
	OLAP


	Home > Data management / BI Definitions - OLAP

SearchDataManagement.com Definitions (Powered by WhatIs.com)

EMAIL THIS

LOOK UP TECH TERMS		Powered by:

Browse tech terms alphabetically:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #

OLAP

Digg This!

StumbleUpon

Del.icio.us

- OLAP (online analytical processing) is computer processing that enables a user to easily and selectively extract and view data from different points of view. For example, a user can request that data be analyzed to display a spreadsheet showing all of a company's beach ball products sold in Florida in the month of July, compare revenue figures with those for the same products in September, and then see a comparison of other product sales in Florida in the same time period. To facilitate this kind of analysis, OLAP data is stored in a multidimensional database. Whereas a relational database can be thought of as two-dimensional, a multidimensional database considers each data attribute (such as product, geographic sales region, and time period) as a separate "dimension." OLAP software can locate the intersection of dimensions (all products sold in the Eastern region above a certain price during a certain time period) and display them. Attributes such as time periods can be broken down into subattributes.

OLAP can be used for data mining or the discovery of previously undiscerned relationships between data items. An OLAP database does not need to be as large as a data warehouse, since not all transactional data is needed for trend analysis. Using Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), data can be imported from existing relational databases to create a multidimensional database for OLAP.

Two leading OLAP products are Hyperion Solution's Essbase and Oracle's Express Server. OLAP products are typically designed for multiple-user environments, with the cost of the software based on the number of users.

LAST UPDATED:

23 Feb 2009

Read more about OLAP:

-	The OLAP Report provides up-to-date information on the OLAP market, applications, and products. It offers additional information for subscribers to its printed publication.

Do you have something to add to this definition? Let us know.
Send your comments to techterms@whatis.com

Digg This!

StumbleUpon

Del.icio.us

RELATED CONTENT

	Greenplum brings data warehousing in the cloud indoors Greenplum's new Enterprise Data Cloud lets customers easily deploy and manage data marts on an internal cloud of commodity hardware, an approach the...
	SearchDataManagement.com product directory library These product directories are designed to assist organizations in evaluating and purchasing data management software
	In-memory technology promises faster, more flexible BI and data analysis In-memory technology could make business intelligence platforms and data warehouses quicker to deploy and easier to use, according to analysts and...

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS

Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary

data modeling (SearchDataManagement.com)
Data modeling is the analysis of data objects that are used in a business or other context and the identification of the relationships among these...

extract, transform, load (SearchDataManagement.com)
In managing databases, extract, transform, load (ETL) refers to three separate functions combined into a single programming tool.

OLAP Research White Papers

SEARCH

TechTarget provides technology professionals with the information they need to perform their jobs - from developing strategy, to making cost-effective purchase decisions and managing their organizations' technology projects - with its network of technology-specific websites, events and online magazines.


TechTarget Corporate Web Site \| Media Kits \| Site Map All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2005 - 2009, TechTarget \| Read our Privacy Policy