This chapter provides an introduction to customizing the Oracle Communications Data Model.
Oracle Communications Data Model is a standards-based, pre-built approach to data warehousing for the communications industry enabling customers to realize the power of insight more quickly. Oracle Communications Data Model reduces costs for both immediate and on-going operations by leveraging out-of-box Oracle based data warehouse and business intelligence solutions, making world-class database and business intelligence technology solutions available with a communications specific data model.
You can use Oracle Communications Data Model in any application environment. Also, you can easily extend the model.
Using Oracle Communications Data Model you can jump-start the design and implementation of a warehouse to quickly achieve a positive ROI for your data warehousing and business intelligence project with a predictable implementation effort.
Oracle Communications Data Model provides much of the data modeling work that you must do for a communications business intelligence solution. The Oracle Communications Data Model logical and physical data models were designed following best practices for communications service providers. Oracle Communications Data Model is aligned with TM Forum's Information Framework (SID) Release 12.
Related Topics
Oracle Communications Data Model includes several components.
Logical model which is a third normal form (3NF) entity-object model. The logical model follows industry standards.
Physical model defined as an Oracle Database schema.
Intra-ETL database packages and SQL scripts to extract, transform, and load (ETL) data from the Oracle Communications Data Model 3NF physical tables to the derived and aggregate tables in Oracle Communications Data Model.
Sample reports and dashboards developed using Oracle Business Intelligence Suite Extended Edition.
DDL and installation scripts
Note:
When you use the Oracle Installer to install Oracle Communications Data Model, you have the choice of performing two different types of installations:
Installation of the Oracle Communications Data Model component
Installation of sample reports (and schemas)
Related Topics
Several Oracle technologies are involved in building the infrastructure for Oracle Communications Data Model.
Oracle Database with OLAP, Advanced Analytics and Partitioning Option
Oracle Business Intelligence Suite Extended Edition Presentation Tools
Oracle Database with OLAP, Advanced Analytics and Partitioning Option
Oracle Communications Data Model uses a complete Oracle technical stack. It leverages the following data warehousing features of the Oracle Database: SQL model, compression, partitioning, advanced statistical functions, materialized views, data mining, and online analytical processing (OLAP).
Application Adapters and Analytics Add-ons
The Add-ons provides several separately licensed options for Oracle Communications Data Model:
Oracle Development Tools
You can use the tools shown in the following table to customize the predefined physical models provided with Oracle Communications Data Model, or to populate the target relational tables and materialized cube views:
Table 1-1 Oracle Development Tools Used with Oracle Communications Data Model
| Name | Use |
|---|---|
|
SQL Developer or SQL*Plus |
To modify, customize, and extend database objects |
|
Analytic Workspace Manager |
To view, create, develop, and manage OLAP dimensional objects. |
Oracle Business Intelligence Suite Extended Edition Presentation Tools
Oracle Business Intelligence Suite Extended Edition is a comprehensive suite of enterprise BI products that delivers a full range of analysis and reporting capabilities. You can use Oracle Business Intelligence Suite Extended Edition Answers and Dashboard presentation tools to customize the predefined sample dashboard reports that are provided with Oracle Communications Data Model.
Related Topics
Although Oracle Communications Data Model was designed following best practices, usually the model requires some customization to meet your business needs. The reasons that you might customize Oracle Communications Data Model include: your business does not have a business area that is in the logical model of Oracle Communications Data Model, or you must apply a new or different business rule.
Typical physical model modifications include: adding, deleting, modifying, or renaming tables and columns; or altering foreign keys, constraints, or indexes.
To implement an Oracle Communications Data Model warehouse, perform the following steps:
Perform the required organizational tasks.
Create a fit-gap analysis report.
In a development environment, install a copy of the Oracle Communications Data Model.
Customize Oracle Communications Data Model by making the changes you documented in the fit-gap analysis report. Make the changes in the following order:
Foundation layer of the physical model and the ETL to populate the foundation layer.
Access layer of the physical model and the ETL to populate the access layer.
In a test environment, make a copy of your customized version of Oracle Communications Data Model. Then, following the documentation you created in Step 2, test the customized version of Oracle Communications Data Model.
Following your typical procedures, roll the tested customized version of Oracle Communications Data Model out into pre-production and, then, production.
Tip:
Keep 'clean' copies of the components delivered with Oracle Communications Data Model components. This is important when upgrading to later versions of Oracle Communications Data Model.
Before you begin customizing Oracle Communications Data Model, ensure that certain teams and committees exist.
Data warehouse governance steering committee.
Implementation team.
Fit-gap analysis team. This team consists of business analysts who can identify the business requirements and scope of the Oracle Communications Data Model and at least some engineers in the Implementation team. Business members of this team must understand logical data modeling so that they can evaluate what changes must be made to the foundation and access layers of the physical model.
After these teams and committees are formed:
Discuss the approach and determine the involvement and roles of every party involved in the customization (for example, business and IT).
Agree on the scope of the project (that is, agree on what new data must be in the data warehouse and why it is needed).
Agree on the timing and the working arrangements.
The Oracle Communications Data Model uses much of the Oracle stack. Consequently, to successfully implement the Oracle Communications Data Model, the implementation team needs certain prerequisite knowledge.
Experience performing information and data analysis and data modeling. (Experience using Oracle SQL Data Modeler, is a plus.)
An understanding of the Oracle technology stack, especially data warehouse (Database, Data Warehouse, OLAP, Data Mining, Oracle Business Intelligence Suite Extended Edition)
Hands-on experience using:
Oracle Database
PL/SQL
SQL DDL and DML syntax
Analytic Workspace Manager
Oracle SQL Developer
Oracle Business Intelligence Suite Extended Edition Administrator, Answers, and Dashboards
Governance is of concern to any enterprise, executive team or individual with an interest in the processes, standards, and compliance. It is even more important to organizations that have invested in data warehousing. Data warehouse governance occurs within the context of overall IT governance. It provides the necessary policies, process and procedures, which must be clearly communicated to the entire corporation, from the IT employees to the front-end operational personnel.
Before you customize Oracle Communications Data Model, setup a data warehouse governance steering committee if one does not exist. The role of this steering committee is to oversee the data warehouse to provide an environment that reaches across the enterprise and drives the best business value.
Data Warehouse Governance Committee: Overall Responsibilities
The data warehouse governance steering committee sets direction and response for the governance framework and covers the follow areas:
The entire data warehouse life cycle.
Agree on the data to process and make available to end-users.
Determine what is the minimum quality criteria for the data that is available to end users and determine how to measure and analyze these criteria against the quality of the data that is the source data for the data warehouse.
The business goals of the organization to apply core information from data warehouse.
The policies, procedures and standards for data resource and data access.
The life cycle of data warehouse component management.
Data Warehouse Governance Committee: Data Governance Responsibilities
The more detailed focus in data warehouse governance is data governance. Data governance tasks include:
Approving the data modeling standards, metadata standards and other related standards. This includes determining a metadata strategy and identifying the data modeling tools to use that support these standards.
Determining the data retention policy.
Designing a data access policy based on legal restrictions and data security rules.
Designing a data backup strategy that aligns with the impact analysis to the business unit.
Monitoring and reporting on data usage, activity, and alerts.
Fit-gap analysis is where you compare your information needs and business requirements with the structure that is available with Oracle Communications Data Model. You identify any required functionality that is not included in the logical model and the default schema, as well as other modifications that are necessary to meet your requirements. The result of your fit-gap analysis is a customization report which is a brief explanation of the adaptations and adjustments required to customize Oracle Communications Data Model to fit your environment.
The fit-gap analysis team writes the customization report by performing the following steps:
If you have performed previous evaluations, review the documentation from the previous phases, and if necessary add team members with the required business and technical expertise.
Review the data and map your logical entities and data structure with the Oracle Communications Data Model logical model and schema:
Starting from business requirements, questions, and rules, identify any entities and attributes that are not in the Oracle Communications Data Model.
Compare the Oracle Communications Data Model to your existing application model if have one.
Compare the Oracle Communications Data Model to the OLTP data that you are using as a data source to the Oracle Communications Data Model warehouse.
Determine the differences between your needs and Oracle Communications Data Model schema. To help you with this task, produce a list of actions people may take with the system (examples rather than models), and create use cases for appraising the functionality of the Oracle Communications Data Model Warehouse. Answer the following questions about the differences you find:
What differences you can live with, and what must be reconciled?
What can you do about the differences you cannot live with?
Identify the changes you must make to the default design of Oracle Communications Data Model to create the customized warehouse. Identify these changes in the following order:
Physical model.
ETL mapping. Identify and design the source-ETL that you must create and identify and make any changes to the intra-ETL provided with Oracle Communications Data Model.
Tip:
When identifying changes, ensure that the changes meet your security and metadata requirements.
Write the customization report, detailing what changes are required to make the Oracle Communications Data Model match your business needs. This includes any additions and changes to interfaces to existing systems.
Based on the customization report update the project plan.
To comply with privacy and data protection requirements, Oracle Communications Data Model is certified with Transparent Data Encryption and Oracle Database Vault.
For more information on these topics, see:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/options/advanced-security/index-099011.html
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/options/database-vault/index-085211.html
See Also:
Oracle Database Vault Administrator's Guide for information on using Oracle Database Vault