For the last 4 weeks I have been facilitating an oracle business intelligence training in Lagos, Nigeria. The training was indeed an eye opener to how individuals and organization could see the importance of analytics in their daily operations and also engage in the use of technology to enhance productivity and prompt visualization of reports.

Lesson 1 The Repo Master: I call it the foundation to a successful modelling, we use admin- tool and here we get to design the architecture of the model with various objects coming into play. These objects are segmented into 3-layers namely physical layer, business and mapping layer and finally the presentation layer. This layer plays a significant role in the overall business intelligence administration because it’s what you see-you-get. You are expected to create all the objects you need in this repository so that it would be visible when creating your analyses using the BI-Answer. Most times a newbie could be put away with errors when validating the repository that’s where I come in as the instructor .I check the tables metadata imported, I ensure the joins are ok , I check that no missing object and ensure that the dimensions and measure are corrected setup for query. The job of an instructor isn’t an easy task when working with newbies .I point out the error to the newbie and ensure the reason is explained for future projects.

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Lesson 2 the easy one: This is the easiest part of the class at this stage they are anxious to upload the repository they created unto the BI Server. Once you have successfully created your repository, you can now have a deep breath of relief to get to the next stage by uploading your repository. Uploading the repository makes it available for analyses (reports). Because OBIEE is and enterprise software most of the components that manages different segments are divided into two namely the weblogic and the OPMN. Everyone makes use of the OPMN because it control mostly the java components and you don’t have to go too far when uploading the repository because oracle has made it all web-application. Right there on your browser you can login to the enterprise manager and follow my instructions on how to upload your repository

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Lesson 3 the visualization Mode: The most interesting part of the training was getting to see beautiful views coming from what they created earlier when they set up the repository and uploaded it unto the server. Each of them were able to create analysis, add graphs, work with pivot tables, format the analysis and graphs, create performance tiles, simple trellis charts, column and view selectors, work with other views, create a dashboard, and add user interactivity and dynamic content to enhance the user experience. They created analysis and work with views including graphs, pivot tables, and narratives. This exercise was the easiest part because it was all done by a click of a button and students displayed their creativity at this stage of the learning.

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Final thoughts: I have always been passionate about training and creating opportunity for people to grow in skill acquisition and capacity building. At whatever level you are, you can always improve on learning and that was displayed during my training sessions. Participants where excited about how analytics could be the game changer with respect to their work. Some of the participants where new to the world of analytics while others wanted to up their game. The class took care of both categories and the foundation was laid. Building on what you have learnt was necessary as this would determine how far you would grow in the field. As an analyst you might be thinking where do I start from or what kinds of tools can I get my hands on, you can start with the basic of Microsoft excel, statistics and reporting.

Keep learning & keep growing

Olaniyi Moluga

[email protected]