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The technological landscape changes at a rapid pace, disrupting the status quo on a regular basis. This was the case when Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) emerged as a powerful business intelligence platform in the analytics marketplace.
Launched in the mid-2000s, OBIEE represented a significant progression in how organizations consumed and acted on data. By integrating robust analytics and interactive dashboards, OBIEE grew in popularity as a preferred solution for enterprises of all sizes.
Current Stance on OBIEE
As digital transformation gained momentum and cloud adoption became the next choice for companies, Oracle shifted its focus towards cloud-based analytics solutions. With the launch of Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC), Oracle signalled a new direction; one that favored cloud-based deployments over traditional on-premises solutions. Oracle promoted migration paths from OBIEE to its modern analytics platforms, Oracle Analytics Server (OAS) for on-premises users and Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC) for cloud environments.
Oracle continues to offer limited support for OBIEE, but it insists on transitioning users to either Oracle Analytics Server (OAS) or Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC). OBIEE has struggled to remain competitive, and its functionality continues to be phased out as more organizations embrace cloud-native solutions.
This shift presents an opportunity for organizations seeking to move from OBIEE to explore the benefits of Oracle’s cloud-based analytics offerings, which are more aligned with the needs of modern businesses.
Features of Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC)
Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC) represents the next generation of analytics platforms, offering a range of features designed to empower organizations with smarter insights, efficient collaboration, and enhanced scalability.
OAC combines business intelligence, data visualization, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) on a single platform, making it a powerful tool for both technical and non-technical users.
Key Features of OAC
- Scalability: The product is designed on Oracle’s industry-grade cloud infrastructure, providing unparalleled scalability. Organizations can scale their analytics initiatives to meet growing data volumes and user demands without limitations.
- Advanced Analytics: There is extensive focus on integration of advanced analytics capabilities, including machine learning and predictive analytics, enabling organizations to go beyond descriptive analytics and acquire growth-centric insights.
- Data Visualization: With OAC, users can create interactive and visually appealing dashboards that are easy to navigate. The platform’s drag-and-drop interface allows users to build visualizations quickly, making data more accessible to non-technical users.
- Self-Service Analytics: This feature allows business users to access and analyze data without reliance on IT. This empowers teams to make data-driven decisions faster and with greater confidence.
- Seamless Integration: OAC integrates seamlessly with other Oracle products and third-party solutions, ensuring that organizations can leverage their existing technology investments. This includes integration with Oracle’s Autonomous Data Warehouse, Oracle ERP, and Oracle HCM.
- Security and Governance: The provision of enterprise-grade security features ensures that data is protected both in transit and at rest. The platform also offers robust governance and compliance tools, that allow organizations to manage access, monitor usage, and maintain data integrity.
- Flexible Deployment Options: Flexibility in deployment is key to allowing organizations to choose between public, private, or hybrid cloud environments, depending on needs and regulatory requirements. OAC excels in this area by offering this to every customer.
Benefits of Leveraging Oracle Analytics Cloud
Oracle Analytics Cloud offers several strategic advantages. Some of the advantages that can be leveraged are:
- Decrease in reliance on IT due to OAC’s cloud-native platform that’s easy to manage and scale.
- OAC’s capabilities allow executives to gain a deeper understanding of performance, enabling more informed decision-making.
- A self-service-centric approach empowers business units to take ownership of their data, improving agility and responsiveness.
- OAC’s seamless integration with source systems ensures that executives receive a holistic view of the organization’s performance.
- Decrease in costs as per usage to minimize expenditure.
Position in the Market
Oracle Analytics Cloud consistently ranks in the “Leader” quadrant in reports by Forrester and Gartner, due to its robust feature set, scalability, and integration capabilities.
Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for ‘Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms’ highlights OAC’s strength in data management, security, and advanced analytics, making it a top choice for organizations looking to modernize their analytics capabilities. .
How DiLytics Conducts Migrations from OBIEE to OAC?
For organizations looking to fully embrace the cloud, Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC) offers a comprehensive suite of analytics tools better than what OBIEE could offer.
OAC combines traditional business intelligence with advanced analytics, machine learning, and predictive capabilities, all in a cloud-native environment. This capability allows organizations to scale their analytics efforts, improve collaboration, and reduce the infrastructure burden that comes with maintaining on-premises systems.
DiLytics works extensively with customers to conduct migrations from legacy systems to the latest software. As per our experience in OBIEE to OAC migration, our approach had the following phases which required tailored planning and execution, to provide a smooth transition.
The migration process typically involves the following steps:
- Assessment and Planning
We revise the existing OBIEE environment, including infrastructure, customizations, reports, dashboards, and data sources. We identify dependencies and integrations with other systems. After this, we assess the performance and usage metrics to understand the current BI workload.
After this, we identify the business goals for migrating to OAC, such as scalability, cost reduction, enhanced analytics, etc. DiLytics also documents user groups, roles, and their respective policies. We compare current OBIEE functionalities with OAC’s offerings to identify gaps or areas where customizations will be required for duplication or substitution in OAC.
We create a migration plan with detailed timelines, resource allocation, and milestones and verify user access to objects like the dashboard, along with data level access as per constraints.
- Pre-Migration Preparation
DiLytics sets up the OAC environment on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). This involves configuring security settings, access controls, and user roles in OAC.
We initiate a backup of the existing OBIEE environment to ensure that no data is lost during migration. We will ensure to conduct a validation exercise to ensure that the backups are complete and that all critical elements are included.
We clean and prepare the data for migration. This could involve deduplication, data validation, and cleansing processes to ensure that the data is accurate and ready for OAC. Usage data tracking is included as per customer request.
- Migration Execution
Using Oracle’s BI Migration Tool Kit, we migrate the RPD files from OBIEE to OAC. This tool helps convert existing OBIEE metadata to be compatible with OAC. We validate the migrated repository in OAC to ensure that all metadata has been accurately transferred. Toolkit will also migrate catalog that will be uploaded to OAC and deployed.
DiLytics reconnects OAC to the data sources, including any on-premises or cloud-based data sources, ensuring the validation of the connections and data access.
We also migrate any custom scripts, such as JavaScript, and review them for compatibility with OAC. We will ensure to reconfigure security settings, including role-based access controls and data security rules, to align with OAC’s security model.
- Testing and Validation
DiLytics will perform comprehensive functional testing to ensure that all reports, dashboards, and analytics features are function as designed in OAC. We test the data accuracy and compare results with the OBIEE environment to ensure consistency.
The team will engage end-users and stakeholders in the UAT process to validate that the migrated environment meets their needs.
- User Training and Adoption
DiLytics provides training sessions to end-users, covering OAC’s new features, user interface, and any differences from OBIEE. We create updated documentation for users, which includes Quick-start guides, FAQs, and support resources.
Our team implements a change management plan to ensure a smooth transition for users. This might include phased rollouts, ongoing support, and feedback mechanisms.
- Go-Live and Post-Migration Support
Once testing is complete, DiLytics moves the OAC environment into production. We ensure that all necessary configurations, data connections, and security settings are in place.
We monitor the OAC environment closely after go-live to identify and address any issues that may arise. The team sets up automated monitoring tools to track system performance, data accuracy, and user activity.
- Decommissioning OBIEE
After Go-Live, DiLytics ensures that all necessary data, reports, and analytics are successfully migrated to OAC before decommissioning OBIEE. Our team conducts a final review of the OBIEE environment to identify any remaining dependencies or data that need to be preserved.
As part of the final stage, DiLytics decommissions the OBIEE infrastructure, including servers and storage, to eliminate ongoing maintenance and operational costs. We provide backup copies of critical data and reports for archival purposes if needed.
DiLytics’ Experience with OBIEE to OAC Migration
A notable example is DiLytics’ work with a leading container leasing company, that wanted to migrate from OBIEE to OAC for its reporting and analytics needs.
The organization wanted to modernize its analytics capabilities and reduce its dependence on IT. The client wanted to move to Oracle Analytics Cloud to leverage the platform’s advanced features and cloud-native infrastructure.
DiLytics migrated the clients’s on-premises OBIEE 12c environment to Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC), converting SSIS ETL packages to Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) cloud packages. We transitioned the on-premises SQL Server data warehouse to an Oracle Cloud database. We conducted incremental data loads, validated data, and provided ongoing support post-migration. We used OBIEE’s functionalities to “lift and shift” the OBIEE 12c RPD and catalog, ensuring no loss of development work.
The migration resulted in significant improvements in the client’s analytics capabilities, which included faster report generation, enhanced data visualization, and better collaboration across departments. The client was also able to reduce infrastructure costs by switching to a “pay-as-you-go” cloud strategy, while benefiting from the scalability and flexibility provided by OAC.
Best Practices for Migrating to OAC
Migrating from OBIEE to Oracle Analytics Cloud can be a complex process; Best practices can help ensure a successful transition for organizations of all sizes. Here are some best practices to consider:
- Plan and Assess:
Start by conducting a thorough assessment of your current OBIEE environment. Identify which reports, dashboards, and data sources need to be migrated and assess the complexity of the migration. Finally, create a detailed migration plan that includes timelines, resource allocation, and potential risks.
- Engage Stakeholders Early:
Involve key stakeholders from the outset of the migration process. Organizations can include stakeholders like IT, business users, and executive leadership. Engaging stakeholders early helps ensure that their needs are considered during the migration and ensures buy-in with the transition to OAC.
- Leverage Oracle Tools:
Oracle provides a range of tools to assist with the migration from OBIEE to OAC. These tools can help automate the migration of data, reports, and dashboards, reducing the complexity of the process.
- Prioritize Security and Governance:
When migrating to OAC, it’s important to prioritize security and governance. Ensure that data is protected during the migration and that the new environment meets your organization’s security and compliance requirements. Implement governance protocols to manage data access and usage in the new environment.
- Test Thoroughly:
Before going live with OAC, thoroughly test the new environment. This includes validating data accuracy, ensuring that reports and dashboards function as expected, and testing performance. Address any issues that arise during testing to ensure a smooth go-live.
- Provide User Training:
To ensure user adoption, provide comprehensive training on the OAC platform. This includes training on how to use the platform’s features, how to access and analyze data, and how to create reports and dashboards. Ongoing training and support will help users get the most out of the new platform.
- Monitor and Optimize:
After the migration is complete, continue to monitor the OAC environment to ensure that it is meeting your organization’s needs. Optimize the environment as necessary to improve performance, scalability, and user experience.
What’s Next?
DiLytics has extensive experience in helping organizations transition from OBIEE to Oracle Analytics Cloud. We are passionate about analytics as a domain and are proud of the fact that in the last 12+ years of our existence, we have been able to maintain a laser-like focus on everything that has to do with analytics. Our implementations are enabled by a team of 60+ individuals spread across the USA, Canada, and India.
Over the years, DiLytics has worked with numerous clients to assess their existing analytics environments, design migration strategies, and implement successful transitions to OAC. DiLytics’ expertise in both on-premises and cloud analytics platforms enables us to provide tailored solutions that meet each client’s unique needs.
Migrating from OBIEE to Oracle Analytics Cloud is a strategic move that allows organizations to modernize their analytics capabilities and take advantage of cloud-based features.
By following best practices and leveraging the expertise of experienced partners like DiLytics, organizations can ensure a successful transition and unlock the full potential of Oracle Analytics Cloud. We’re excited to help you start your migration journey with our scalable services.
