Overview
Essbase is widely considered to be the industry
leading OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing) server. Built on a
real-time analytic infrastructure, Essbase provides BI and EPM users
the ability to quickly dissect and analyze data through an intuitive
interface. Essbase end-users have multiple options for interacting
with data including Microsoft Excel, Hyperion Financial Reporting and
Hyperion Web Analysis. By bringing Essbase together with other Oracle
applications, users will find broad support for demanding business
requirements. Breaking down large datasets, working with
best-case/worst-case scenarios, forecasting multi-line expenses, and
reporting variance analysis is now at your fingertips. Essbase
ultimately allows end-users to interact and analyze real-time data
through an integrated, rapid-response, and secure environment.
Product History
Arbor Software Corporation, an OLAP software
company that designed and marketed multidimensional database software
for planning and analysis, developed Essbase (Extended Spreadsheet
Database), first branded “Arbor Essbase” in 1992. This multidimensional
database product was originally developed to address the scalability
problems associated with spreadsheets like Microsoft Excel and Lotus
1-2-3.
In 1998, Hyperion Software Corporation, a company with packaged
analytic applications specializing in financials, and Arbor, merged to
become Hyperion Solutions Corporation. Their first assignment after the
merger was obvious, integrating Essbase with Hyperion Pillar, Hyperion
Enterprise, and Hyperion Reporting.
After the merger, Essbase became the backbone to a full suite of
applications for planning & budgeting, financial consolidations,
scorecards, reporting, and more. Hyperion Solutions become a leader in
the world of performance management software with Essbase leading the
way.
In 2007, Oracle purchased Hyperion Solutions. At the time of the
acquisition, Hyperion applications were being used by approximately
12,000 companies, including 91 of the Fortune 100. The acquisition made
Oracle a leader in the EPM (Enterprise Performance Management) market
and strengthened the Oracle offerings.
Strengths / Benefits
- A rewarding user experience - Essbase delivers
sub-second query response time so users can quickly analyze the metrics
that influence business performance leading to informed decisions.
Business and Financial analysts benefit from the relationship Essbase
has with Microsoft products such as Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
- Highly advanced calculation engine
- At its core, Essbase is the most advanced, calculation engine on the
market. It ships with over 350 pre-built, out-of-the-box functions
accelerating the development of complex business models.
- Easy to use analytic environment
- Essbase allows line-of-business users to lead design and development.
Essbase utilizes a graphical interface making it easy for users to
build applications, dimensions, hierarchies, and members.
- Work with large datasets
- Essbase allows for interaction with large and complex datasets. Users
will benefit from the ability to view summarized or detailed
information quickly via spreadsheet programs, such as Microsoft Excel.
- Multiple data source integration
- Essbase makes is possible to reach data in multiple source systems
including legacy reporting systems, Online Transaction Processing
(OLTP) systems, relational data warehouses, Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) Systems and Spreadsheets.
- Backbone of Hyperion
– As previously mentioned, Essbase operates as the backbone to multiple
applications in the Oracle Hyperion suite, including the powerful
Hyperion Planning application. Essbase helps turn data into actionable
information, delivering results through multiple portals including
Hyperion Planning, Hyperion Financial Reporting, Web Analysis and
Excel.
Resources