What OTBI is
Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence (OTBI) is the self-service analytics layer built into Oracle Fusion Cloud. It provides real-time reporting on Fusion data — no data warehouse, no extracts, no waiting for nightly loads. Users build analyses using drag-and-drop interfaces against pre-built subject areas.
Subject areas: the data catalogue
OTBI organises available data into subject areas — themed groups of dimensions and facts. Examples:
- Procurement - Purchase Orders Real Time: PO headers, lines, distributions, suppliers
- Payables Invoices - Real Time: invoice headers, lines, payments, suppliers
- Human Capital Management - Workforce: employees, assignments, salaries, absence
Each Fusion module has its own subject areas. Finding the right subject area for your report is the first challenge.
Building an analysis
- Navigate to Reports and Analytics → Create → Analysis
- Select the subject area (e.g. “Procurement - Purchase Orders Real Time”)
- Drag columns into the analysis from the left panel: PO Number, Supplier, Amount, Status, Creation Date
- Add filters:
Status = OPENandCreation Date >= @{LAST_N_DAYS}{30} - Add a table, chart, or pivot view
- Save to the catalog
Filters and prompts
Filters restrict analysis data. Prompts let users set filter values at runtime (similar to report parameters). For executive dashboards, pre-filter data by business unit or date range using session variables (@{session.BUSINESS_UNIT}).
Aggregation rules
Each metric column has an aggregation rule (Sum, Average, Count, Max, Min). Change via right-click → Edit Formula → Aggregation. For headcount metrics, use Count Distinct on employee_id rather than Count.
When to use OTBI vs BIP
OTBI: ad-hoc analysis, self-service, dashboards, real-time data, no IT involvement needed BIP: formatted documents (PDFs, payslips, POs), complex layouts, scheduled delivery, data from outside Fusion, high-volume report generation