Oracle Data Integration An Overview with Emphasis in DW Appliances

Where Does Data Integration Fit?Essential Ingredient for Information AgilitySOAData ServicesInformation servicesProcess IntegrationEvent driven data integrationGovernance and Impact Analysis

Business IntelligenceData Integration for BI applicationsEvent driven BIHeterogeneous Data AccessInformation-based analyticsReport to Source Data LineageEnterprise Data WarehousingExtract, Transform, LoadData Migration, Bulk DataData Quality, ProfilingMaster Data Management

Oracle Data WarehouseBreaks Data Bandwidth BottlenecksMore PipesModular storage cell building blocks organized into Massively Parallel Grid Bandwidth scales with capacityBigger PipesInfiniBand interconnect transfers data 5x faster than Fibre ChannelShips Less Data Through PipesQuery processing is moved into storage to dramatically reduce data sent to servers while offloading server CPUsRuns the Oracle DatabaseDatabase and options run unchangedExadata Moves a Lot Less Data a Lot Faster

Oracle Master Data ManagementComprehensive MDM Application SolutionsData GovernanceOracle Fusion MiddlewareAnalytical MDM AppsOperational MDM AppsApplication Integration ArchitectureEnterprise schema & Common servicesOperationalSystemsSiebelPeopleSoftJDEBudgetingAnalyticalSystemsDWBI &DatamartsPlanningDashboardsFinancial Consolidation

Use Cases for Oracle Data IntegrationUnified Data Integration Platform for Enterprise Projects

Data IntegrationBulk-load historical data to new applicationSynchronize new and old applicationsComplex transformations, CDC Ensure database-level consistency across applications bidirectionalBI & Data WarehouseReal-time Data Warehouse for BIPopulate Warehouse with High Performance ODIAggregates and aligns data for operational analytics, performance management, etcModernizationMainframe / iSeries sources to Oracle RACRe-architect legacy batch processing to SOA and ODI-EEUnification of structured and unstructured dataData Migrations & ConsolidationUpgrade Applications or Migrate to New SchemaSingle-time Bulk load and/or keep in Sync with ongoing translation, delivery of data.Applications merge support

SOA InitiativesEstablish Messaging Architecture for IntegrationIncorporate Efficient Bulk Data Processing with ODIProviding data access, transformation etc. as services within SOAMaster Data ManagementCreate Single View of the Truth in real time Aggregating multiple operational sourcesSynchronize Data with ODI-EESupports master data stores, publishes master data changes to all consumers

Introducing ODI-EE

Key Data Integration Products

Comprehensive IntegrationELT/ETL for Bulk DataData Delivery ServicesProcess OrchestrationService BusHuman WorkflowData FederationReplication & MigrationData GovernanceData GridELT/ETL for any DBChanged Data CaptureNative SQL Code GenDeclarative DesignELT for Oracle DBDatabase ModelingPL/SQL Code GenFlow-based DesignBusiness Data / MetadataStatistical AnalysisTime Series ReportingIntegrated Data QualityCleansing & ParsingDe-duplicationHigh PerformanceIntegrated w/ODINew

Oracle Core FeaturesComprehensive Data Integration PlatformE-LT Data ProcessingSet-based TransformationConfigurable Deployment (E-LT, E-T-L, or others)Native Code GenerationDeclarative Integration DesignerReverse Engineering of SourcesIntuitive Data MappingBuilt-in ReportingMetadata LineageGraphical Impact AnalysisNative SOA InteroperabilitySOA Sources, Targets, or Invoke-able E-LT Jobs, SOA Workflow, etc.Automatic Error Handling with Data RecyclingChanged Data CaptureBuilt-in Support for Realtime Data Capture and Streaming Log-based or Trigger-basedInline Data QualityExtensible Knowledge Module Framework

Data Integration Core Use CaseComprehensive, Lightweight Data IntegrationKey Architecture Benefits: 100% Java, Open APIs, very fast E-LTEmbeddable Java Agent consumes very little CPU or RAME-LT Architecture uses DBMS CPUs, not the Application CPUsOpen APIs, Open Metadata, Open XML Knowledge ModulesDABFile CC$_0C$_1LKMLKMIKMI$E$ (Errors)CKMIKMRKMJKM Check-Load TransformExtract-LoadODI Agent may be deployed in any part of the architecture

Move and transform data. Mixed sources and targets. Performance>>>Heterogeneous E-LTFlexibility>>>Event-Driven PlatformProductivity >>>Declarative DesignOpen>>>100% Java and SOA NativeHot-Pluggable>>>Knowledge ModulesODI-EE Value PropositionAgile Data Integration*

**Differentiator: E-LT ArchitectureHigh PerformanceConventional: Separate ETL ServerProprietary ETL EnginePoor PerformanceHigh Costs for Separate Standalone ServerIBM & Informaticas approachOracle: No New ServersLower Cost: Leverage Compute Resources & Partition Workload efficientlyEfficient: Exploits Database OptimizerFast: Exploits Native Bulk Load & Other Database InterfacesScalable: Scales as you add Processors to Source or TargetBenefitsOptimal Performance & ScalabilityBetter Hardware LeverageEasier to Manage & Lower Cost

Real Time Data WarehouseTransactionalRDBMSTransactionalRDBMSTransactionalRDBMSSource SystemsData WarehouseSource DBsRedo Logs /TriggersChange TablesSubscriptionViewsStaging AreaData WarehouseDifferentiator: Changed Data Capture Event-Driven Framework for Realtime Data Warehouse

*Focus on Oracle BIEE Suite PlusUnify Data Integration with Business IntelligenceIntegrated with Oracle BIEE PlusSupport for relational, R-OLAP, OLAP sources & targets

Report-to-source lineageDrill-in from a Report Get query, DW schema, source tables, transformsGain confidence in analytics

Unified infrastructureUnified metadata & lineage Integrated Data QualityUnified data access, Common administration & monitoringIntegrated scheduling & security Common auditing & tracingCommon error handlingOracle EBSPeopleSoftSAP/R3Other SourcesData WarehouseCDCMessage QueuesEnterprise Data WarehouseDesign & DrillData FlowBulk and Real-Time Data ProcessingInformation AssetsOracle RACTeradataNetezzaetc

Report to Source Data LineageExplore Lineage from Target Columns to Source Columns

Focus on OBI Analytic Applications OverviewPre-Built BI Analytic ApplicationsPre-built Metrics, 5000+ Dashboards, Data Warehouse 350+ Star SchemaImplementation Time: 3-4 WeeksWorks with EBS, PSFT, SAP, SEBL, JD-Edwards SourcesBiggest Savings: Pre-built ETL

Faster & Lower Cost to Build & Maintain ETLsKnowledge Module Architecture Enables Efficient Development of Packaged ETLReduce Complexity and Size of CodeReuse DW Creation, Update, Load TimesValue-add Modules (e.g. SOX)

Extensible by Customers & System IntegratorsOracle BI Analytic ApplicationsOracle BI Server and Semantic LayerOracle EBSPeople SoftSAP/R3Other SourcesData WarehouseCDCMessage QueuesAnalytics Data WarehouseInformation AssetsSalesMKtingOrder MgtSupply ChainFinanceHRContact CenterWeeks or monthsPre-built BI AppsETL MappingDW DesignTrainingYears or quartersMetrics & DashbrdsBuild from Scratch50%

Oracle Hyperion Application AdaptersFocus on Oracle | Hyperion Applications Leveraging EPM with Embedded Data IntegrationOracle EBSPeopleSoftSAP/R3Other SourcesData WarehouseCDCMessage QueuesInformation AssetsBulk and Real-Time Data Processing

Hyperion PlanningHyperion Financial ManagementHyperion EssbaseMetadata Discovery & Model Creation Extract DataUse Essbase KM Extracts Dimension MembersUse Essbase KM Loads Data Loads Dimension Members Other FeaturesCube RefreshConsolidateCalculate

Focus on Hyperion MDMFoundation for Data Relationship Management (DRM)Hierarchy managementDerivation/inheritanceClassification, categorizationAttribute managementChange managementStreamlined, automatedValid-from, Valid-to rangesCompare any 2 versionsBusiness-user drivenEasy user declarative toolSpecify business rules Multi-user collaborationWhat-if & historical analysisMeets IT requirementsSynchronize with operational systemsComplete auditing, fine-grained securityConfigurable, no codingHyperion Data Relationship ManagementInformation Assets*

Oracle Data Integrator &

Oracle Data Quality

Oracle Data Integrator &

Oracle Data QualityHyperion Data Relationship ManagementClosed-loop Master Data Management*

ODI-EE A Look Ahead

ODI for Oracle FusionData Integration as a Key Fusion DifferentiatorFusion ApplicationsBuilt-in, Automated Data Replication among ERP ApplicationsFusion Business IntelligencePre-built Analytics from Fusion ERP ApplicationsAutomatic Mapping and Model Updates (Application-driven)Fusion Master Data ManagementData Replication, Conflict Detection and Conflict ResolutionFusion w/EssbaseFusion Financials (Automatic Financial Consolidation)Pre-built Essbase Content with Apps and Business Intelligence

Unified PlatformHigh-Level Data Integration RoadmapTowards a Unified ETL PlatformOWB/ODI Investments are Fully ProtectedNo Forced MigrationsNatural Upgrade PathUnified Platform aims to be a Superset of Existing Products no regression

ODI J2EE Deployment ArchitectureLogical Architecture OverviewWLSRDBMS ODI RepositoriesODI Master RepositoryODI Work RepositoryODI Work RepositoryODI Work RepositoryAny Java AppAny Web App

ODI 11gR1 New FeaturesAvailability Planned for 1HCY10 Timeframe

JDeveloper-based ToolingJ2EE deployment option (using Weblogic Server)Standalone Option is Preserved using JettyJPS-based Security (external password management)Enterprise Scheduler (ESS) IntegrationEnterprise Manager IntegrationNew Thin Client (consolidated + more mgmt features)Set-based Operators and Temporary Index ManagementJava SDK APIs for Improved EmbedabilityJDE Enterprise One Knowledge Modules (v8.x and higher)SAP ERP Knowledge Modules (v4.6 and ECC 6.0)SAP iDocs Knowledge Modules (v4.6 and ECC 6.0)SAP BW Knowledge Modules (v3.5 and v7.0)*

Customer Examples

Enterprise Data WarehouseRaiffeisen BankMeets legal requirements for data consolidation in the head office (Basel II, Investor reporting)Seamless and realtime Capital Market reporting to investors and stakeholdersSingle-source of truth for business information supports Business Intelligence and EDWOne standardized enterprise data model over the whole RZB GroupReduction of core integration/development costs through central development practiceReduced time to market for new Group applications through central interface developmentPerformance Issues with existing ETL Tool (IBM DataStage)New functions required for the next DWH releases (realtime, replication, etc)

Business ChallengesOracle Data Integration Solution BenefitsIT ChallengesCosts for Enterprise Data Warehouse infrastructure were growing too fastEDW processes not keeping up with 24x7 operations, ETL batches too slow

Order Replenishment, Online CatalogJ. CrewSimplified the end-to-end data integration with all their core IT systems and database platforms to reduce the total cost of ownership of their order replenishment and catalogingBenefited from the Oracle advantage in batch processing, bulk data transformation for increased performanceSuccessfully leveraged SAP and Teradata integration to phase out legacy systems and ultimately reduce costsOrder replenishment for online catalog system Define new corporate standard for data integrationBetter integrate data across 175 retail stores and 52 outlet chains

Business ChallengesOracle Data Integration Solution BenefitsIT ChallengesReplace antiquated home-grown solution of scriptsTeradata bulk data support, and help integrate data across SAP, Red Prairie Inventory systems

Financial Services, ReinsuranceNew Reinsurance, Division of the Munich Re GroupSeamlessly integrated across (Oracle applications (E-business Suite, Siebel CRM) SAP, IBM, etc) to manage the regeneration of all code, scripts, and metadata across the different environments. Lowered the cost of development by taking advantage of ODIs declarative model, ease of use, and team collaboration capabilities.NRC benefited from the flexibility and standards based approach of ODI, helped leverage the existing environment.Needed quality of data but uncompromising on the cost to meet that objective.Data interactions between multiple complex systems, including both SAP and homegrown insurance applicationsBusiness ChallengesOracle Data Integration Solution BenefitsIT ChallengesHard to modify and maintain manually-developed data transfer programs. Data transfers as part of reinsurance, risk transactions

Improve Inventory ControlRossSeamless data integration from heterogeneous sources leveraging SOA helped to create a more flexible, standards based integration approach73% Bulk data transfer performance improvementTogether with Oracle SOA Suite (Oracle BPEL PM) provided business optimization, process visibility, exception handlingClosed loop processing using BAM and Data Integration combined eliminated ordering/replenishing inventory errors by reducing inaccurate dataHard to consolidate consistent, accurate inventory information across over 800 multiple store chainsLack of visibility to errors to the businessHigher cost and time to delivery of new valueBusiness ChallengesOracle Data Integration Solution BenefitsIT ChallengesCurrent state was complex, didnt scale, and difficult to manageNon-standard approach required coding paradigm, inconsistent error handlingDain Hansen

Shared Data ServicesVerizonODI + SOA helped to build out a shared services layer which helped provide greater flexibilityThese shared services consolidate database (DB2, Sybase, Informix to Oracle), consolidate ERP (PeopleSoft HR/Payroll, Decommissioning SAP), consolidate middleware (Oracle FMW) and consolidate BI/ETLIn addition the program helped to decommission Cystal and Cognos and adopt Oracle BIEEStreamline and automate business processes around new hire on boardingProvide better business insight and manage FiOS supply chainBusiness ChallengesOracle Data Integration Solution BenefitsIT ChallengesLower the cost of rewriting SAP, PSFT & Legacy interfaces (about 209) through custom codeLower the cost of IT infrastructure from multiple systems

Dain Hansen

Sales and Marketing Data Warehouse NestleReplaced weekly insertion with daily recording of change in status with time imprint for all clientsallowing for more effective client follow-up, for exampleImproved response times by transferring reporting processes to the data warehouseImproved reactivity for restocking requirements thanks to daily updates on stock quantity and value for each storeProvided overall view of the status of business processes, resulting in improved user communicationHard to consolidate consistent, accurate inventory information across over 800 multiple store chainsLack of visibility to errors to the businessHigher cost and time to delivery of new valueBusiness ChallengesOracle Data Integration Solution BenefitsIT ChallengesManage a data warehouse for operational transactions and marketing informationScale available for high-value-added actionable data on clients, orders, stock, etc.Dain HansenEnable the marketing and CRM team to better target its campaigns and activities across 50 countriesAnticipate future reporting challenges, in light of the strong increase in the volume of production data

Questions

The preceding is intended to outline our general product direction. It is intended for information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract. It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for Oracles products remains at the sole discretion of Oracle.

***Todays organizations are looking at multiple paradigms for agility either separately or together.

In each case, there is a common element among them. Data Integration. Data Integration provides the important aspects for moving data and turning it into re-usable information it acts as a key enabler for each architecture principle (SOA, BI, or Data Warehousing) and can also act as a key bridge between them.

SOA and DI Focus example: For example, lets say I want to implement a process in my Service Oriented Architecture that accesses large amounts of data. Unfortunately that data is part of a data warehouse, to ensure that I only get the updated information that is constantly being synchronized, Ill need to leverage capabilities in Data Integration and make a call to it from the service in my SOA. If it isnt connected easily the architects dont know how to get to it. It also needs to be optimized for performance, the same way that it is from it being managed by my data warehouse.

XD addresses this issue it add the brawn to our existing solution.*Fusion components: ODI, BPEL, Metadata, Registry, Hierarchy, Audit, DQ, Identity Mgt, rulesImport workbench, web services, BI maps- IndustriesClassic ETL is Comprised of the Following Use CasesEnterprise Data Warehouse multi-terabyte appliances etc.Business Intelligence cubes, n-dimensional schema etc.Operational Data Stores 3NF schema, transactional DBMS Example Oracle Wins with ODIRaiffeisen (IBM replacement)EMC (OBI-EE attach)MetroGroup (IBM replacement)More: France Telecom, S3 Retail, Banca UCB, ENI, BNL, BT

Why ODI Wins in the Classic ETL MarketPerformance ODI rapidly demonstrates gains vs. INFA, IBM etc.Simplicity ODI provides a simple way to manage high-end systemsFusion Alignment ODI is an on-ramp to the Fusion architecture

New Style ETL is Comprised of the Following Use CasesSOA : BPEL/ESB inline ETL for handling large payloadsEvents : BAM/CEP integrated CDC for monitoring DB activitiesUnified Integration everything at once, single point of control/mgmt Example Oracle Wins with ODIRoss (Unified SOA)Amway (Unified SOA)Arrow Electronics (SOA)More: GM, GT, Telestra, Vivodi Telecom, Oversea Chinese Banking Corp

Why ODI Wins in the New Style ETL MarketPerformance ODI greatly improves SOA responsiveness Architectural Superiority embeddable, lightweight, shared runtimeFusion Middleware Roadmap one way to do Process, Message and Data Integration with shared Design-time and shared Run-time

Where do data integration techniques and technologies add the most value in the broader context of information management?Data integration is no longer only about acquisition and delivery of data for business intelligence. While BI remains a significant driver for data integration investment and activity, numerous other use cases have emerged and are growing with considerable speed. MDM initiatives require significant data integration infrastructure and are now widespread. Migration of legacy database to modern platforms and consolidation of application databases (for example in M&A execution) also drive demand for data integration. Increasingly, synchronization of data between operational applications (for example in supply chain optimization initiatives) is considered a data integration problem, not only an application integration or messaging one. And achieving a single view of customer, product or any other significant business entity, which can also drive operational efficiency and quality improvements, requires aggregating and integrating data from multiple sources. As demand toward all of these scenarios grows, organizations will increasingly look to make data integration capabilities a key part of their SOA work and seek to leverage data integration techniques to unify data types across the breadth of the content continuum.

WHAT ODI CAN PROVIDE:Data Warehousing and Business Intelligenceexecuting high-volume, high-performance loading of data warehouses, data marts, OLAP cubes and analytical applicationsService-Oriented Architecturecalling on external services for data integrationdeploying data services and transformation services that can be seamlessly integrated within an SOA infrastructureadds support for high-volume, high-performance bulk data processing to an existing service oriented architectureMaster Data Management (MDM)providing a comprehensive data synchronization infrastructure for customers who build their own data hubsMigrationproviding efficient bulk load of historical data from existing systems to new ones

*The Empirix family of products now called the Application Test Suite (or ATS) comprises three main solutions: the first two tools to automate the actual testing:

One for Functional testing which is exercising the various features of an application as a single user to ensure that everything works

The other is for Load testing (also know as performance testing) which allows customers to drive large amounts of traffic against their applications to ensure they can scale to expected levels.

The third solution is Test Process Management which as the name suggests, allows customers to manage their entire QA process, includes things like:

Definition of requirements Developing test casesTracking defects, etc.

These solutions can be sold individually or as a suite depending on the customers need. But they now all fall under the Enterprise Manager Brand within the SAM bundle, and Ill describe what that is in a second.

One important point to note, though, is that ATS is currently focused on WEB Applications and Web derivatives (such as web services, SOA, AJAX, etc).

So from a selling standpoint the immediate sweet spot for you are Oracle customers running or deploying web-based applications (such as Siebel or Peoplesoft) or customer with websites powered by Oracle middleware or databases. For Web-based applications ATS is the best solution on the market in terms of ease-of-use and feature set and the accuracy of the test conducted. Feel free to contact me offline to learn more about these differentiated capabilities. There is a bunch of stuff on the Enterprise Manager website as well.

The roadmap calls for supporting the non-web applications such as EBS - product management will be providing these details and timelines shortly.**************Script:

J. Crew embarked on a Data Integration initiative that was designed to better integrate cataloging information for their online systems as well as their over 200 retail outlets. The importance of consistent data in both sides of the business was of prime importance:

To do this they needed to 1) define a corporate standard for how they managed data integration, and 2) figure out how to replace all of their legacy, antiquated systems as well as support the existing more modern ERP, CRM and other packaged applications.

The solution: Oracle Data Integrator

How they benefited?

Simplified the end-to-end data integration with all their core IT systems and database platforms to reduce the total cost of ownership of their order replenishment and catalogingBenefited from the Oracle advantage in batch processing, bulk data transformation for increased performanceWas able to successfully leverage SAP and Teradata integration to phase out legacy systems and ultimately reduce costs

Takeaway: This example is especially common where the need to integrate data across complex IT systems, multiple divisions. Simplifying how they integrated data wasnt as simple as simply moving all the data to a single format. It is more complex than that and they needed a tool to manage how data was integrated.*Script:

J. Crew embarked on a Data Integration initiative that was designed to better integrate cataloging information for their online systems as well as their over 200 retail outlets. The importance of consistent data in both sides of the business was of prime importance:

To do this they needed to 1) define a corporate standard for how they managed data integration, and 2) figure out how to replace all of their legacy, antiquated systems as well as support the existing more modern ERP, CRM and other packaged applications.

The solution: Oracle Data Integrator

How they benefited?

Simplified the end-to-end data integration with all their core IT systems and database platforms to reduce the total cost of ownership of their order replenishment and catalogingBenefited from the Oracle advantage in batch processing, bulk data transformation for increased performanceWas able to successfully leverage SAP and Teradata integration to phase out legacy systems and ultimately reduce costs

Takeaway: This example is especially common where the need to integrate data across complex IT systems, multiple divisions. Simplifying how they integrated data wasnt as simple as simply moving all the data to a single format. It is more complex than that and they needed a tool to manage how data was integrated.*Script:

New Reinsurance Company, is a division of Munich Re Group, one of the largest insurers of Re-insurance claims in Europe. For this type of financial use case, the challenges would be similar to many other insurance and Financial Services industries where they need to bring new products to market quickly, and also deal with a IT Modernization, and cut costs at the same time. With New Re, many of the applications were also homegrown which makes it much harder to simply integrate out of the box.

The challenges that New Re faced included:

Needed quality of data but uncompromising on the cost to meet that objective.Data interactions between multiple complex systems, including both SAP and homegrown insurance applicationsHard to modify and maintain manually-developed data transfer programs. Data transfers as part of reinsurance, risk transactions

When built on Oracle Technology:

Seamlessly integrated across (Oracle, SAP, IBM, etc) to manage the regeneration of all code, scripts, and metadata across the different environments. Lowered the cost of development by taking advantage of ODIs declarative model, ease of use, and team collaboration capabilities.NRC benefited from the flexibility and standards based approach of ODI, helped leverage the existing environment.

Takeaway: Oracle doesnt help integrate data across Oracle Apps, it also supports SAP and IBM applications. By settling on a single platform New Reinsurance was able to

*Script:

Ross is a great example to close on the earlier retail example we saw previously. Ross had the business challenge of trying to reconcile inventory information across their multiple retail chains which included more than simply the Ross brand and included other acquisitions they had made.

Their challenge (both Business and IT)

Hard to consolidate consistent, accurate inventory information across over 800 multiple store chainsLack of visibility to errors to the businessHigher cost and time to delivery of new value

Current state was complex, didnt scale, and difficult to manageNon-standard approach required coding paradigm, inconsistent error handling

With Oracle SOA Suite and ODI together:

Seamless data integration from heterogeneous sources leveraging SOA helped to create a more flexible, standards based integration approach73% Bulk data transfer performance improvementTogether with Oracle SOA Suite (Oracle BPEL PM) provided business optimization, process visibility, exception handlingClosed loop processing using BAM and Data Integration combined eliminated ordering/replenishing inventory errors by reducing inaccurate data

Takeaway: We can learn from companies like Ross that use techniques of SOA together with Data Integration to capitalize on this new-found agility.*Script:

Ross is a great example to close on the earlier retail example we saw previously. Ross had the business challenge of trying to reconcile inventory information across their multiple retail chains which included more than simply the Ross brand and included other acquisitions they had made.

Their challenge (both Business and IT)

Hard to consolidate consistent, accurate inventory information across over 800 multiple store chainsLack of visibility to errors to the businessHigher cost and time to delivery of new value

Current state was complex, didnt scale, and difficult to manageNon-standard approach required coding paradigm, inconsistent error handling

With Oracle SOA Suite and ODI together:

Seamless data integration from heterogeneous sources leveraging SOA helped to create a more flexible, standards based integration approach73% Bulk data transfer performance improvementTogether with Oracle SOA Suite (Oracle BPEL PM) provided business optimization, process visibility, exception handlingClosed loop processing using BAM and Data Integration combined eliminated ordering/replenishing inventory errors by reducing inaccurate data

Takeaway: We can learn from companies like Ross that use techniques of SOA together with Data Integration to capitalize on this new-found agility.*Script:

Ross is a great example to close on the earlier retail example we saw previously. Ross had the business challenge of trying to reconcile inventory information across their multiple retail chains which included more than simply the Ross brand and included other acquisitions they had made.

Their challenge (both Business and IT)

Hard to consolidate consistent, accurate inventory information across over 800 multiple store chainsLack of visibility to errors to the businessHigher cost and time to delivery of new value

Current state was complex, didnt scale, and difficult to manageNon-standard approach required coding paradigm, inconsistent error handling

With Oracle SOA Suite and ODI together:

Seamless data integration from heterogeneous sources leveraging SOA helped to create a more flexible, standards based integration approach73% Bulk data transfer performance improvementTogether with Oracle SOA Suite (Oracle BPEL PM) provided business optimization, process visibility, exception handlingClosed loop processing using BAM and Data Integration combined eliminated ordering/replenishing inventory errors by reducing inaccurate data

Takeaway: We can learn from companies like Ross that use techniques of SOA together with Data Integration to capitalize on this new-found agility.*****