Oracle Business Intelligence Reviews & Pricing

by Oracle America | Founded 1977, Santa Clara, CA

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What is Oracle Business Intelligence?

Industry Specialties: Serves all industries

Oracle Business Intelligence (BI) is a robust suite designed to empower users by providing comprehensive capabilities, including data integration, analytics, and reporting. This is a product that's most suited for medium to large enterprises which have complex data environments and require in-depth insights into their operations. Its important benefits are scalability, advanced analytics, data visualization, and a strong support infrastructure that Oracle is known for. An important feature set includes self-service analytics, ad-hoc analysis, mobile analytics, and robust dashboard capabilities. This sophistication lends itself to comparison with other enterprise-grade BI tools, where users often highlight Oracle BI's extensive integration facilities and powerful back-end capabilities as differentiators. However, given its depth and complexities, it can also present a steep learning curve for new users. Pricing considerations are important as Oracle BI is viewed as a premium offering. Typically, it's priced on a per-user basis, with payment frequencies ranging from monthly to annual licensing. Prospective buyers should note that the total cost of ownership may include additional expenses for implementation, customization, and training. In summary, Oracle Business Intelligence serves as a comprehensive data suite that leans towards the higher end of the market in both capability and price.

Pros

Powerful data warehousing
Scalable for large organizations
Wide range of features
Integrates with other Oracle products
Large user and developer community

Cons

High cost of ownership
Complex setup and management
Steep learning curve
Limited non-Oracle platform support
Less user-friendly than some alternatives

PRICE

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DEPLOYMENT

PLATFORM

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User Sentiment

Based on 508 reviews:

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Oracle Business Intelligence Pricing

Based on our most recent analysis, Oracle Business Intelligence pricing starts at $33 (Per Processor, Monthly).

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Starting From: $33
Pricing Model: Per Processor, Monthly
Free Trial: Yes, Request for Free

Training Resources

Oracle Business Intelligence is supported with the following types of training:

Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars

Support

The following support services are available for Oracle Business Intelligence:

Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Help Desk
Knowledge Base
Tickets
Training
24/7 Live Support

Oracle Business Intelligence Benefits and Insights

Why use Oracle Business Intelligence?

Key differentiators & advantages of Oracle Business Intelligence

Interactive Visualizations: Users have access to a wide selection of interactive dashboards, charts, graphs and other data visualization tools. They can filter, drill down or pivot data directly from the dashboard while prompts and suggestions from the system guide them through the exploration process to uncover additional insights.
Oracle Exalytics: Using Oracle Exalytics, users can analyze massive datasets efficiently and without the need for a technical professional such as a data analyst.
Self-Service: Even non-technical users will be able to explore, organize and interpret data using this analysis system. The intuitive visualizations make the information easy to understand and share for employees at any level of data literacy.
Actionable Intelligence: By analyzing data and identifying trends, users are more prepared to make decisions about business practices, quotas, forecasting and much more.
Proactive Alerts: Users can set predefined alerts that send users real-time updates when the system is triggered or scheduled. These alerts are sent via a preferred channel, including email, internal file storage and text message based on the severity of the alert.
Mobile Access: Everything in the solution is presented with a consistent interface on the mobile device of the user’s choosing. This includes multitouch and gestural interactions with map graphics and other advanced features.

Industry Expertise

Oracle is a large and versatile organization that offers powerful analytics capabilities to a range of industries. Some of these include the financial sector, technology, healthcare, government, retail and education.

Oracle Business Intelligence Reviews

Average customer reviews & user sentiment summary for Oracle Business Intelligence:

508 reviews

83%

of users would recommend this product

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Based on an aggregate of Oracle Business Intelligence reviews taken from the sources above, the following pros & cons have been curated by a SelectHub Market Analyst.

Pros

User-friendly interface: Oracle BI is lauded for its intuitive and easy-to-use interface, making it accessible to users with varying technical expertise. Drag-and-drop functionality and self-service reporting empower users to analyze data independently.
Robust data integration: Oracle BI seamlessly integrates with diverse data sources, including relational databases, cloud applications, and flat files. This eliminates data silos and provides a unified view of critical business information.
Powerful data visualization: Oracle BI offers a comprehensive library of interactive visualizations, including charts, graphs, maps, and dashboards. These visuals help users identify trends, patterns, and insights within their data.
Flexible deployment options: Oracle BI offers both on-premise and cloud deployment models, catering to various organizational needs and preferences. This flexibility ensures scalability and accessibility for users across different locations.
Extensive security features: Oracle BI prioritizes data security with role-based access control, data encryption, and auditing capabilities. This ensures authorized users can access relevant information while protecting sensitive data.

Cons

High cost: Oracle BI can be expensive to purchase and implement, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. The initial investment and ongoing maintenance costs can be a significant barrier for some organizations.
Steep learning curve: While the interface is user-friendly, mastering the full potential of Oracle BI requires time and effort. This can be challenging for users who are not familiar with data analysis tools or who have limited technical experience.
Limited customization options: While Oracle BI offers a range of features, some users find the customization options to be restrictive. This can be limiting for organizations with specific needs or unique data analysis requirements.
Potential performance issues: Large datasets and complex queries can lead to performance slowdowns in Oracle BI. This can be frustrating for users who rely on real-time insights and data accessibility.
Vendor lock-in: As a proprietary platform, Oracle BI can lock users into Oracle's ecosystem. This can make it difficult to switch to other BI solutions in the future, limiting flexibility and potentially increasing costs.

Researcher's Summary:

Oracle Business Intelligence (OBI) garners mixed reviews from users. Many praise its robust functionality and ability to handle large datasets, with one user noting, "OBI can handle almost anything I throw at it." Another highlights its insightful dashboards and reporting capabilities, stating, "OBI provides the perfect blend of data visualization and analysis tools." However, some users criticize OBI's steep learning curve and complex interface. One user lamented, "It took me months to feel comfortable using OBI effectively." Others point to its integration limitations, especially with non-Oracle products, with one user stating, "OBI shines within the Oracle ecosystem but struggles with others." When compared to competitors like Microsoft Power BI and Tableau, users often cite OBI's scalability and data-handling prowess as its main differentiators. One user highlighted, "OBI is the go-to solution for large-scale enterprise data analysis, leaving Power BI and Tableau behind when dealing with massive datasets." Additionally, users appreciate OBI's tight integration with other Oracle products, creating a seamless workflow within the Oracle ecosystem. However, users also acknowledge OBI's shortcomings in terms of user-friendliness and flexibility. One user stated, "Power BI and Tableau offer a more intuitive and user-friendly experience, making them more accessible to a broader range of users." Additionally, some users find OBI's reliance on Oracle technologies limiting, preferring the broader platform compatibility offered by competitors. Ultimately, the choice between OBI and its competitors depends on specific needs. For organizations requiring in-depth analysis and scalability, OBI remains a powerful contender. However, those prioritizing user-friendliness and integration flexibility may find alternatives like Power BI and Tableau more attractive.

Key Features

Dashboards: The rich dashboard feature lets users see and interact with personalized dashboards based on their predefined role. They can explore the data freely along a guided navigation path that leads them to new insights.
Report Types: The system can create a variety of report types including ad-hoc analysis, interactive reports, custom reports and a selection of pre-built reports.
Big Data: The in-memory processing power of this solution allows users to incorporate big data sets without needing to integrate another solution. It can draw from large databases such as Hadoop, HIVE, Google Analytics, etc.
Augmented Analytics: The inclusion of machine learning and AI in the analytics process enhances the user experience by streamlining every aspect of it. The system remembers previous searches, offers natural language search queries and provides intelligence suggestions for the ideal visualization for each individual dataset.
Enterprise Reporting: This feature refers to the creation of simple reports in the most efficient, organized manner possible. This analytics tool facilitates the creation of files from templates such as checks, flash reports, tables and more.
Spatial Visualizations: The visualization tools aren’t limited to two dimensions; the system also offers a map view in which the data is projected on a fully interactive map. This graphic can include color fill, adjustable size markers, customizable image markers, multiple forms of binning and continuous color-fill features.

Approach to Common Challenges

Data Access and Integration: OBI offers a powerful data warehouse and integration tools that connect disparate data sources, simplifying access and analysis.
Data Silos and Lack of Visibility: OBI provides centralized dashboards and reports that offer holistic views of data across the organization, breaking down data silos.
Limited Data Analysis Capabilities: OBI features sophisticated analytics tools, including data mining, statistical analysis, and forecasting, allowing users to uncover hidden patterns and trends.
Slow Decision-Making due to Lack of Insights: OBI's interactive visualizations and real-time reporting provide immediate insights into data, empowering faster and more informed decisions.
Limited Collaboration and Information Sharing: OBI offers secure collaboration tools and role-based access controls, facilitating information sharing and team-based decision-making.
Scalability and Performance Issues: OBI is built for large enterprises and offers scalable architecture and performance optimization tools to handle growing data volumes.
Security and Compliance Concerns: OBI implements robust security features and access controls to protect sensitive data and comply with industry regulations.
User Adoption and Training Challenges: OBI offers intuitive user interfaces, extensive documentation, and training courses to facilitate user adoption and skill development.
Cost of Implementation and Ownership: OBI offers flexible deployment options and subscription models to cater to diverse budgets and needs.
Integration with Existing Systems: OBI integrates seamlessly with various business applications and platforms, minimizing disruption and maximizing existing investments.

Analytics Server vs. Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition

Buyers may be wondering about OBIEE, or Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition, now that Oracle has announced Oracle Analytics Server. What is the difference? Oracle Analytics Server is the latest on-premise business intelligence offering from Oracle, offering very similar functionality to their current Oracle Analytics Cloud, including AI and machine learning capabilities. This is ideal for customers who may not be ready or able to move to the cloud. Oracle Analytics Server is the new branding for Oracle’s on-premise Business Intelligence/Analytics product, and will soon be the preferred offering, allowing customers to take advantage of the latest software updates offered by Oracle, maximizing investment across the product’s lifecycle.

Suite Support

Email: Users cannot email the support team directly, and should get help through the Oracle support portal.

Phone: Users can contact phone support at 1 (800) 392-2999.

Training: Subscribers have access to a range of both free and paid training resources such as training on demand, classroom sessions, learning subscriptions, live virtual courses, self-paced classes and more.

Tickets: Users can submit a support ticket through the Oracle support portal. It will prompt them to search the knowledge base to see if their question has been answered before by a video, document or forum.

Cost Of Ownership

Frequently asked questions regarding Oracle Business Intelligence pricing include:

Q: What is the average cost of implementing Oracle Business Intelligence?
A: The average cost of implementing OBI can vary greatly depending on factors such as the number of users, data volume, desired features, and deployment options. Estimates range from $100,000 to $1 million or more for larger deployments. However, subscription-based pricing models can offer lower upfront costs and pay-as-you-go flexibility.
Q: What are the ongoing costs associated with using Oracle Business Intelligence?
A: Besides the initial implementation cost, ongoing expenses include annual software licensing fees, per-user licensing fees, hardware and infrastructure costs, maintenance fees, and potentially additional support services. These ongoing costs can add up significantly over time, making it crucial to carefully evaluate the long-term cost of ownership.
Q: Are there any free alternatives to Oracle Business Intelligence?
A: While OBI offers a comprehensive suite of features and caters to large enterprise needs, several open-source and freemium BI alternatives exist, such as Apache Superset, Metabase, and Tableau Public. These options can be suitable for smaller organizations or those with limited budgets. However, they may lack some advanced features or require more technical expertise for implementation and maintenance.

Limitations

Notable limitations of Oracle Business Intelligence include:

Steep learning curve: The complex interface and extensive features require significant user training and can be challenging for non-technical users.
High cost of ownership: Licensing fees, implementation costs, and ongoing maintenance can be prohibitive for smaller organizations or those with limited budgets.
Limited non-Oracle platform support: While Oracle offers integration tools, some features may be restricted to Oracle platforms, potentially limiting flexibility and ecosystem integration.
Customization limitations: While customization options are available, they may not be as extensive as some competitors, potentially hindering unique data visualization and reporting needs.
Data scalability concerns: While OBI scales well for large data volumes, performance issues may arise with extremely massive datasets, requiring additional hardware or software investments.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions regarding Oracle Business Intelligence include:

Q: What are the different types of visualizations available in Oracle BI?
A: Oracle BI offers a wide variety of visualizations, including charts, graphs, maps, and dashboards. The specific type of visualization that is best suited for a particular task will depend on the data being analyzed and the desired outcome. For example, bar charts are often used to compare different categories of data, while line charts are better suited for showing trends over time.
Q: How can I create a custom report in Oracle BI?
A: Oracle BI provides a number of tools for creating custom reports. Users can drag and drop data fields to create reports, use filters to narrow down the data that is displayed, and format the report to meet their specific needs.
Q: How can I connect Oracle BI to my external data sources?
A: Oracle BI supports a variety of data sources, including relational databases, cloud applications, and flat files. Users can use the Oracle BI Data Integrator to connect to these data sources and import the data into the Oracle BI repository.
Q: How can I share my Oracle BI reports with others?
A: Oracle BI offers a number of ways to share reports with others. Users can publish reports to the Oracle BI Server, which allows users to access the reports through a web browser. They can also export reports to a variety of formats, such as PDF or Excel.
Q: What are the best practices for securing Oracle BI deployments?
A: Oracle BI provides a number of security features that can be used to protect sensitive data. These features include role-based access control, data encryption, and auditing.