An oryx is a nimble, agile and quick species of antelope. When using ORYX software it becomes clear that it is an agile and fast tool, similar to its namesake.

There are currently two versions of ORYX: ORYX Reader and ORYX Studio.

• ORYX Studio allows the user to both design and execute processes
• ORYX Reader only allows processes to be executed. Users cannot alter the process structure.

Note that, when using ORYX Reader, although processes can not be structurally altered, the user can still parameterise the process as defined by the process designer.

Most ORYX data processes can be easily designed using only the standard ORYX toolkit.  However, we recognise that processes can require custom logic that would not warrant a feature request, nor a new ORYX tool.

Using the Scripting and Forms tools - you can create custom scripts and user interfaces within ORYX.  One major difference between ORYX and other products is that even when scripting, you can still leverage off other tools, removing the need to "re-invent the wheel".

The current ORYX version (2011.2) has been tested with Office 2003, 2007 and 2010. This includes

• Excel (xls / xslx support) for all import and export operations
• Outlook MAPI support
• MS Access 2003
• MS Access 2007/10 is currently supported via ODBC

ORYX consists of a workbench which contains a suite of more than 50. Each tool is designed to perform one data processing or reporting task extremely well. In many cases, the different tools can be used together.

The ORYX infrastructure supports robust job execution, project and document editing and execution. It includes a sophisticated logging system, making maintenance and troubleshooting activities extremely efficient.

ORYX works with Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. We will continue to support new versions of Microsoft Windows as they become available.

Getting timely answers to questions can mean the difference between business survival or not, realistically it’s just as much about the ability to go into a meeting fully prepared and not having to say, “I’ll have that answer for you in a day or so”.

For analysts “On Demand” is about being able to follow a line of reasoning that changes as the data they manipulate brings out new information. Analysts need to work on the basis of “what if?”, manipulate data instantly and see if their hypothesis is correct, if not they move on to another hypothesis – with ORYX that process is instant, even with large amounts of data.

Yes! ORYX enables your power users to design processes which are then packaged up and distributed to end users, who can run them on demand. With traditional tools, your power users end up getting bogged down with mindless number crunching - they cannot delegate them because they are too difficult to run reliably.

The answer is simple - with ORYX users are actually processing data on demand. Analysts perform many of their data processes iteratively - and they need to have control over when, and how, their processes execute. Many larger BI systems do not support true on-demand processing.

Again, lets look at what we do with ORYX tools - we:

• extract data and load it into a sheet,
• validate, process, pivot, map and summarise the data
• create and publish reports, journal entries, etc

Note that all of this is done off-line. The benefits of off-line (ie. client-based processing) are:

1. The end user retains control over their process
2. The process can be configured in real time according to the user's wishes
3. The user gets the result there and then - no more 'overnight' report processing
4. Many people can run the same process simultaneously, with minimal contention

Consider this assertion:

"Data Processing Tools do not Report,
Reporting Tools do not Process Data"

Building processes in the traditional way often requires multiple tools, which may not work well together.

By including a wide range of tools, ORYX is able to orchestrate the full data processing and reporting cycle within a single environment. This cuts development time, and makes it easier to administer and maintain complex ORYX-based solutions.

Processes built in ORYX are easy to maintain:

• because each process has a log file, the root cause of failure is normally easy to establish
• having established the cause, process bugs are easy to fix – normally a simple change in configuration is required
• both user and system documentation can now be embedded in ORYX

The tools in ORYX contain logic that automatically detect and report a wide range of design, logic, and runtime problems – so that you don’t have to. Since we treat untrapped errors as bugs, as ORYX matures, it will automate more and more of the low-level problems that designers traditionally spend a lot of time on.

This translates into true rapid automation (and application) development.

The idea of a specialised toolkit, where functionality is split up into granular components means that users do not have to create tools each time they approach a particular task. Many IT users emulate this approach by purchasing multiple software products, which often do not work together.

With ORYX, new user requirements either lead to existing tools being extended, or the creation of new purpose-specific tools. There are more than 50 tools in the current version of ORYX.

By using a ‘silo’ approach to functional delivery, stability and performance can be optimised for each tool, and the risk of regression is reduced. Where tools interact, these interactions are carefully controlled within ORYX infrastructure.

Yes. ORYX is designed for people who need to analyse – not for programmers. The interface is clear and simple using familiar elements such as folder opening and closing, and a grid layout that will be familiar to anyone who’s used a spreadsheet.

Even the Studio version where packaged analysis and processes are created is easy to use, whether loading or manipulating data. ORYX allows analysts to get on with analysis and interpretation, not managing the software.

Yes! ORYX has approximately 800 pages of product documentation (help), included as standard. All concepts, workbench actions, and tools are documented in detail.

Help is context-sensitive within the application (press F1 at any time).  The first time help is used, ORYX builds the help files to match the current system configuration.

Yes there are. Download at http://support.accountagility.com! (Registration may be required).  We recommend that you start with the Reader training (recommended for all users), and then, if you intend to start designing ORYX projects, continue with the Studio training.

First start with the tutorials - they will introduce you to the core concepts and some design patterns, and will get you familiar with many of the tools. After each tutorial, try and practice the techniques learned in the tutorial on some sample data.

After you have completed some of the tutorials, try and construct a real-life process in ORYX.

First, ORYX can only be used to access databases for which the user has access rights, so the impact should never be on live data but on data stores, such as data warehouses. Secondly, because ORYX loads data very fast the elapsed time impact is low, the overall performance hit is the same as issuing a standard SQL query for the same data set.

However, we recognise that many desktop tools do not work gracefully with databases.  ORYX has a number of built-in control strategies that tick Enterprise requirements:

1. When an ORYX process is stopped, ORYX cancels all outstanding data operations on the databases involved in the current step.  Only when this has completed, is the process marked as stopped.  ORYX therefore does not lead to "zombie" database processes, which are known to cause serious performance issues in some cases, and can only be resolved by a DBA (database administrator)
2. ORYX produces SQL (structured query language) that is highly optimised to the database that it is currently talking to.
3. By choosing whether to process on or off-line, a process designer can process data in the most efficient location.  Wherever off-line processing is used, we normally find an improvement in database performance.

No. ORYX was designed for analysts to get at data quicker and easier than anything they’ve used, but also for IT departments and data managers to know what’s being used. ORYX isn’t going to damage data, provide unauthorised access or impact their work. For analysts ORYX is the best tool to use, for IT it’s the safe tool to use.

There are two levels of ROI ORYX provides; the first is critical – ORYX lets you analyse data instantly, you get the answers to difficult, complex questions when you need them. If that’s the difference between a good, timely business decision and a bad one then that’s the ROI. Unfortunately until ORYX is used that can’t be measured.

The second level is how much effort is saved using ORYX instead of a combination of tools to get the same answer. Here the answer is in man days of effort saved and this actual cost varies dependent on the cost of those man days. Some of our clients save as much as 36 hours running a process through ORYX, in others processes that would have taken 2 hours are done in 5 minutes. Our case studies show a best time saving of 95% – EACH time the process is run.

Absolutely not. Part of the rationale for ORYX’s development was to combine the need for instant desktop analysis with the IT department’s need to control and manage data. ORYX is designed to perform high speed, on demand loading of data from whatever central sources are available, such as ERP data stores, data warehouses etc, perform the analysis and then drop the data, knowing that the same data can be loaded again.

ORYX scales by placing computing power only where it’s needed; on the desk of the analyst. There’s no need for additional expensive servers or careful balancing of server loads. For the user this means they can do their job independently. IT know that there’s no additional drain on resources, and that data is being processed in a systematic, secure and scalable way.

No, although spreadsheet users will find many similarities when using it. ORYX is an analysis tool designed to handle large amounts of data and provide as much sophisticated real-time analysis as the analyst can perform. For simple operations users can very quickly load data into their favourite spreadsheet and back again.

No. ORYX isn’t a replacement for BI tools, it supports and enhances BI.

All functionality is introduced into ORYX via plugins. If you have any requirements that are not currently covered by existing ORYX tools, there are three options:

• use the scripting and forms tools
• make a feature request
• we can develop a custom tool just for your business

Currently, ORYX scripting is only able to script within ORYX functionality.  This was done to enhance product stability and reduce unwanted errors - ORYX operates a complex multi-threaded environment, and can be particularly vulnerable to unstable scripts and libraries.

However, the External Script tool can be easily configured to execute a non-ORYX script.  This could be written in VBA, F#, windows shell script, etc.  Although the external script cannot access internal ORYX classes and functions, they can easily be parameterised using standard global variable constructs.

Yes. First ORYX is a desktop tool. There’s no infrastructure to change, just connect it to the network, get permissions to access data and start analysing. Second ORYX is a subscription product, pay the annual fee and use it - there’s no commitment to long term maintenance contracts.

Third ORYX is intuitive to use, there’s no expensive training to go through nor changes to the way your business works.

Accountagility is a new company and ORYX is a new product. Even so we have a number of major banks and financial institutions who have already made a commitment to ORYX and are finding significant improvements in terms of time spent on analysis, quality of analysis and reduction in man hours involved.