Chapter 3. Working with Database Data

As mentioned earlier, Oracle Business Intelligence is not limited to only the Oracle Application Server solutions discussed in the preceding chapter. Oracle Database itself has a lot to offer when it comes to Business Intelligence. To better understand which Oracle Database features can be regarded as Business Intelligence features, it would be wise to recall what Business Intelligence is all about. Returning to the discussion about the Business Intelligence basics in Chapter 1, you might recall that Business Intelligence is first of all about answering analytical business questions.

So, if you've got used to visual tools, this chapter encourages you to branch out of your comfort zone, and gives you a chance to understand manually written SQL code. You might be surprised as to just how much SQL can offer when it comes to answering analytical business questions based on the data you have stored in the database, as well as in external sources.

In this chapter...