OLAP Tutorial

OLAP cube, What is OLAP, ROLAP, MOLAP, OLAP tools, Reporting

This tutorial provides you with an understanding of the OLAP concepts. It is just a primer, giving basic understanding and concepts related to OLAP. Also some focus will be given on leading OLAP softwares.

"On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) is a category of software technology that enables analysts, managers and executives to gain insight into data through fast, consistent, interactive access to a wide variety of possible views of information that has been transformed from raw data to reflect the real dimensionality of the enterprise as understood by the user"

OLAP functionality is characterized by dynamic multi-dimensional analysis of consolidated enterprise data supporting end user analytical and navigational activities including:

• calculations and modeling applied across dimensions, through hierarchies and/or across members
• trend analysis over sequential time periods
• slicing subsets for on-screen viewing
• drill-down to deeper levels of consolidation
• reach-through to underlying detail data
• rotation to new dimensional comparisons in the viewing area