OLAP

OLAP or OnLine Analytical Processing is an approach to quickly answer ad hoc, analytical queries through an OLAP Analysis Tool. OLAP is part of the broader category of business intelligence (BI). OLAP allows you to access aggregated and organized data from business data sources, such as data warehouses, in a multidimensional structure called a cube.

 

OLAP Analysis is mostly used to analyze and report data from sales, marketing, finance, budgeting and forecasting. Databases configured for OLAP use a multidimensional data model, allowing for complex analytical and ad-hoc queries with a rapid execution time. Typically an OLAP Client Tool or OLAP Browser is used to give managers and other information workers access to the data. With such an OLAP Reporting Tool, you can do ad hoc analysis and create OLAP Reports without having to learn a database query language.