How to connect PerformancePoint Services for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 to Oracle?

Many user are eager to know how to connect PerformancePoint Services for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 to Oracle data sources with the use of Microsoft Business Connectivity Services? So I thought to start this thread, so that more members will add some content into it. The following is a summary of what you do in this scenario.

1. Create a model file and external content type to describe how SharePoint Server connects to Oracle and retrieve inventory data.
   
2. Publish the list data to SharePoint Server.
   
3. Configure security.
   
4. Create your site, dashboard, and KPIs by using PerformancePoint Services.
   
5. Create a SharePoint list data connection for PerformancePoint Services.

While performing some operational processes examined as purchasing, replenishment, distribution, or shipping, you might want to include Oracle data to support a business intelligence function examined as reporting, monitoring, or analyzing.

PerformancePoint services can aggregate content for viewing reports, scorecards, KPIs, or from different sources. Business Connectivity Services connects to data directly or by way of SOAP or Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) web services to include external data, searchable as customer, product, employee, or sales in a dashboard. For example, buyers that work at a home-office supply retailer may not have to prevaricate one time per week what items to purchase, in what quantity, and to which stores to ship the items. In this example, investigation can be performed in a list, prearranged by store and item. The data is collected from dissimilar sources. It consists of columns and pointer that highlight how well the items have sold in the past. And it has columns that stipulate master data search as store number, store address, item explanation, or merchant address. Some columns can be collected from SQL Server Analysis Services cubes, whereas other columns come from a database that stores LOB information about the retailer's inventory. The column buyers would provide the quantity to be purchased in an editable. Once entire, a dashboard can be published to a SharePoint site. The purchasing process prolongs there association, based on data-driven.

To total the above mentioned circumstances (by "VinFanatic") by using Oracle data as a data source in PerformancePoint Services, you must produce external type content. External content types be similar to SharePoint content types and permit the presentation of and interaction with external data in lists, Web Parts, Microsoft Outlook 2010, Microsoft SharePoint workspace 2010, and Microsoft Word 2010 clients. Once you explain to external system to external content type, you can utilize it as a data source in a dashboard by creating PeformancePoint a SharePoint list data connection. Examples of external systems that can connect to Business Connectivity services consist of SQL Server databases, SAP applications by using Duet Enterprise for Microsoft SharePoint and SAP, Siebel CRM data, Web 2.0 services, custom applications, and Web sites based on SharePoint Server. Although this example is about how to connect to Oracle data, the Business Connectivity Services runtime supports connections to numerous classes of systems by using the following external connectors.

A running Secure Store service and relevance proxy are obligatory to store the Unattended Service account password for a service PerformancePoint Services application. The unattended service account is a shared domain account that is used for accessing PerformancePoint Services data sources. PerformancePoint Services utilizes the Secure Store service to store the Unattended Service account password. Before using the Unattended Service account, make convinced that the Secure Store service is running. The data sources, searching as a SharePoint list, are defined in PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer and stored in a trusted data connection library on SharePoint Server 2010. The objects that are stored in lists and document libraries are secured by the Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 security model. On top of that model, PerformancePoint Services appends product features to the fundamental framework SharePoint Server 2010 to ensure that data sources and dashboard content are secure and protected from unwarranted access. The four server roles that are obtainable include Admin, Power Reader, Data Source Manager, and Create. In addition, two additional roles, editor and reader, at the individual item level are set within Dashboard Designer.

Follow the procedure in the "Authoring BDC model" documentation to create a model from the beginning. The BDC model file for an external system is basically on auto-generated XML. The file is generated when you create an external ContentType against a SQL Server database, a WCF or SOAP web service, or an existing .NET Assembly Connector by using SharePoint Designer 2010. Connecting to Oracle requires you to create the BDC model yourself. Modify the BDC model for connecting to Oracle databases. Make sure that you set up in application definition in Oracle Secure Store Service with the credentials. So remember the difference in syntax between Oracle and SQL Server parameters. In Oracle, a colon ( : ) is used instead of the @ sign, among other differences. In order for Business Connectivity Services to retrieve the correct credentials during run time to connect to Oracle, the credentials should be stored in SharePoint Server 2010 using the Secure Store Service.

Supplementary security steps include the following:

• You have to install the Oracle client on all the computers in the farm that wants to connect to Oracle data.
• The Transparent Network Substrate (TNS) net service must be configured to connect to Oracle from SharePoint Server.

This is mandatory for external lists, Web parts, and profile pages on the server. As services run in the Application Server, it is fine to install the Oracle client on the application server.