Database Reference
In-Depth Information
from a business perspective if users are still interfacing with the same applications/
cubes via the same old methods? That being said, there are justifiable reasons for acquir-
ing training for yourself. Though, on-the-job training is best, project implementation
should not be the first time you are exposed to a particular functionality or tool that will
be utilized during your project.
If you are anything like me or most of my fellow Essbase administrator friends
who did not come from the consulting world, you taught yourself Essbase. yes, you
might have gone to a boot camp to give yourself a kick start, but after that, you were
reading the DBAg (Database Administrator's guide) like it was your new religion
and blowing things up in development to see if and how they worked. We might
have graduated from the DBAg, but there are a plethora of resources available to
you to self train: google, oracle technology network (otn), network 54, and other
Essbase Expert blogs. A number of the authors in this topic have blogs that can be
a great starting point to learning about a new feature or Essbase-related technology.
The user communities on the otn and network 54 message boards can be quite
helpful and they typically are quicker to respond than oracle support. For situations
where you need to get new employees cross-trained in Essbase administration, oracle
university, 1230 LAP, mtg resources, and many other third-party groups offer for-
mal classes. If you do need formal training, be prepared to convince your sponsor
and/or management. These classes can be somewhat costly.
11.4 go it alone? or not?
once the decision to develop a new Essbase application has been made, whether as a
brand new installation or an extension of an existing system, the decision whether to
bring in external resources has to be made. Both the purely internal and externally
supplemented approaches are valid. Which approach is right for you depends on internal
skills, resource availability, and timing.
11.4.1 Can We Do This on Our Own?
The decision to execute a development project internally should be made carefully and
deliberately. Depending on your organization, management may expect you to deliver
internally on all of your projects. on the other end of the spectrum are companies that
call consultants for everything and anything outside of day-to-day administrative tasks.
They often seem to have consultants perpetually. regardless of where your company
falls on the spectrum, I would encourage you to evaluate whether going internally
works for you and to be honest with your management team on your assessment. you
should consider three factors when deciding to execute a project externally: bandwidth,
technical expertise, and innovation.
11.4.1.1 Bandwidth
Do you and other team members have the bandwidth to undertake
such a project? Are you and your team constantly putting out production fires that take
up all of your time? A serious consideration for engaging outside resources for certain
projects is bandwidth. Are you responsible for production processes and development
processes without the time or bodies to complete either in a reasonable timeframe? If
you are one of the fortunate administrators who is in an organization that has separate
Essbase production and development teams at your disposal, good for you. This makes
your job on delivering on projects much easier, but the only way to know for sure if you
