserved.
Updated: 05/11/04 |