Business growth leads to a need for sophisticated data processing methods, such as OLAP (On Line Analytical Processing), which allows for multidimensional calculations and consistent reporting. OLAP software vendors include Oracle, IBM, and Hyperion Solutions.
One of the effects of business growth is a mountain of data that needs to be produced, stored, tracked and interpreted. A growing business needs sophisticated data processing methods. One of the ways businesses do this is by using OLAP.
OLAP stands for On Line Analytical Processing, a set of protocols used primarily for business reporting. Using OLAP, businesses can analyze data in many different ways, including budgeting, planning, simulation, data warehouse reporting, and trend analysis. A major component of OLAP is its ability to perform multidimensional calculations, allowing for a wide and very fast range of possibilities. Also, the larger the company, the greater the business reporting needs. Multidimensional calculations allow a large company to complete in seconds what it would otherwise have taken a matter of minutes to receive.
One of the main advantages of OLAP is the consistency of calculations. Regardless of how quickly data is processed via OLAP server or software, the resulting report is presented in a consistent presentation, so executives always know what to look for and where. This is especially useful when comparing information from previous reports with information contained in new and anticipated future reports. “What if” scenarios are some of the most popular uses of OLAP software and are made eminently more possible by multidimensional processing.
Another benefit of multidimensional data presentation is that it allows a manager to extract data from an OLAP database in broad or specific terms. In other words, reporting can be as simple as comparing a few rows of data in one column of a spreadsheet or as complex as visualizing all aspects of a mountain of data. Additionally, multidimensional presentation can create an understanding of previously unrealized relationships. All of this, of course, can be done in the blink of an eye.
Vendors of OLAP software are familiar, including Oracle, IBM and Hyperion Solutions. Oracle, which has a reputation for being different, refers to OLAP software as Business Intelligence. IBM and Hyperion Solutions, who want to stay consistent with industry standards, call their software OLAP.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
