I hope to see you all there!

So, it’s a little early for the Christmas countdown, but I thought I’d pass along some cool goodies that I got from a friend.

If you are curious about what features you would gain by upgrading from one version of EPM software to another, or you would like to know what defects have been fixed from an older release, then look no further! The below links lead to .xls files that store this information.

First, choose to enable macros. Then follow the instructions to select an Oracle EPM software, source and/or target version, and press the button. You’ll get a nifty report that spits out the pertinent details.

• New Features – EPM (v9.2.1 thru v11.1.2.2)
• New Features – Older Hyperion (v2.0.0 thru v11.1.1.3)
• New Features – Essbase, including Integration Services, Administration Services, and Provider Services (v6.0.0 thru v11.1.1.3)
• Defects Finder – EPM (v11.1.1.0 thru v11.1.2.2)

(Note that these are Excel files that have macros in them. If you feel icky about downloading macro Excel files from the internet then search for these on the Oracle Support site and download them directly from the source.)

Happy holidays!

-TTC

Note1: for the sake of full disclosure, I did not purchase my hardback version of the book. I was given a free copy so that I would post a review (bad or good) on my blog. However, also in full disclosure, I would have snapped one up anyways. I did buy my eBook copy, though…

Note2: When I read this book a second time, I know I will feel differently about some parts of it than I do now. My initial opinions are captured below.

Overall grade: A
My Essbase level: Intermediate Essbase consultant
Intended audience: Essbase consultants, developers, users, and administrators
Comparison books: Look Smarter than You Are with Essbase 11, Oracle Essbase and Oracle OLAP
Formats available: Hardback and eBook
Is it worth buying for ~$60? Abso-freakin-lutely!

In a nutshell, this book is very different from the other ones I own. It is authored by over a dozen different industry experts and each chapter runs independently of each other. As Cameron’s Preface mentions, you do not have to read the book in order – you can skip around according to your own interests and research. The Foreword is authored by Gabby Rubin (which immediately set off a firing of neurons in my brain), and it is reviewed by other known industry experts (whom I secretly worshipped at KScope). All in all, I have to say that I felt much like Gabby did when he wrote the Foreword – intimidated. But then I quickly shook that off and realized how tremendously valuable this book is. I’m gaining the opinions of Essbase experts from various walks of life – from administrators to consultants to software developers. And the wealth and depth of experience they have to offer on the variety of Essbase and Essbase-related topics is insane.

Note: To avoid writing a book about this book, I chose not to mention every single chapter in my review. Therefore, if any of the authors read this post and are offended that I did not mention their chapter, I apologize in advance. After I started writing my comments and realized how much I had to say, it just couldn’t be helped.

Pros:

• Chapter 1 sucks. And by “sucks” I mean it sucks in a good way. It kicked my ass, point blank, and I cannot possibly understand everything I read there. John Booth does a wonderful job of dissecting the “under the hood” aspects of this technology and I am now a little scared of him. He first draws you in with some seemingly logical concepts of Infrastructure, and then, before you know it, your mind is being numbed by RAID configurations. I will have to come back to this chapter a few dozen times and rehash it with my geeky Infrastructure consultant friends in the hopes that they will translate English to English. Note: what I found priceless about this chapter was his detailed diagnosis of common issues experienced by Essbase support teams.
• This book is packed with screen shots, sample code, and reference tables. I LOVE it!
• The anecdotes and conversational tones add a very human quality to this book that I thoroughly enjoyed. And Mike Nader, if you’re reading this – I am going to have to side with your wife on precleaning.
• For people who are still getting up to speed on MDX, Gary Crisi’s chapter is a great summary. I feel like I know more about MDX now than I ever have. The code examples and accompanying sample output were well written and straight-forward.
• The amount of forethought and pre-planning definitely showed. For instance, the idea to consistently use the sample applications for reference was like a warm, fuzzy blanket. And having the same, repetitive sections in each chapter (i.e. “Who Should Read This Chapter”) helped set the tone and give consistent information, considering that each chapter was meant to stand on its own. These concepts are probably standards when writing technical material for publishing, but they were a nice touch and added to the overall professionalism of the book.
• Dan Pressman’s Chapter 7 section called “ASO Queries: How they Work” blew me away. Although I am going to have to read this part a few more times, I think this chapter on ASO alone is worth the cost of the book.
• If you have any interest (at all) in the Java API, Chapters 8 and 9 go into excruciating detail – way more than I ever wanted to know. After skimming past some of the very complex portions (that frankly gave me nightmares about my own VB & VBA API days), I did come to appreciate the practicality of the examples and how to integrate them into your everyday Essbase life.
• The Index of this book is really well done. It might sound odd to give kudos to an Index, but I can tell how much work went into it. The content was taken apart piece by piece and made searchable in print form. Thumbs up!

Cons:

• Because each chapter is authored (and narrated) by a different person, there is a natural flow that is missing. This may drive some people crazy. For me, it felt like I was having intelligent conversations with 13 different experts, so I was on board with it. But I can see how others may not like working against the grain of the typical book order.
• Sometimes it’s hard to read this book as a consultant and not argue with it. Would I have written the sample code the exact same way? Do I agree with all of the BSO design rules Dave Farnsworth laid out in Chapter 4? Are there additional concepts of an Essbase project that I would like to add to Chapter 11? I had to remind myself several times that these are the expert opinions from those who have way more Essbase experience than I do. There are probably at least a dozen different ways to approach each challenge presented in the book, but room for only a few.
• This book is not purely about Essbase. It covers a range of technologies related to Essbase as well: Essbase Studio, ODI, SmartView, etc. I’m not saying that the book title is misleading, but that there are chapters that are written about related technologies that could have been spent on more key details of Essbase. I personally think that having a focus on several technologies that encompass “the world that is Essbase” is one of the things that sets this book apart from some of the others in this publishing space, but other buyers may not feel the same way.
• This is extremely picky, but because I’m anal I just can’t help myself. I think the last chapter should be renamed to “How to Successfully Manage an Essbase Project” instead of “How to Successfully Manage an Essbase System”. This chapter seems to cover the psychology of an Essbase project rather than the administration of an Essbase environment, which is what I initially thought it was about.
• The eBook format has some formatting issues, namely when it comes to the reference tables. Being the owner of several hundred eBooks myself, I find that this is a common problem with technical subject matter. I would recommend the hardback version. Note that the screen shots came through pretty well.
• I. Want. More. There was already more than enough to justify the purchase price, but I really wanted to see more about Essbase and some additional related technologies: namely Exalytics and EAL. Maybe this is best reserved for a sequel? Call me greedy…

Questions:

• As I read through the book I had to wonder…how long will the information in this book be relevant? Will the book be updated periodically as new versions are released?
• Will there be a sequel?

Overall, I whole-heartedly recommend this book to anyone out there that wishes to expand their knowledge of all things Essbase. This is a comprehensive reference book for anyone’s geek cave.

Cheers,
-TTC