OLAP- A Better, Faster Tool for
Data Analysis
Mike Sawyer
DBM405
Stephen Jones
August 8, 2005


Raw data collected and maintained in a database is meaningless, unless it is assembled and analyzed in some fashion. One technology that has been designed to do just that is called OLAP. OLAP stands for OnLine Analytical Processing, and is defined different ways by different sources.
Webopedia.com defines OLAP as "…a category of software tools that provides analysis of data stored in a database." This simple definition tells us that there are multiple components to OLAP, and that it is used specifically for analyzing data that is maintained in a database. So what is it?
SDG Computing has a better way of describing it; they liken OLAP to "…A million spreadsheets in a box". They state that OLAP is really a spreadsheet program that allows an individual to examine data from multiple perspectives. It allows someone to view the requested data, and ask for different views......

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Title: Olap
Approximate Word Count: 771
Approximate Pages: 4 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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