Organizations complement the data visualization limitations of OBIEE and Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC) by connecting these platforms with modern visualization tools like Power BI using the bimodal analytics approach.

Here are the 3 options for connecting Power BI to OBIEE:

1. Oracle BI Server ODBC Driver
2. BI Connector
3. Web Data Connectors

Let’s take a quick look at each of these options!

Oracle BI Server ODBC Driver

Oracle BI Server is the ODBC driver provided by Oracle for setting up DSNs of OBIEE and OAC data sources. This driver helps organizations connectivity from Power BI to OBIEE data sources.

However, the need for technical assistance is inevitable in this driver. The key fields must be exposed in OBIEE RPD in business and presentation layers for each table/folder that is to be analyzed in Power BI. Getting this driver work consistently is an uphill task.

The other major drawback is that all tables in all subject areas will get exposed to the user.

BI Connector

BI Connector (ODBC-based) is a Power BI Certified connector for connecting securely to OBIEE data sources.

When connecting Power BI to OBIEE through BI Connector, the connector transforms the queries from Power BI into OBIEE queries and fetches the data back to Power BI.

BI Connector connects Power BI to OBIEE Subject Areas and Reports (while retaining the joins and aggregations as well with simple workarounds) via both connectivity modes – Direct Query and Import.

Currently, BI Connector supports Power BI Desktop, Service, and Report Server editions. With BI Connector, the users can also configure Scheduled Refresh via Power BI Gateway.

BI Connector comes up with frequent releases to keep up with Power BI version updates. From the OBIEE perspective, it supports both 11g and 12c versions.

The only limitation is the licensing fee that’s priced based on the number of CPU cores on the Gateway Server (starting at 8-cores). BI Connector also offers a 30-day fully-featured free trial (no credit card required) to help the users realize the value BI Connector adds to their analytics arsenal!

Web Data Connectors

Web Data Connectors are usually an HTML file that includes JavaScript code for connecting two platforms. The connectors enable users to connect to predefined queries of OBIEE configured on the web. We’re currently aware of one such Web Data Connector – Unify.

The Web Data Connectors enable the users to reuse the joins and aggregations in OBIEE for analysis and also to retain the OBIEE security framework when connecting from Power BI Desktop.

However, the major drawback is the restriction of the available dataset for analysis, and Direct Query is not supported. Further, the web data connectors are highly prone to Power BI and OBIEE version incompatibility issues.

Out of these 3 connectors listed above, BI Connector is the only connector that meets all the requirements mentioned in the 5 Must-haves for Power BI to OBIEE Connectors.

You may also want to take a look at the eBook about Modernizing OBIEE with Power BI .