For those of you familiar with “cubes”, the idea of being able to report on data in any combination of a multitude of dimensions (time, geography, team, etc) is very familiar.
Such analysis is usually carried out by some form of multi-dimensional business intelligence (BI) software tool, usually termed OLAP (OnLine Analytical Processing).
Handling a lot of data in multiple dimensions can take a computer a lot of time. For those of you who need answers quickly, the way the data is handled is of crucial importance. As disk and database access is typically relatively slow in a computer, in-memory tools typically outperform those that are disk-based.
Here’s an interesting summary of the position in August 2010, and the history getting here
On a more practical note BIOLAP, the UK distributor of one of the earliest OLAP systems mentioned in this article, has quickly jumped on the need for local authorities to disclose all their expenditure over £500, by providing a free “Expenses Dashboard”. Some 22 local councils have already signed up. For those in business, such analysis can also be valuable. BIOLAP can be contacted here.
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Helpful information Chris, thanks for putting it together. Think I will need to make some training plans for 2011 to get myself up to speed.
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