ODI – The Data Community

We are currently in the process of upgrading Oracle Business Intelligence Applications (OBIA) from version 7.9.6 to OBIA 11g. Oracle has replaced Informatica as the data integration tool in the platform with it’s own tool, Oracle Data Integrator (ODI). This was a selfish, profit-driven move on Oracle’s part with no consideration for the impact on customers, but it is what it is.

Because of this, as a part of the upgrade to the new OBIA release, we need to convert all our hundreds of Informatica mappings to ODI. As you can imagine, this is a lot of work. We are getting help from a company that has developed a specialized conversion tool called InfatoODI, which converts Informatica mappings to ODI interfaces.

We are performing the conversions specifically for an OBIA application, but the tool can be used as a straight conversion tool for Informatica-to-ODI for any type of application.

We are in the beginning stages of the project, but early indications are that the tool will save us time, but I am not sure how significant as yet. I will post updates as we progress through the conversions with my experience and opinion of the tool.

I am currently working on a project to upgrade (Oracle Business Intelligence Applications) OBIA 7 to OBIA 11g. OBIA 11g and all future releases of OBIA (per Oracle) will use Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) as the ETL platform, replacing Informatica.

Due to this, I need to become very familiar with ODI to be able to manage and support the new release, and will be writing about ODI from time to time.

One key component in ODI is Knowledge Modules (KM’s). In this post, I will describe what Knowledge Modules are and the various types that are in ODI.

Knowledge Modules (KMs) are generic code templates or modules that can be configured/coded to meet specific data integration needs and each type is dedicated to a specialized function in the overall data integration process.

Each of the 6 out-of-the-box (OOB) Knowledge Modules contain the “knowledge” to perform a specific set of actions on a specific combination of technologies, including connecting, extracting, transforming, loading, and checking data. While the 6 OOB KMs meet most data integration needs, there will surely be cases when more custom features are needed. ODI KMs are extensible, and new totally custom KMs can be built.

The 6 OOB KMs are:

Reverse Knowledge Module (RKM)
This KM is used to retrieve metadata from data sources and targets to the Oracle Data Integrator work repository. You can use it in models to perform customized reverse-engineering.

Loading Knowledge Module (LKM)
This KM is used to load heterogeneous data to a staging area. It is used in interfaces with heterogeneous sources. The LKM and the IKM are the two most frequently used KM’s in our environment.

Journalizing Knowledge Module (JKM)
This KM is used in models, sub models and databases to create, start and stop journals and to register subscribers. It creates the Change Data Capture framework objects in the source staging area.

Integration Knowledge Module (IKM)
This KM is used in Interfaces to integrate data from the staging area to a target. The LKM and the IKM are probably the two most frequently used KM’s in our environment.

Check Knowledge Module (CKM)
This KM is used to perform consistency checks of data against defined constraints. It is used in models, sub models and databases for data integrity audit, and used in interfaces for flow control or static control.

Service Knowledge Module (SKM)
This KM is used in models and databases. It is used to generate data manipulation web services.

These KM’s are central to ODI and I will need to master the usage of these KM’s and if you are planning on using ODI, you will need to also.