Welcome to TechEPM’s insider take on Oracle Smart View—your one-stop add-in for turbocharging EPM workflows in Excel, Word, and Outlook. If you’re on the journey to get more from your Oracle landscape (think Essbase, Planning, HFM, and beyond), Smart View is about to become your power-user secret weapon. Let’s take a closer look at how it can reshape your daily EPM routines.
What Is Oracle Smart View?
Oracle Smart View is an Excel (and Microsoft Office) plugin designed for dynamic, real-time access to Oracle’s EPM & BI products—a suite that includes Essbase, Planning, Financial Consolidation and Close, and many others. In plain terms: it lets you pull live data directly from your EPM systems into spreadsheets and docs with just a couple of clicks, transforming your office tools into EPM dashboards.
Why Do We Need Smart View?
Traditional data pulls and manual report updates are slow, error-prone, and rarely provide that real-time confidence we all crave. Smart View closes the gap between your Oracle data stores and your analysis tools, making it easy to:
Run ad-hoc queries, slice and dice, and pivot Essbase cubes straight in Excel.
Build and refresh reporting packs without chasing outdated numbers.
Submit forms, run consolidations, or drill back from summary to transactional details on the fly.
Collaborate across teams, ensuring everyone’s working off a single, accurate version of the truth.
The true value? Faster, deeper insights—directly where you need them most.
Creating a Connection to Essbase with Smart View
Ready to get hands-on? Here’s our internal TechEPM workflow for connecting Oracle Smart View to an Essbase database:
Start Smart View in Excel: Open Excel, navigate to the Smart View tab (look for it in the Excel ribbon).
Launch the Panel: Click the “Panel” button—this brings up your connection options on the right side.
Create a New Connection:
Click “Shared Connections.”
Enter your Essbase server URL when prompted (you’ll need this from your EPM admin).
Log in with your Oracle credentials.
Find & Connect to the Essbase Cube:
Expand the Essbase tree structure, navigate to your target application/database.
Click to connect—you’re set!
Start Analyzing:
Use the Smart View panel to launch ad-hoc grids, retrieve data, or build custom views with simple drag-and-drop.
Tip: Save frequently used connections as Favorites to streamline future analysis.
Main Functionalities: What Can You Do with Smart View?
Smart View isn’t just about looking at data—it’s about transforming how you work with Oracle EPM. Here’s what you can do:
Ad-Hoc Analysis: Drag, drop, pivot, and subtotal straight from Essbase in Excel. Instantly refresh data or recalculate hierarchies.
Data Submission: Enter, edit, and submit planning or forecasting numbers directly into Planning or Essbase cubes—no more siloed spreadsheets.
Reporting: Pull financial, management, or variance reports dynamically—with the option to automate updates or run customized quick views.
Drill-Through: Dive from summary data into detailed transaction lines right from your worksheet.
Task Automation: Use Smart View with Microsoft macros or VBA to automate recurring workflows or reporting processes.
Integration with Word & PowerPoint: Embed live data into presentations or narrative reports and refresh at the click of a button before your next executive meeting.
Smart View is essential for EPM professionals who want agility, reliability, and true Oracle integration—all in the ecosystem you already know and love (Microsoft Office). If you’re ready to elevate your reporting, streamline planning, and boost collaboration—Smart View is the tool you’ll want in your arsenal.
TechEPM provides Oracle Smart View hands on training to business users. You can simple put hours in cart for training and we will reach out to you to schedule the training at your convenience.