Essbase Overview

Oracle Essbase is a multidimensional database server optimized for planning, analysis, and management reporting applications. The Essbase Server provides an attractive solution for such problems while retaining:

The spreadsheet software that has become so integral to day-to-day operations.
The flexibility of defining applications, consolidations, currency conversions, allocations, and eliminations to reflect their impact on your enterprise.
The security and accessibility of your data.

Essbase is designed to be used in many application areas. Financial analysts find facilities to be invaluable in budget analysis, currency conversion, and consolidation. Cost accountants apply the powerful capabilities of Essbase to evaluate allocation and elimination scenarios. Product managers and analysts use Essbase to plan and analyze multiple product lines and distribution channels. Essbase can be used as a repository database for spreadsheet data. Anyone who uses a spreadsheet is a potential user of Essbase.

Because Essbase is applicable to such a broad variety of environments, individuals using it may fill one or more of these roles:

Essbase System Administrator—Experienced in networking, installing software packages, and performing general system administration functions. This person installs the Essbase software, establishes user accounts, implements access permissions, and maintains the server database.
Application Designer—Sets up the Essbase database, creates the database outline, and develops calculation scripts and report scripts. The responsibilities of the Essbase System Administrator and the Application Designer may overlap in some areas. The Application Designer probably develops spreadsheet or database applications and understands operational problems and the tools being employed to solve them.
User—Interacts with the Essbase database through spreadsheets using Excel. Users are typically analysts and managers who use spreadsheet programs as their primary tool for representing and analyzing data.

All roles may be performed by one person, or several people may collaborate to perform one role.

When you add Oracle Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in to Excel, most spreadsheet operations remain unchanged; Spreadsheet Add-in adds an Essbase menu and toolbar, and mouse shortcuts that enable you to access Essbase applications and databases.