10. Leveraging the Power of OLAP Cubes

In this Chapter

Defining OLAP? 171

Benefits of OLAP Cubes 171

Introduction to Data Warehouses and OLAP Cubes 172

Connecting to an OLAP Cube 175

Working with an OLAP Pivot Table 178

Comparing OLAP Cubes’ Pivot Tables to Excel Data 181

Other Considerations When Using OLAP Cubes 183

Defining OLAP?

OLAP is short for Online Analytical Processing. It is a category of tools that allow data analysts to analyze multidimensional data.

An OLAP server is a tool that sits between the data warehouse and your computer. The OLAP server understands how data is organized in the database and has special functions for aggregating and presenting that data.

Common OLAP servers include products such as Essbase from Hyperion and ...

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