May29Written by:Eric Torkia
5/29/2010 9:33 AM 
A brief review of Oracle and Microsoft database/application integration with Excel and Crystal Ball for comprehensive modeling
Often when we do risk or predictive analysis work, we do not rely just on one tool. Depending on the environment, some of these tools may be shared such as reporting servers, project management servers, sharepoint and so fourth. We source our information and then we build models with Excel, Visio or even Project.
In the table below, we have focused on the various levels of data available through the spreadsheet. If you use Microsoft tools then SQL 2005 and offers tools such as determinant analysis, cluster analysis, correlation, etc... through Excel... they are free and the link is below.
If you are an Oracle Shop then you have some really cool stuff at your disposal. Because Crystal Ball EPM is an Oracle product, it is integrated with several tools such as Hyperion Strategic Finance, Planning, Essbase and Oracle BI. The catch is that when you run a simulation on this platform... it uses all the business logic in the back end systems. More on Crystal Ball EPM to come.
I have put together a brief set of options for using large datasets with Excel and Crystal Ball and/or ModelRisk (for added math capability).
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Database Environment
|
User Environment
|
Available Excel Analysis Tools
|
| Oracle / Hyperion |
Complex Modeling and Simulation for EPM |
- Crystal Ball EPM Edition
- Decision Optimizer
- ModelRisk for Insurance and Finance
|
| Sophisticated Simulation and Optimization - Shared across the enterprise |
- Crystal Ball EPM Edition
- Decision Optimizer
|
SQL 2005 / SharePoint Enterprise
|
Complex Modeling and Simulation for EPM |
- Oracle Crystal Ball
- Decision Optimizer
- ModelRisk for Insurance and Finance
- PerformancePoint Excel Add-In
|
| Sophisticated Simulation and Optimization - Shared across the enterprise |
|
| Stand-Alone / MS Access |
Sophisticated Simulation and Optimization |
- Oracle Crystal Ball
- Decision Optimizer
- ModelRisk for Insurance and Finance
- MS Access for Data Consolidation
|