TERM PAPER

CSE303
Management Support System.

TOPIC: - OLAP

B Y: - Manish Kumar.
J 1 8 0 2A10

SUBMITTED TO:-Ms. Rajdeep Kaur.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Before we get into thick of the thing, we would like to add a few heartfelt words for
the people who have been behind this project.
 We would like to voice our sincere thanks giving to Ms. Rajdeep Kaur our Course
Tutor of CSE303, for providing us with such a high potential opportunity. We hope we have
utilized it to the best of your expectation.

In continuance, we would like to mention about our parents. We would like to thank
our parents for their continued encouragement and guidance.

Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to all our classmates for their
constant feedback and support in improving this document and making it more reader
friendly.

Thanking You.

Contents:-
 1. Introduction.

2. Who uses OLAP and Why?

3. Multidimensional view of data.

4. Calculation-intensive capabilities.

5. Time intelligence.

6. Advantages and Disadvantages.

7. Types of OLAP

8. References

Introduction:-

Online analytical processing, or OLAP is an approach to swiftly

answer multi-dimensional analytical queries.OLAP is part of the broader
category of business intelligence, which also encompasses relational
reporting and data mining.Typical applications of OLAP include business
reporting for sales, marketing, management reporting, business process
management (BPM), budgeting and forecasting, financial reporting and
similar areas, with new applications coming up, such as agriculture . The
term OLAP was created as a slight modification of the traditional database
term OLTP (Online Transaction Processing).

Databases configured for OLAP use a multidimensional data model, allowing

for complex analytical and ad-hoc queries with a rapid execution time. They
borrow aspects of navigational databases and hierarchical databases that
are faster than relational databases.

The output of an OLAP query is typically displayed in a matrix (or pivot)

format. The dimensions form the rows and columns of the matrix; the
measures form the values.

Who uses OLAP and Why?

OLAP applications span a variety of organizational functions. Finance

departments use OLAP for applications such as budgeting, activity-based
costing (allocations), financial performance analysis, and financial modeling.
Sales analysis and forecasting are two of the OLAP applications found in
sales departments. Among other applications, marketing departments use
OLAP for market research analysis, sales forecasting, promotions analysis,
customer analysis, and market/customer segmentation. Typical
manufacturing OLAP applications include production planning and defect
analysis.

Important to all of the above applications is the ability to provide managers

with the information they need to make effective decisions about an
organization’s strategic directions. The key indicator of a successful OLAP
application is its ability to provide information as needed, i.e., its ability to
provide “just-in-time” information for effective decision-making. This requires
more than a base level of detailed data.

Just-in-time information is computed data that usually reflects complex

relationships and is often calculated on the fly. Analyzing and modeling
complex relationships are practical only if response times are consistently
short. In addition, because the nature of data relationships may not be
known in advance, the data model must be flexible. A truly flexible data
model ensures that OLAP systems can respond to changing business
requirements as needed for effective decision making. Although OLAP
applications are found in widely divergent functional areas, they all require
the following key features:

1. Multidimensional views of data

2. Calculation-intensive capabilities
3. Time intelligence

Multidimensional views of data

Multidimensional views are inherently representative of an actual

business model. Rarely is a business model limited to fewer than three
dimensions. Managers typically look at financial data by scenario (for
example, actual vs. budget), organization, line items and at sales data by
product, geography, channel, and time.

A multidimensional view of data provides more than the ability to “slice and
dice”; it provides the foundation for analytical processing through flexible
access to information. Database design should not prejudice which
operations can be performed on a dimension or how rapidly those operations
are performed. Managers must be able to analyze data across any
dimension, at any level of aggregation, with equal functionality and ease.
OLAP software should support these views of data in a natural and
responsive fashion,insulating users of the information from complex query
syntax. After all, managers should not have to understand complex table
layouts, elaborate table joins, and summary tables.

Whether a request is for the weekly sales of a product across all

geographical areas or the year-to-date sales in a city across all products, an
OLAP system must have consistent response times. Basic aggregation is
performed on some of the dimensions (product, customer, and channel).
More complex calculations are performed on other dimensions. The measure
dimension computes ratios and averages. Variances are computed along the
scenario dimension. A complex model based on historical performance is
used to compute the forecast scenario. Consistently quick response times to
these kinds of queries are key to establishing a server’s ability to provide
multidimensional views of information.

Calculation-intensive capabilities

The real test of an OLAP database is its ability to perform complex

calculations. OLAP databases must be able to do more than simple
aggregation. While aggregation along a hierarchy is important, there is more
to analysis than simple data roll-ups. Examples of more complex calculations
include share calculations (percentage of total) and allocations(which use
hierarchies from a top-down perspective).

Key performance indicators often require involved algebraic equations. Sales

forecasting uses trend algorithms such as moving averages and percentage
growth. Analyzing the sales and promotions of a given company and its
competitors requires modeling complex relationships among the players. The
real world is complicated – the ability to model complex relationships is key
in analytical processing applications.
Whereas transaction processing systems are judged on their ability to collect
and manage data, analytical processing systems are judged on their ability
to create information from data.

Time intelligence

Time is an integral component of almost any analytical application.

Time is a unique dimension because it is sequential in character (January
always comes before February). True OLAP systems understand the
sequential nature of time. Business performance is almost always judged
over time, for example, this month vs. last month, this month vs. the same
month last year. The time hierarchy is not always used in the same manner
as other hierarchies. For example, a manager might ask to see the sales for
May or the sales for the first five months of 1995. The same manager might
also ask to see the sales for blue shirts but would never ask to see the sales
for the first five shirts. Concepts such as year-to-date and period over period
comparisons must be easily defined in an OLAP system.

In addition, OLAP systems must understand the concept of balances over

time. For example, if a company sold 10 shirts in January, five shirts in
February, and 10 shirts in March, then the total balance sold for the quarter
would be 25 shirts. If, on the other hand, a company had a head count of 10
employees in January, only five employees in February, and 10 employees
again in March, what was the company’s employee head count for the
quarter? Most companies would use an average balance. In the case of cash,
most companies use an ending balance.

Advantage of OLAP

One main benefit of OLAP is consistency of information and

calculations. No matter how much or how fast data is processed through
OLAP software or servers, the reporting that results is presented in a
consistent presentation, so analysts and executives always know what to
look for where. This is especially helpful when comparing information from
previous reports to information contained in new ones and projected future
ones. It avoids the lengthy discussions about who has the correct
information.

"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 pull down data from an OLAP database in broad or specific
terms. In other words, reporting can be as simple as comparing a few lines of
data in one column of a spreadsheet or as complex as viewing all aspects of
a mountain of data.

Also, multidimensional presentation can create an understanding of

relationships not previously realized.

OLAP creates a single platform for all the information and business needs;
planning, budgeting, forecasting, reporting and analysis.

Last but not least, the learning curve to use OLAP is minimal. The most used
interface to analyze data stored in OLAP technology is the well known and
loved spreadsheet.

And all of this, of course, can be done in the blink of an eye.

Disadvantages of OLAP

Small number of data used for support of crucial business-solutions.

Similar process is very slow, as the process of query writing and interpreting
them are durable. It takes many days when the chief solution may be
necessary to make immediately.
The problem of various spheres of activity. An expert in information
technologies (person who prepares the report) and the chief think in different
categories and as a corollary tend not to understand each other.

Complexity of reports for understanding (an absence of visualization).

Lack of time (for chief) to find "significant" numbers.

Types of OLAP

Relational OLAP (ROLAP) –Star Schema based

Considered the fastest growing OLAP technology style, ROLAP or

“Relational” OLAP systems work primarily from the data that resides in a
relational database, where the base data and dimension tables are stored as
relational tables. This model permits multidimensional analysis of data as
this enables users to perform a function equivalent to that of the traditional
OLAP slicing and dicing feature. This is achieved thorough use of any SQL
reporting tool to extract or ‘query’ data directly from the data warehouse.
Wherein specifying a ‘Where clause’ equals performing a certain slice and
dice action.

One advantage of ROLAP over the other styles of OLAP analytic tools is that
it is deemed to be more scalable in handling huge amounts of data. ROLAP
sits on top of relational databases therefore enabling it to leverage several
functionalities that a relational database is capable of. Another gain of a
ROLAP tool is that it is efficient in managing both numeric and textual data. It
also permits users to “drill down” to the leaf details or the lowest level of a
hierarchy structure.

However, ROLAP applications display a slower performance as compared to

other style of OLAP tools since, oftentimes, calculations are performed inside
the server. Another demerit of a ROLAP tool is that as it is dependent on use
of SQL for data manipulation, it may not be ideal for performance of some
calculations that are not easily translatable into an SQL query.

Multidimensional OLAP (MOLAP) –Cube based

Multidimensional OLAP, with a popular acronym of MOLAP, is widely

regarded as the classic form of OLAP. One of the major distinctions of MOLAP
against a ROLAP tool is that data are pre-summarized and are stored in an
optimized format in a multidimensional cube, instead of in a relational
database. In this type of model, data are structured into proprietary formats
in accordance with a client’s reporting requirements with the calculations
pre-generated on the cubes.

This is probably by far, the best OLAP tool to use in making analysis reports
since this enables users to easily reorganize or rotate the cube structure to
view different aspects of data. This is done by way of slicing and dicing.
MOLAP analytic tool are also capable of performing complex calculations.
Since calculations are predefined upon cube creation, this results in the
faster return of computed data. MOLAP systems also provide users the ability
to quickly write back data into a data set. Moreover, in comparison to ROLAP,
MOLAP is considerably less heavy on hardware due to compression
techniques. In a nutshell, MOLAP is more optimized for fast query
performance and retrieval of summarized information.

There are certain limitations to implementation of a MOLAP system, one

primary weakness of which is that MOLAP tool is less scalable than a ROLAP
tool as the former is capable of handling only a limited amount of data. The
MOLAP approach also introduces data redundancy. There are also certain
MOLAP products that encounter difficulty in updating models with
dimensions with very high cardinality.
Hybrid OLAP (HOLAP)

HOLAP is the product of the attempt to incorporate the best features of

MOLAP and ROLAP into a single architecture. This tool tried to bridge the
technology gap of both products by enabling access or use to both
multidimensional database (MDDB) and Relational Database Management
System (RDBMS) data stores. HOLAP systems stores larger quantities of
detailed data in the relational tables while the aggregations are stored in the
pre-calculated cubes. HOLAP also has the capacity to “drill through” from the
cube down to the relational tables for delineated data.

Some of the advantages of this system are better scalability, quick data
processing and flexibility in accessing of data sources.

Web OLAP (WOLAP)

Simply put, a Web OLAP which is likewise referred to as Web-enabled

OLAP, pertains to OLAP application which is accessible via the web browser.
Unlike traditional client/server OLAP applications, WOLAP is considered to
have a three-tiered architecture which consists of three components: a
client, a middleware and a database server.

Probably some of the most appealing features of this style of OLAP are the
considerably lower investment involved, enhanced accessibility as a user
only needs an internet connection and a web browser to connect to the data
and ease in installation, configuration and deployment process.

But despite all of its unique features, it could still not compare to a
conventional client/server machine. Currently, it is inferior in comparison to
OLAP applications which involve deployment in client machines in terms of
functionality, visual appeal and performance.
Desktop OLAP (DOLAP)

Desktop OLAP, or “DOLAP” is based on the idea that a user can

download a section of the data from the database or source, and work with
that dataset locally, or on their desktop. DOLAP is easier to deploy and has a
cheaper cost but comes with a very limited functionality in comparison with
other OLAP applications.

Mobile OLAP (MOLAP)

Mobile OLAP is merely refers to OLAP functionalities on a wireless or

mobile device. This enables users to access and work on OLAP data and
applications remotely thorough the use of their mobile devices.

Spatial OLAP (SOLAP)

With the aim of integrating the capabilities of both Geographic

Information Systems (GIS) and OLAP into a single user interface, “SOLAP” or
Spatial OLAP emerged. SOLAP is created to facilitate management of both
spatial and non-spatial data, as data could come not only in an alphanumeric
form, but also in images and vectors. This technology provides easy and
quick exploration of data that resides on a spatial database.

References:-
• http://www.olap.com/w/index.php/Types_of_OLAP_Systems
• http://www.olap.com/w/index.php?title=Special
%3ASearch&ns0=1&ns4=1&search=disadvantage&fulltext=Advanced
+search
• Management support system By:- James’O’Brain
• www.1keydata.com/datawarehousing/concepts.html
• www.realmagick.com/olap-types-of-olap
• searchcrm.techtarget.com/tip/Types-of-OLAP-servers