Another day another acquisition for IBM, since IBM and Oracle Larry Elision exchanged words about DB2. Initiate Systems is a provider of Master Data Management products and has very strong product line.
Initiate’s particular strengths lie in the health care and government sectors. Oracle has Hyperion's Master Data Management Tool renamed "Data Relationship Management" (DRM), but not as many clients use this as Initiate systems.

News
IBM Buying MDM Vendor Initiate Systems - CIO news

- IT World Canada

Infoworld News

In this following links Oracle website gives getting started tutorials with screenshots to learn and configure to use OBIEE.

This fundamental tutorial covers installing OBIEE in Windows, Using Repository and administration, BI Publisher, Oracle Delivers, Integrating Oracle's Hyperion Essbase with Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition, using EPM Workspace and Oracle Discoverer.

Installing the Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition on Windows

All Oracle OBIEE Tutorials with Screenshots

BI Publisher
Oracle BI Publisher allows you to create reports from multiple data sources such as Oracle Database, Web services, RSS feeds, and Files.

Because BI Publisher is integrated with Oracle BI Enterprise Edition, you can also create the BI publisher reports based on Oracle BI Answers request, and also based on Oracle BI Server subject area.

BI Publisher

Discoverer
Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer sets a new standard in this release by bringing together data from the multidimensional and relational sources with a single easy-to-use interface enriched with powerful features.

With Discoverer, you can create reports through drag-and-drop interface in a completely Web-based environment. Discoverer lets you collaborate and share business insight through email, and publish all your reports to a unified BI portal.

Oracle Discoverer

Web based productivity suite provider Zoho announced data intelligence tool Zoho Reports.

Similar to Microsoft Office, but available online.

Zoho Reports works with Oracle, SQL Server, MySWL, MS Access Databases on the hosted and behind-the-firewall.

Functionality include Share reports, Dashboarding, create reports, or embed in iGoogle home page.

Build powerful reports and charts in minutes with our easy drag-and-drop interface.

Top Benefits

Screenshot tour

Increasing Business Intelligence Options for '10

Highlights

- Cognos 9 will include Social Networking Feature
- Embed recent purchase of SPSS predictive analysis
- Will not include Cloud Services yet

[Via Infoworld]

In November, the companies announced that Microsoft would back BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation as "a preferred solution for companies running their business applications on the Microsoft platform." Microsoft will also participate in various marketing initiatives.

The move seemed like a natural fit, given Microsoft had retired its own dedicated EPM product, PerformancePoint Server, earlier this year, and that BusinessObjects Planning & Consolidation uses Microsoft's .NET technology.

[via Infoworld]

Finally Microsoft announced plan on Business Planning and Consolidation product line, this time it is not PerformancePoint Server or SharePoint. Microsoft is joining hands with SAP BusinessObjects for Planning, budgeting, forecasting and Consolidations applications.

SAP has taken an aggressive stance that its business planning and consolidation product from the SAP BusinessObjects portfolio can be used by all firms, not just SAP customers," said John Hagerty, vice president and research fellow at AMR Research.

"The application takes advantage of the latest available versions of Microsoft Office 2007, including integration with Microsoft Office Excel 2007 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008, enabling customers to use the familiar tools they work with every day while benefiting from the features of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 database and SQL Server AnalysisServices."

To provide the most value, and to help customers face the reality of operating in an increasingly complex and globalized world,the application also comes with an International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) starter kit. The kit contains pre-built patented process flows to guide users through the consolidation process and generate consolidated financial statements. Other content, such as charts of accounts and input schedules, is available to help facilitate the transition to IFRS.

In addition to management and legal consolidation capabilities, the application streamlines planning, budgeting and forecasting by supporting top-down and bottom-up planning, which leads to timely, more accurate plans that are aligned with strategic goals. It also helps facilitate collaborative planning across all functions for more accurate budgeting, and enables continuous planning and rolling forecasts to meet rapidly changing business conditions and reduce budget cycle time.

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