Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) is a category of software tools that provides analysis of data stored in a database, optimized for querying and reporting. OLAP tools enable users to analyze different dimensions of multidimensional data stored for rapid access. For example, it provides time series and trend analysis views.
Online analytical processing (OLAP) is an approach to swiftly answer multi-dimensional analytical (MDA) queries. OLAP is part of the broader category of business intelligence, which also encompasses relational reporting and data mining.
The term OLAP was created as a slight modification of the traditional database term OLTP (Online Transaction Processing). OLAP is a technology that is optimized for querying and reporting, instead of transaction processing. The source data for OLAP is Online Transactional Processing (OLTP) databases that are commonly stored in data warehouses. OLAP data is derived from this historical data, and aggregated into structures that permit sophisticated analysis.
OLAP technologies are used for organizing large business databases and support business intelligence. The OLAP databases are divided into one or more cubes designed the way data is retrieved and analyzed.
Business Intelligence and OLAP
Business Intelligence(BI) helps the business to see the big picture based on the aggregated data, broken down on by any number of variables. Business Intelligence extracts data from OLAP and then analyze it. In this way the business can answer questions like "How do the total sales of all products for 2007 compare with the total sales from 2006?".
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