Re: On the subject of Data Warehouses, Data Cubes & OLAP....

"DataMan" <dataman_at_ev1.net> wrote in message news:vpdad0mimma52e_at_corp.supernews.com...
>
> Most OLTP systems do support the information requested. It's just very
 difficult
> to retrieve.

That is a remarkable and very interesting assertion. What can you offer to support such a remarkable assertion?

> Additionally when the business requires enterprise level reporting
> across the various functional applications, a warehouse becomes a
 necessity.
> You know the scene, large company with 10 different order entry systems
> for each functional area of the company (i.e. cost center). One for small
> biz, one for consumer, one for z product, one for y product, etc. And of
> course there was never any upfront effort by a data management
 organization
> to ensure consistent representation of enterprise level entities. So you
> end up with a hodge podge set of data that must be abstracted to make
 consistent
> within a DW environment. And since you're already there go ahead and put
> it in a dimensional format so somebody can understand it and easily pull
> data/reports.

What exactly is a dimensional format? How does it differ from relational representation? How or why can it improve understanding? How have you measured this improved understanding? What features does it provide that facilitate reporting?

> Welcome to the fortune 500.
>
> Stephan Eggermont <stephan_at_stack.nl> wrote:
> >In comp.databases.olap John Keeley <duvinrouge_at_servihoo.com> wrote:
> >> Stuart,
> >>
> >> The great irony in all this is there is little rationality in the
> >> decision to buy decison support systems, when rationality is what a
> >> decision support system is all about.
> >
> >Well, most decision support systems are bought because someone feels
> >he doesn't have enough control over what is going on in the
> >business. An interesting question to ask that someone is why the
> >current systems don't provide the needed information, and how the
> >decision to build/buy them was taken. I haven't seen much rationality
> >there.
> >
> >Stephan
>
Received on Wed Oct 22 2003 - 19:13:55 CEST