Brief introduction in OLAP

OLAP since when?

The term On Line Analytical Processing dates from 1993. It was introduced by E.F. Codd, the father of relational databases. Since then a multitude of new acronyms have flourished, which go from ROLAP to MOLAP via DOLAP. The glossary covers all of these terms.

The OLAP rules

Originally, 12 OLAP rules were defined to characterize this technology. OLAP products tend to conform to these. The 12 rules are as follows:

• Multidimensional model
• Transparency of the server
• Accessibility
• Stable access performance
• Client server architecture
• Generic Dimensionality
• Management of data sparsity
• Multi-user
• Operation on dimension
• Intuitive manipulation of data
• Flexible posting and editing
• Multiple dimensions and levels

OLAP for what?

OLAP technology can be used in a large number of areas:

• Sales analysis and marketing: The favorite area. The example that we have looked at here is often the departure point for applications of this type. You study the volume of sales by product, region and time.
• Data consolidation: Directly uses one of the attributes of OLAP .
• Decision Support: Trying to forecast the changes in income and expenditure.
• Quality of Service analysis.

OLAP for whom?

All managers should be interested in OLAP:

• Thanks to being able to study consolidated data, commercial managers can compare actual performance with present and past budgets by product, client and channel.
• Thanks to the high volume of stored data, product managers or technicians can study volumes and ratios on a daily basis, or uncover problems by means of exception reporting.