Topmost executives of an organization are really interested in aggregated facts or numbers to take decisions rather than querying several databases (that are normalized) to get the data and do the comparison by themselves. OLAP tools visualize the data in an understandable format, like in the form of Scorecards and Dashboards with Key Performance Indicators enabling managers to monitor and take immediate actions. In today’s business life, OLAP plays a vital role by assisting decision makers in the field of banking and finance, hospitals, insurance, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals etc., to measure facts across geography, demography, product, and sales.
OLAP can be performed in data warehouses that undergo frequent updates and that do not. Following are some of the examples to show how OLAP solves complex queries involving facts to be measured across company’s best-interested dimensions.
- Comparison of sales (fact) of a product (dimension) over years (dimension) in the same region (dimension).
- How may members (fact) have opened a savings account (dimension), in USA branch (dimension), over a period (dimension)?
- How many mortgage loans (fact) have been approved in fixed mortgage (dimension) or Adjustable Rate Mortgage (dimension) in New York City (dimension), over a period (dimension)?
- What is the total sales value (fact) of a particular product (dimension) in a particular grocery store (dimension), over a period (dimension)?
- What is the amount spent (fact) for a particular product promotion (dimension) in a particular branch (dimension) or in a particular city (dimension), over a period (dimension)?
