OpenWorld: Hyperion remains core to Oracle's BI roadmap
Nervous post-acquisition customer base hears good news re ongoing development
November 16, 2007 (Computerworld) -- Oracle Corp. attempted to placate worried Hyperion Solutions Corp. users at its OpenWorld show this week, saying that it will continue development of existing business intelligence (BI) and enterprise performance management (EPM) software from the acquired vendor.
Oracle bought Hyperion in late February for $3.3 billion in cash. Users told Computerworld at the time that they feared that Oracle would halt development of Hyperion software such as its popular Essbase BI tool and force them to migrate to the equivalent Oracle offerings.
But during a conference session, Oracle executives declared that it would not only continue to develop and support most Hyperion software, but that key software such as EssBase would get prominent placement in Oracle's BI and EPM lineup.
"We're not requiring you to use Oracle's apps, middleware, or database," said Rich Clayton, vice-president of EPM marketing for Oracle.
Hyperion users, such as the 6,000-plus that Clayton says are running Essbase, will be basically given three choices: continue using Hyperion products only, start using them in conjunction with complementary products that Oracle already owned, or totally migrate away from Hyperion software.
Besides vowing to support open standards, Clayton said that Oracle plans to make sure Oracle's BI tools are "hot-pluggable with the tools existing in your company today."
Oracle plans to release version 9.5 of Hyperion's EPM suite next year. That version will feature Oracle integration and other features. At about the same time, Oracle plans to release a new version of Oracle BI, which include integration with EssBase. The version after that, Oracle BI 11g, will include widespread integration with Hyperion software and other features such as an "action framework" and more advanced visualization.
Bret Furtwengler is vice-president of financial systems for Cincinatti-based Fifth Third Bank, which uses a number of Hyperion software. He says he was reassured by Oracle that most of the acquired Hyperion software "will be the primary lead products."
"So far, everything I've heard has made feel very comfortable," he said. Furtwengler also cited how Oracle preserved and reinvested in the software it acquired when it bought J.D. Edwards & Co. and PeopleSoft Inc., despite widespread doubts.
"Oracle stayed true to their word," he said.