Online Analytic Process: OLAP Cubes

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Online Analytic Process OLAP Cubes

• Business Value, How They Are Made, Possible
  Future Sentai Cubes

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What is Cubic OLAP Analyses?

• Converting vast volumes of flat data into
  meaningful aggregates (summaries)
• Is a very large interactive snapshot of data.
• The cube term is used to describe the common
  choice of six data dimensions to be measured.

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The Business Value of OLAP

• Executive Trend Analyses
• Higher-level analysis of national- and
  international-level data over years
• Identifying Outliers and Exceptions to Trends
• See weaker vs. stronger performers compared side
  by side
• Input to Strategic Planning
• See state of the nation level data from a
  50,000 ft perspective
• Audit Reporting
• Examine flat file logs cubes are good tools for
  finding those outliers
• Pinpoint violations quickly

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Demonstration of OLAP

• Cognos 8 Analysis Studio
• Cognos 7 Powerplay

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So How Exactly Do You Make an OLAP Cube?

• Its not rocket science, but there are many
  technical steps.
• Business Step defining hierarchies and
  parent-child relationships
• Technical Step 1 Trax/P2 exporting to flat file.
• Technical Step 2 Using a transformation tool to
  define the cube dimensions.
• Technical Step 3 Publish the data to the data
  server.
• Technical Step 4 Repeatedly update the data at
  appropriate intervals.

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Making an OLAP Cube Definition

• Here is a walkthrough of the steps to do this in
  Cognos 7 and 8

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Next Steps for Sentai and Cubes

• So many possible standard cubes we could release.
• Collect user input on what will have the most
  universal value for our Sentai Users
• Elevate Sentai Users to Trax 6.3.5 and Cognos 8
  BI

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Quiz

• Describe at least 1 Business Value of using cubic
  data analysis
• Describe at least two steps involved with OLAP
  cube creation