Oracle Business Intelligence Applications consists of components that were formerly available from Siebel Systems as Siebel Business Analytics Applications (both CRM and Enterprise) with a number of significant enhancements.

The Oracle Business Intelligence Applications Upgrade Guide contains information about upgrading to Oracle Business Intelligence Applications from different versions of Siebel Business Analytics Applications.

Oracle recommends reading the Oracle Business Intelligence Applications Release Notes before installing, using, or upgrading Oracle Business Intelligence Applications. The Oracle Business Intelligence Applications Release Notes are available:

• On the Oracle Business Intelligence Applications CD-ROM.
• On the Oracle Technology Network at http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/bi_apps.html (to register for a free account on the Oracle Technology Network, go to http://www.oracle.com/technology/about/index.html).

What's New in Oracle Business Intelligence Applications Upgrade Guide, Version 7.9

Every section of the Oracle Business Intelligence Applications Upgrade Guide was extensively revised to support Release 7.9 of the software.

Changes to Oracle Business Analytics Warehouse Schema

The Siebel Data Warehouse (also referred to as the Siebel Relationship Management Warehouse) was renamed to Oracle Business Analytics Warehouse.

The Oracle Business Analytics Warehouse schema contains the following changes:

• System columns. New system columns were added to support incremental ETL processes, audit trail functionality, and multi-tenancy applications.
• SCD dimensions. Dimension tables are now SCD capable. New effectivity date columns were added.
• Obsolete tables. _SCD dimension tables were made obsolete.
• Deleted obsolete Columns. Dropped columns from W_ORG_D that were made obsolete to resolve performance issues on Oracle databases.
• Consolidated Customer Entity. Integrated the CONTACT-type customer into W_ORG_D to create a single CUSTOMER entity in the data model.
• Renamed columns for Teradata database support. Renamed columns (type, status, and so on) in the data model to enable creation of columns on Teradata databases.

Changes to Oracle BI Repository

The Siebel Analytics repository (SiebelAnalytics.rpd) was renamed to the Oracle Business Intelligence Applications repository (OracleBIApplicationsApps.rpd).

The Oracle BI repository contains the following changes:

• Naming conventions. Logical tables have been renamed to start either with "Dim," to indicate dimension tables, or "Fact," to indicate fact tables.
• Data security. The position security design was modified to use the new table W_POSITION_DH instead of W_PARTY_LOGIN. For more information about data security, see the Oracle Business Intelligence Applications Installation and Configuration Guide.
• Presentation layer. Some old catalogs have been replaced with new catalogs. The catalogs that have been replaced are designated with a STOP icon in the presentation layer; these catalogs will be deleted in a future release. It is highly recommended that you migrate your reports to the corresponding new catalogs.
• Time dimension. A common time dimension is used in all new catalogs to indicate a unified time dimension across all facts. Some secondary date dimensions are still exposed when necessary, but they are not conformed to all facts, and, thus, should be used cautiously.