| Title |
Description |
Word Count |
| Company results |
A summary of the latest quarterly
results from public OLAP specialist companies, including a chart
of long term license fee trends |
1212 |
| Data Delivery Agreement |
A guest chapter which reminds
implementers and administrators about what is needed to ensure
than OLAP applications are reliably fed with data |
1275 |
| Database explosion |
One of the strange effects
of multidimensional data is the alarming way that pre-calculations
can grow database sizes. This popular and copiously illustrated
section (which may be slow to download) explains the exploding
database problem and suggests solutions |
4631 |
| DBMS vendors and OLAP |
In just four years, most of
the major database vendors moved from ignoring OLAP to promoting
it aggressively, and the market seemed set to be dominated by
a new ‘OLAP triad’ — but it didn’t happen.
This section analyses their efforts and the consequences |
5339 |
| Dimensions |
There are many possible dimensions
in an OLAP application. This section outlines many of the business
and technical issues to consider with a number of typical dimensions,
including such matters as the introduction of the euro |
8324 |
| Glossary |
The OLAP business has its own
jargon, and it is inevitably affected by all the other IT and
business jargon that abounds. This section attempts to explain
some of the terms in a non-technical way |
3452 |
| How not to buy an OLAP product |
One that the salesmen really
don’t want you to read! This penetrating section gives
you plenty of examples of the mistakes people make when buying
OLAP products and provides solid, practical advice for doing
it quicker and more reliably |
7137 |
| Implementing OLAP products |
Practical advice on selecting
and implementing OLAP products, including both people and technical
considerations |
6749 |
| Market segment analysis |
A fast way to segment products
based on their architectures, plus the OLAP architectural square,
used to ensure shortlists are rational |
1375 |
| Market share analysis |
The latest and previous estimated
market shares of the top seventeen OLAP vendors, and an indication
of the expected trends. Also explains the adjustments that are
required before they can be calculated |
3077 |
| Multidimensional calculations |
Multidimensional calculations
often consist of much more than just aggregation. This section
discusses some of the complications |
2719 |
| Multidimensional data structures |
There is a lot of confusing
terminology used to describe multidimensional structures. This
section clarifies our use of terms like hypercubes and multicubes
|
1403 |
| Multidimensional reporting |
The final value of an OLAP
is delivered through multidimensional reports on screen, paper,
a Web browser or even a pager. This section tells you what to
watch out for amidst all the glitzy demos |
5944 |
| Multi-vendor OLAP APIs |
Until 1998, no attempt to set
a standard OLAP API for servers and clients had succeeded. This
revamped section includes information on the OLAP Council’s
failed efforts, as well as the more successful OLE DB for OLAP,
XML for Analysis and JOLAP |
6881 |
| OLAP administration |
Advice on the key tasks of
maintaining and administering OLAP applications in order to
prolong their lives |
9888 |
| OLAP and spreadsheets —
friends or foes? |
A major new investigation of
the long and complex relationship between OLAP servers and spreadsheets.
This 60+ page all-new section is the largest-ever added to The
OLAP Report. Spreadsheets are not only very popular with end-users
in the own right, but they are also the most popular and successful
OLAP front-end, and there is currently a boom in OLAP Excel
add-ins. This new report is illustrated with 50 screen captures
from 13 different add-ins from vendors in four continents, and
includes mini reviews of four of the best independent Excel
add-ins for Analysis Services |
17583 |
| OLAP Applications |
Describes the main OLAP applications,
and some of the issues that arise with them |
5529 |
| OLAP architectures |
Confusion abounds in discussions
about OLAP architectures, with terms like ROLAP, MOLAP, HOLAP
and even DOLAP proliferating. This section explains the differences
|
2010 |
| OLAP benchmarks |
Provides in-depth analyses
of the 16 benchmark tests published by Applix, Arbor/Hyperion,
Microsoft and MicroStrategy. Includes the only full listing
of APB-1 results available anywhere (including the first Oracle9i
run), an explanation of why the APB-1 is deeply flawed plus
the most complete information available on the T 3project |
21173 |
| OLAP categories |
Practical advice on selecting
and implementing OLAP products, including both people and technical
considerations |
1299 |
| OLAP client/server architectures |
OLAP vendors have used many
different client/server architectures, ranging from one tier
to five. This section describes the strengths and weaknesses
of each |
4845 |
| OLAP in the organization |
OLAP products do not stand
alone. This section considers how OLAP applications related
to operational systems, relational databases, data warehouses,
desktop tools, data mining products and other corporate applications
|
4589 |
| Positioning OLAP products |
A novel way of positioning
OLAP servers and clients, to help decide which is best for you
|
2718 |
| Product variations |
Direct OLAP competitors might
seem superficially similar. Nothing could be further from the
truth. This section compares numerous features of 11 leading
products in the desktop, MDDB, ROLAP and hybrid categories |
3510 |
| Scalability |
Scalability is probably the
single most abused OLAP term. This key section untangles what
it really means and explains why it is meaningless to say that,
“product A scales higher than product B” |
1110 |
| Scoring OLAP products |
We evaluate OLAP products on
a 24 feature scoring system, awarding them points out of 10
for each applicable measure. This section explains the criteria
and helps you use them to choose products that will suit your
needs |
3519 |
| Storing multidimensional data |
A more detailed explanation
of the advantages and disadvantages of the different ways of
storing multidimensional data on disk or in RAM |
7024 |
| The origins of today’s
OLAP products |
Despite the recent hype, OLAP
products go back much further than many people think. This section
reflects on the lessons that can be learned from the 30+ years’
of multidimensional analysis |
2044 |
| Top 21 Tips |
This new section collects together
a wide range of punchy, practical advice (some of which is far
from obvious) for selecting and implementing OLAP products |
2364 |
| What is OLAP? |
OLAP was originally defined
by Dr Codd in terms of 12 rules, later extended to the less
well-known 18 ‘features’. All 18 are analyzed, along
with our preferred ‘FASMI’ test |
3242 |
| What’s in a name? |
The OLAP vendors like to flatter
themselves with carefully chosen words that make them all sound
like leaders. This section shows how they use subtle variations
of the same themes |
799 |
