THE OLAPOLTP CULTURAL CONFLICT

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THE OLAP/OLTP CULTURAL CONFLICT
FORUM II
Ron Allan Georgetown University
allanr_at_georgetown.edu

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Sean Kelly Required

• A New Mindset
• TV vs Radio

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OLTP

• OnLine Transaction Processing
• Technology of Live Systems
• Stands for Regimes That are
• Tightly Controlled
• Hierarchal
• Schedules
• Milestones
• Deadlines
• Detailed Planning

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OLAP

• OnLine Analytical Processing
• Iterative Approach
• Design is Part of the Process
• Your Done When the User Stops
• Calling

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OLTP CULTURE

• Core Business Systems Have Become
• Larger
• More Powerful
• More Complex
• More Integrated
• Requiring at the Detail Level
• Close Co-ordination
• Conformity
• Minimization of Creativity

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OLTP CULTURE (cont)

• The Technologies are so Complex
• Difficult to Grasp at Detail Level
• Leads to a Culture of
• Planning
• Milestones
• Deadlines
• Providing a Common Vocabulary for Implementers
  and Users
• Wisdom of Secretary Rumsfeld

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OLTP CULTURE (cont)

• Culture of Procedures has Stood the Test of Time
• Forty Year Geometric Expansion of
• Computerized Processes
• Data Stored
• Decomposition of Project Provides Managers with
  a Feeling of Control

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OLTP CULTURE (cont)

• SOME DOWNSIDES
• Techies Regard Procedures as Drudgery
• Breeds a Culture of Control
• Breeds Passive Control
• Experimentation Deemed Inappropriate
• Conflicts with Requirement for Timely
  Decisions

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OLTP CULTURE (cont)

• OLTP PROCESS SUCCESSFUL BECAUSE
• Implementers are Presented With a
  Design!!
• Already Worked Out
• Tested and Refined by Use
• Requiring Little Additional Creativity

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OLAP CULTURE

• Characterized by What It Is Not
• i.e., Not Buttoned Down
• Bite Off Small Parts Partial Projects
• Involved Users Test Results as They Occur
• Smaller the Bites, the More Rapid the
  Adjustments
• Each Partial Project Informs the Next Partial
  Projectand Overall Strategy

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OLAP CULTURE (cont)

• OLAP Projects are Characterized by the Way They
  End
• Battle of Britain
• We Got Up One Day and the Germans Didnt Come
• OLAP Projects are Done When the Phone Stops
  Ringing

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OLAP CULTURE (cont)

• OLAP Approach is Not a Non-Methodology
• Users must Review Designs for Completeness
• Typical Business Questions Must Be Answered
• One Type of Query Not Favored over Another
• Methodology Structured to Permit Evolution of
  Design

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OLAP TECHNOLOGY

• Data Warehousing is an Iterative Process
• The Users Must Be Involved
• OLTP Systems Keep Records
• OLAP Systems Provide Information

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OLAP TECHNOLOGY

• THE FIELD OF DREAMS SCENARIO
• OLAP Systems provide Info for the Non-Routine
  Parts of Users Work
• If an OLAP System is Not Intuitive, Users Wont
  Use It
• Just Because You Build It Doesnt Mean That
  They Will Come

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OLTP vs OLAP

• Give Us Your Requirements
• OLTP Performs Tasks that are
• Structured
• Routine
• OLAP Performs Tasks that are
• Wide in Varity
• Non-specific
• Not Contemplated at Design Time

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OLTP vs OLAP

• OLAP REQUIREMENTS DEVELOPMENT
• Often a Waste of Time
• If Enough is Known to Develop Detailed
  Requirements
• Its Probably not an OLAP Project

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OLTP vs OLAP

• DETAILED PLANNING OF OLAP PROJECTS
• Tends to be Self-Defeating Because
• Planning by Staff and Users Generates New
  knowledge, Which
• Makes Plan Obsolete, Then
• Plan Cant be Revised without Several Meetings

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OLTP vs OLAP

• WORKING TO THE RULE
• Technically Sophisticated Users Reluctant to
  Play, because
• They Fear that IT will Work to the Requirement,
  then
• Declare Victory, and
• Go On to Next Project, Leaving
• User Requirements Met, but
• User Needs Unmet

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OLAPDESIGN ITERATION

• Physical Design is Crucial
• Effective and Robust Design cant be Planned
• It Must be Iterated

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• SEAN KELLY ONCE MORE
• The physical database design for the specific
  industry is THE most Important DW Component.  If
  you dont have a good PHYSICAL DESIGN, NOTHING
  else can make up for it 
• Not the RDBMS engine
• Not the front-end tool
• Not the data extract tool
• Not technical ingenuity
• Not the data loading utilities
• Not more processors
• Not the business vision
• Not even consultants !

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OLAPDESIGN ITERATION

• Concept Well Known in Data Warehouse Community
• Why are so Many Projects Struggling?
• Creeping OLTPization of OLAP Projects

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OLAPTHE HISTORY

• Early Data Warehouse Developers Were Left Alone
• OLTP Managers Assumed it would Fail
• Irrational Desire for Useful Information

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OLAPTHE SUCCESS

• Some Data Warehouse Projects Succeeded
• OLTP Managers Feared DW Success without Their
  Assistance and Worse
• Not Under Their Control
• Doug Hackney Caché Loosened Purse Strings

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OLAPEXECUTIVE SPONSORSHIP

• OLTP Managers Asserted Control by Imposing
  Procedures
• Sean Kelly Executive Sponsorship Means Someone
  Far Enough Up the Hierarchy to Intimidate IT
• Make IT Knock It Off when it Interferes with
  the Iterative Process

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OLAPEND OF RESISTANCE

• Resistance to Kimball Ended about 6 Years Ago
• Accepting Kimball Did Not Lead to Accepting
  OLAP
• Creeping OLTPization
• Hofer Competent Bureaucrats Take Over Control
  the New Paradigm

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OLAPTHE DECLINE

• Decline in the Importance of Intuitiveness
• Early Technical Selling Point Intuitiveness
• De-emphasis on Physical Model
• Decline of Push the Decision Down to Point of
  Impact

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OLAPQUERY TOOL ATTITUDE

• Vendor Accepts Kimball
• Rejects ER Diagram
• Suck Up to IT Departments
• Commoditization of Product
• Emphasis Shifts to Sale of Services

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OLAPWHATS TO BE DONE

• OLTP Mindset will not Go Away
• OLAP Practitioners Must Lead
• OLTP Managers Be Brought to See that OLTP
  Culture is Inappropriate
• Build a Little Give Users a Little

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OLAPBE INFORMED

• Know What You Know
• Dont be Wimpy
• Keep Users Informed
• Keep OLAP Projects in Perspective
• Dont Hype
• Teach Executives the Difference between OLAP
  and OLTP
• Wisdom of Arthur Fonzerelli

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OLAPTHE NEXT GENERATION

• Iterative Process Must Gain Acceptance
• OLTP Managers Must become Comfortable with
  Iteration
• OLAP Leaders will take the Majority of the
  Grief Because
• It is They Who Put the Ball in Play

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• THE END

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• Ron Allan
• Georgetown University
• Phone [phone]
• E-mail allanr_at_georgetown.edu
• http//www.georgetown.edu/users/allanr/