Item: Oracle Data Integrator (ODI)
Rating: 7
Author: James Parks

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Oracle Data Integrator is used to extract data from various manufacturing machines, transform it into a usable form, and load it into a data warehouse for use by Oracle Business Intelligence reports. In this case, it was used to attempt a "real-time data warehousing solution," which is not necessarily its intended operation. Data was provided every hour, as required by the client. It was used across the whole organization to help with various decisions, including but not limited to manufacturing quality, resource tracking, accountability, and equipment usage.

Pros and Cons

Oracle Data Integrator is a very powerful tool. The graphical user interface simplifies the generation of complex SQL statements which can be used to extract and transform large amounts of data.
ODI allows users to structure and schedule packages of code. It allows you to combine data extraction and transformation sequences based on business area, relationships, or whichever design technique best suits your organization.
ODI is able to provide detailed logging information and send out alerts via email, simplifying the process of monitoring and debugging issues.

ODI does not have an intuitive user interface. It is powerful, but difficult to figure out at first. There is a significant learning curve between usability, proficiency, and mastery of the tool.
ODI contains some frustrating bugs. It is Java based and has some caching issues, often requiring you to restart the program before you see your code changes stick.
ODI does not have a strong versioning process. It is not intuitive to keep an up to date repository of versioned code packages. This can create versioning issues between environments if you do not have a strong external code versioning process.

Return on Investment

Oracle Data Integrator helps provide a business with the data it needs to defend the decisions it makes.
Oracle Data Integrator allows you to analyze data from what can be separate, different, and often outdated data sources. It allows you to make direct comparisons when analyzing data from different pieces of equipment.
Data from Oracle Data Integrator was used to analyze manufacturing quality and drive down spoilage, saving the company money.

Alternatives Considered

Informatica

Informatica was slightly more intuitive but slightly less powerful than Oracle Data Integrator. My use of Informatica was much less extensive than Oracle Data Integrator, so I can not speak as in-depth about the strengths and weaknesses of Informatica. We used ODI much more for custom ETL while we used Informatica more for out-of-the-box solutions.

Other Software Used

Toad for Oracle

Likelihood to Recommend

Oracle Data Integrator is a good solution for daily data warehousing needs. It is less suitable for business requirements that demand frequent data updates. Accessing static data with Oracle Data Integrator is much simpler than trying to extract, transform, and load dynamic data. It requires a skilled development team to use, so it is more appropriate in long term solutions where a team will be available to manage the code than it is for a short term solution.

Oracle Data Integrator Experience as an IT Consulant for a Government Agency

Overall Satisfaction with Oracle Data Integrator