Breaking out of the OLAP Lock Box
June 20, 2008
For many years OLAP cubes have been the mainstay of the most successful business intelligence offerings. OLAP offered almost instant access to the key business measures at the key ‘pulse points’ which determine the success or failure of your business, these can then be intuitively analysed according to the ‘business dimensions’ defined.
OLAP offered speed of response and business friendly information, when compared to ‘query by example’ offerings which were little more than simplified SQL the ability to analyse business performance and drill further into the detail to determine the root cause of good or bad performance at the macro level could add immediate value to any business.
The massive value add of OLAP technology encouraged a proprietary approach to the storage and access of data which inhibited the spread of OLAP based solutions, as a result these became the preserve of specialists rather than becoming fully embedded in the business.
The development and promotion of the OLE DB for OLAP standard represented the first step of many required to open up OLAP to allow it to become simply another source of data to be consumed by the myriad of available tools. However adoption was not widespread and many end user tools remain firmly based on the ODBC standards.
The convergence of Business Intelligence data and XML, which is expressed in the XML for Analysis standard (XML/A), makes the prospect of seamlessly integrating OLAP data into standard business reporting a viable prospect.
Conventionally integrating the information held in OLAP cubes, even those which conform to the existing standards, requires specialised tools or advanced skills (MDX, COM etc.). XML/A offers a way to quickly and easily integrate OLAP data from any of these providers into your existing reporting environment:
- Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (MSAS)
- SAP BW Infocubes
- Hyperion’s Essbase
The key benefit of OLAP analysis to a business is the ability to quickly analyse information over time and according to a set of pre-defined business dimensions. This delivers focused value added information directly to business users.
Evolving standards may soon make the original promise of OLAP a reality for all.
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