Oda Bellingrath, dibera Building a data warehouse often does not ...

Oda Bellingrath, dibera
Building a data warehouse often does not solve the following problems:
There are still programming skills needed to analyze, select , sort and summarize the
requested data, to produce reports, to define and view drill-down levels, ...
As a controller or an executive you just do not want to deal with this. You are familiar
with the look-and-feel of your spreadsheet application and that is exactly what you
want for retrieving the information you need.
Often your field organisation or branch office can not get access to the information
they have to work with. Or your field staff has to deal with complicated update
mechanisms to keep their reports up to date, instead of having direct access to the
enterprise-wide data warehouse by using a laptop, a modem and just a browser
software.
The tool dib-eisa is the solution for the above mentioned problems. It uses the power
of SAS TM to provide enterprise-wide informations for any hardware-platform, network
system and all kinds of databases. The training period to get familiar with dib-eisa
applications is short. Basic PC knowledge is required.
Initially dib-eisa was developed for a controlling division of a large German insurance
company to cover all important issues concerning information retrievement of an
existing data warehouse. In the past three years different kind of easy-to-use
applications have been developed with the dib-eisa tool, e.g.
ä production planning
ä forecasting procedures
ä cost-management
ä contribution costing
ä customer analyses
ä marketing database
ä portfolio-analyses.

Nowadays it is used by many companies in the insurance and banking industry as
well as other business branches in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
This paper describes the functionality of dib-eisa, the technical background and the
dib-eisa components and how they work together.
The functionality of dib-eisa is a combination of a spreadsheet and data warehouse
needs.
dib-eisa is attached on top of the existing data warehouse. Data can be stored in any
format or combination of different formats. The entire power and flexibility of SAS TM
can be used to access data. You can even use statitical methods to enhance your
existing data with forcasting time tables.

An administrator determines description tables to define user views. These definitions
include
ä the applications the user is allowed to run,
ä predefined views,
ä display list and graphic output,
ä the data selections and filtering(e.g. which
variables are shown),
ä the drill down levels (e.g. distribution levels or
sales sectors),
ä traffic lighting and
ä many more selections, depending on the
application.
Additionaly the user can easiliy adapt these tables to create and save new individual
views. The user can
ä define drill-down levels,
ä drill even in graphhical output,
ä sort data,
ä define and compute analyses variables,
ä export data to Excel or other spreadsheets or formats,
ä print,
ä ...
There are simply no restrictions concerning the ways of analyzing your data
warehouse.

At first dib-eisa was designed as a tool on classical client-server bases. This May we
have implemented the first prototype of dib-eisa/WWW on SAS/IntrNet TM bases.
Both tools have the same look-and-feel and offer nearly the same functionality. Even
the techniques to access and select data are similar. Once you have implemented
an application with the tool dib-eisa, the programming effort to write a dib-eisa/WWW
application on SAS/IntrNet TM bases is relatively low.
But the technical background, the requirements for client and server are different.
Also the clients, using the tool, can (but not have to) be distinguished.
The user selects a dib-eisa application and defines data selections, drill-down levels
and cross tables. These informations are submitted remote to the server. A SAS TM
Macro on the server selects, processes and summarizes the data and computes drilldown
levels. The entire functionality of SAS TM can be integrated in this macro. The
macro processing results in a work-file that is downloaded to the client. User actions
are analyzed by the application, resulting in different views of the work-file.

MS Windows 3.11 / Windows 95/ Windows NT/ OS2/ UNIX or combinations of
operational systems in a client server environment that is capable to run SAS TM .
The client should be a Pentium PC, 60 MHz or higher, 18 MB minimum of hard disk
space and 16 MB RAM (32 MB or higher recommended).
TM
Administrators of dib-eisa applications are pleased with the fact that dib-eisa/WWW is
based on the same data retrieval concept while users appreciate the same look-andfeel.
Though the technical background is basically different:
Starting a Web browser the user is selecting a dib-eisa/WWW application and
requests the (HTML formattted) dib-eisa document from the Web server. The server
responds by sending the document to the browser. The browser detects the included
Java applet tag in the document and sends additional requests to the Web server.
Java classes used by the applet are downloaded to the client machine. The applet
begins to run.
The applet starts a SAS/Connect TM session on the server machine and connects to
that remote SAS TM session. The session is destroyed when the applet has finished
execution.

Interactively the user can select views, sort data, drill down through distribution or
other levels and display list and graphic output. The Java applet takes control of the
user actions. Users are having interactive access to SAS data without having
SAS TM software installed on the client pc.
The client can be a so-called thin client (e.g. a Net Computer), but must have
network access to the Web server . A Java enabled Web browser (e.g. Netscape
Navigator 3.0 or higher or MS Internet Explorer 3.02 or higher) must be installed. No
hard disk space is required but a minimum of 32 MB RAM.
On the Web server the Java tools must be installed. Using JTunnel a directory for
CGI-programs (e.g. \cgi-bin\) must have been setup.
The SAS TM release 6.12 or higher must be installed on the SAS TM server, including
SAS/ IntrNet TM software, SAS/Share TM and SAS/Connect TM software.
TM
dib-eisa/WWW is using Java tools being components of SAS/IntrNet TM Software:
Two drivers (set of Java class libraries that communicate with a SAS TM server) are
used to write Java programs:
ä JDBC (a „reduced“ ODBC-driver) is written in Java and gives users interactive
access to view and update data without having SAS TM software installed on the
client machine.
ä JConnect that enables to write Java programs to let you use the computing and
processing power of SAS TM software. It delivers SAS TM server functionality to
Java applets and applications.
ä Depending on the environment JTunnel is needed additionally when the SAS TM
server and the Web server are placed on different machines. JTunnel provides
access to network-wide resources. It is eliminating the restrictions on where your
SAS software runs in relation to your Web server and firewall.

The tool dib-eisa takes advantage of powerful components of SAS TM software to
reach a maximum of potential to analyze and process your data warehouse by
building easy-to-use applications.
Using dib-eisa on client server bases and as a web solution provides the competitive
advantage to have enterprise-wide access to all strategic applications based on the
data warehouse. Extending the power of SAS TM software and the power of dib-eisa
to the Web enables new users to have access to dib-eisa applications. Networkcentric
computing requires only thin clients, cuts down on application maintenance
and paper distribution and provides platform independence.
Security mechanisms can be installed, e.g. to ensure each branch office will only
have access to data of their own concern.
dib-eisa is solution orientated. Functions, views, filter, reports and new defined
variables can easiliy be extended or added by the user. Once you have started
building applications with the tool dib-eisa, more applications can be developed in a
short period of time.
Controlling divisions have fast and easy access to applications of production
planning, cost management and cross selling analyses. Field staffs can have access
to contribution costing or customer analyses applications with up to date informations
just being equipped with a Net Computer or a laptop.
Joining the power of SAS TM with the tool dib-eisa is resulting in unlimited controlling
applications concerning time and place.
Oda Bellingrath
Senior Consultant
dibera GmbH
Kolde-Ring 21
48126 Münster
Germany
Telefon: ++49 251 702 3760
Telefax: ++49 251 702 3571
e-mail: Oda.Bellingrath@dibera.de
http://www.dibera.de
SAS TM is a registered trademark of SAS Institute