What is Oracle Data Integrator?

Question

What is an ODI? What is the actual use of ODI? How does the oracle data integrator tool help in programming? what is the actual difference between sql developer tool and ODI tool? really fed up with the definitions found on some sites, it will be great if someone comes up with an explanation for the buzz.

Answer 1

I completely agree that the Oracle site is confusing, and these product descriptions are not intended for technicians and are written by the marketing department.

Let me try to explain in simple words. ODI is an ETL tool - more precisely an EL-T tool. You can learn more about ETL vs EL-T on the wiki.

Oracle used to sell OWB (Oracle Warehouse Builder) and then buy ODI from Sunopsis. OWB will no longer be supported, and ODI will be the tool used by many Oracle applications.

You can do a lot with ODI, but you will use it mainly to extract data from the source (files, databases), convert data in the staging area and load it into the target database. ETL projects generally take a lot of time and effort, and although you can do these things by writing your own code, ETL tools help simplify these tasks for developers. ETL tools are used for data integration projects, data storage, etc.

If you have ever heard of the Microsoft SSIS tool that ships with MS SQL Server, this should give you an idea of ​​what ODI is.

This is a good technical paper that explains how to use ODI and what are the advantages over custom coding.

Oracle also introduced an ODI version called ODI Data Services, a marketing gimmick for expanding ODI in the SOA market.

They also sell the Golden Gate product, designed for ETL projects and real-time data federation projects that can work well with other applications and web services. Data merging is the process of combining / integrating real-time data without using ETL.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

The following is a brief description of the Oracle ODI FAQ :

What is Oracle Data Integrator (ODI)?

Oracle Data Integrator is a comprehensive data integration platform that covers all data integration requirements: from large volumes, high-performance event-driven batch loads, inkjet flow of integration processes, to SOA-enabled data services.

Which projects are suitable for Oracle Data Integrator?

Oracle Data Integrator can be used in several projects, including:

• Traditional data integration
• Business Intelligence and Data Warehouse
• Modernization initiatives
• Migration and consolidation
• Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) Initiatives
• Master data management

Answer 3

ODI is an ETL tool. It has two main advantages over competing products:

1) It uses an approach like ELT, i.e. all conversions occur on the target Datawarehouse server in SQL. This means that ODI is not a black box, and developers know exactly what is happening. This is great for debugging. This also means that ODI can use the horse power of the target storage server and does not require any additional application servers such as traditional ETL tools, Informatica, etc. It reduces the total cost of ownership.

2) The main advantage of ODI over competitive products is the code template approach. This ensures exclusive reuse of your and your ETL developer code. Logic and data transformation strategies are encapsulated in so-called knowledge modules and can be reused in your data warehouse. This can reduce development time by 30-50%.

Links to ODI Tutorials can be found on the BI Quotient Blog