FDM, ERPI, EPMA, DRM, EAL -
UNDERSTANDING THE
ALPHABET SOUP OF
INTEGRATION
About Me
• Oracle ACE – One of 29 in the world focused on BI
• Over 12 years of experience across the EPM suite
• Oracle certified for Hyperion Financial Management – System 9 & Fusion 11
• FDM Practice Manager @ Edgewater Ranzal – www.ranzal.com
• www.FDMGuru.com
Terminology
• Metadata
– Master Data / “Data about data”
– Dimensions: Accounts, Entity, etc
– Hierarchies/rollups
• Integration
– Process of extracting, transforming & loading data and metadata from source systems to target systems
– Data and metadata management/movement within the EPM suite
Metadata Integration
EPMA
• Enterprise Performance Management
Architect
• Available since System 9 release of Hyperion
• Web based - Integrated into workspace
• Intended to managed EPM applications –
HFM, Planning, Essbase, HPCM (required)
• Free tool
• “DRM lite”
EPMA Key Benefits
• Share common dimensionality across multiple applications – reduced build and administration time
• Ability to easily duplicate applications for testing
• Ability to secure individual dimension maintenance
• Ability to compare deployed application to EPMA shared library or app view
• Ability to rename a member in HFM and not lose the data associated with the member
• Metadata properties are prebuilt; application accelerators
• Change audit
EPMA Short Comings
• Intended to manage metadata for EPM
applications only
• Does not currently support HSF (on the
roadmap)
• Import options are limited and restrictive
• Limited automation
• Performance can be suboptimal
• No workflow
DRM
• Data Relationship Management
• Former Razaa product, previously known
as MDM but rebranded after Oracle
acquisition of Hyperion
• Enterprise level master data management
hub
DRM Key Benefits
• Programmatic business logic
• Comprehensive audit trail
• Versioning ability
• Tool agnostic
• Robust automation capabilities
• Integrations with Oracle BPEL (Workflow)
DRM Short Comings
• Cost
• Not integrated in Workspace (pre 11.1.2.2)
• No application administration
• Lacks pre-population of EPM specific
properties
Common Questions
• Do I have to use EPMA?
• Should I buy DRM?
• Do I have to use EPMA when I use DRM?
• Can I use DRM and EPMA together?
• Are DRM and EPMA my only options?
Data Integration
FDM
• Financial Data Quality Management
• Formerly Upstream WebLink
• Data transformation, not an ETL tool
• Intended to load data to EPM applications
FDM Key Benefits
• End user tool, very easy to use & maintain
• Web based
• Very robust audit & process monitoring
• Strong automation capabilities
• Prepackaged target system specific integration enhancements – Intersection validation
– Consolidation
– Data Protection
– Journals
• Mature product – Limited bugs / low severity
FDM Short Comings
• Not intended to manage “big data”
– Performance
• Security model is not able to address more
complex security schemes
• Technology is old and losing support
– Only capable of running on Windows & IIS
• Not integrated in WorkSpace
• Does not support loading data to ASO cubes
• Not the strategic direction of Oracle
ERPi
• Enterprise Resource Planning Integrator
• The future of data integration in the EPM
suite
• Leverages Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) as
its processing engine
• Currently licensed as part of FDM
ERPi Key Benefits
• The strategic direction of Oracle
• Enables direct connectivity for many Oracle ERP systems & SAP (prebuilt) as well as other source systems (configuration)
• Enables drill through to the source data in the source system
• Enables metadata to be sourced from the source system to update EPM applications
• Provides the ability to write back budget data from Planning and Essbase to the General Ledger
• Integrated into WorkSpace
• The use of ODI supports far larger data volumes
• Utilizes JAVA web services
ERPi Short Comings
• Does not currently include all of the functionality that are standard use in FDM
• Not an overly mature product, but progressing very rapidly
– Body of knowledge is limited
• Learning curve for organizations & consulting partners
• Potential additional licensing expense
• No LCM support (prior to 11.1.2.2)
ODI
• Oracle Data Integrator
• A world class ELT solution
ODI Key Benefits
• Many times provided at no additional cost
• World class ELT tool capable of
integrating nearly any source for data and
metadata
• Very robust processing capabilities
• Prebuilt Knowledge Modules to integrate
with the EPM suite
ODI Short Comings
• Complex
– True IT tool, requires strong SQL skills as well
as data modeling
– Not intended for end users
• Thick client
• Migration is sensitive
• Build times can be longer
Kitchen Sink
Key Benefits Short Comings
EPMA Data
Sync
• Integrated in Workspace
• Can interact with the
Planning relational repository
• Not the strategic direction of
Oracle
• Mapping capabilities are
limited
DIM /
Informatica
• World class ETL
• Handles large volumes
• Additional licensing expense
• Very complex
Essbase Studio /
EIS
• Provides drill through
capabilities
• Can manage dimension
builds as well as data loads
• Often requires a data
warehouse
• EIS is not the strategic
direction of Oracle
Load Rules • Proven
• Fast
• Mappings are difficult to
manage
• Not exposed to end users
• Limited audit
Common Questions
• We bought HFM, Planning, FDM, ERPi
and Oracle gave us ODI. Which should
we use?
• Do I have to use FDM with ERPi?
• Why should I use FDM with Essbase?
• Can I get my fish back / can I change the
fish in FDM?
Data Movement Within the EPM Suite
EA
• Extended Analytics
• Module of HFM & Hyperion Strategic
Finance
• Creates star schemas or flat files
• Acceptable performance since System 9
release
EA Key Benefits
• Included in HFM licensing
• Extracts data from any level of any
dimension
• Can be scheduled using HFM Task Flows
• Can be executed via the API
EA Short Comings
• Extract profiles are specific to individual
users
• Flat file extracts are zipped
• Only provides data extracts from HFM or
HSF, not Essbase or Planning
• Does not load data to “target” system
EAL
• Essbase Analytics Link
• Formerly the HyperRoll product
• Provides a real time data flow from HFM to
Essbase
• Generates an Essbase cube on the fly
EAL Key Benefits
• Real time results from HFM reflected in
Essbase
• Managed at the application tier
• Prepackaged solution
EAL Short Comings
• Additional cost
• Essbase cube is dynamically created
– Need to create partitions or write XREF or
XWRITE calcs to populate Essbase “target”
• EAL cube mirrors HFM dimensionality
• Data movement is unidirectional
Other Approaches
Key Benefits Short Comings
EPMA Data
Sync
• Native functionality • Basic Mapping
• Classic apps not supported
• Not real time
FDM • Able to handle complex
mapping
• Strong automation
• Can interact with key
EPM applications
• Bi-directional
• Additional licensing
• Does not include
native/prebuilt adaptors to
source data from EPM apps
• Not real time
ERPi • Strategic direction
• Utilizes ODI
• Pre-built connections
(future enhancement)
• Bi-directional
• Additional licensing
• Limited automation
• Lacks all of the FDM
functionality (future state)
• Not real time
Common Questions
• Can FDM be used to move data between
HFM & Essbase?
• I don’t own EA, how much does it cost?
• Are there any other options?
In Closing
• There is not a “right” answer
• Challenge the status quo
• Chose the right tool for the job while
thinking about your end users
Questions
Tony Scalese
www.fdmguru.com
