But SAP doesn't have much DSS experience. That increases the probability that, at least in the first release, they'll come up short of user expectations. SAP, for example, has yet to publish the specifications for the BAPI that OLAP tool vendors would use to get access to SAP's OLAP engine. Production shipment of a subset of BIW code is planned for next April. But there's also an upside to SAP's relatively closed, proprietary approach to data warehousing.
Users also can define their own cubes.
Oracle's approach, called Oracle Applications Data Warehouse and announced in May, also is highly integrated with the Redwood Shore, Calif., company's applications. In addition to data warehouse administration tools, it includes Oracle's own Express OLAP engine and Express Analyzer analytical tools. Rockford Fosgate's Richards thinks so, too. That's given Rockford Fosgate a competitive boost. Replacing homegrown data extracts with Oracle tools also has brought more timely data, says Richards.