Online Analytical Processing

What is OLAP?

OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) is a technology used for data analysis from multiple databases or sources including data captured by OLTP applications. OLAP uses complex queries involving aggregations to analyze data to support decision-making.

What is the importance of OLAP?

OLAP offers centralized access and view of all captured data to both business users and IT teams. It is used by enterprises to extract and view data from multiple data sources across functions. It provides fast and interactive exploration ad-hoc exploration, comparison, and analysis of data, regardless of database size and complexity. It derives data for analysis purposes by applying analytical operations such as ratios, cumulative totals, trends, and allocations across dimensions and across hierarchical levels.

What are the benefits of OLAP?

• OLAP offers a flexible, self-service reporting and analysis system for business users.
• It is useful in analyzing business-focused multidimensional data.
• It also makes data analysis faster and aids in problem-solving.