Database Reference
In-Depth Information
C H A P T E R 13
Slice and Dice:
Ad Hoc Analytics
The term slice and dice has been a synonym for business intelligence (BI) and
probably predates that term. With the advent of online analytical processing
(OLAP) tools, business users became able to manipulate large data sets, and
apply summaries such as
SUM
and
COUNT
across custom groupings in real-
time—this capability is what is known as
slice and dice
. A better term is really
ad hoc analytics
because slice and dice was originally used purely for tabular
data, and later advances mean that more graphical visualizations can also
be interrogated in the same manner. In this chapter, you will learn about the
different types of ad hoc analysis and explore the value of each of the tools.
olAP
OLAP stands for online analytic processing to distinguish it from
online
transaction processing
(OLTP) and batch based analysis. The term was first
coined by Edgar F. Codd in 1993. Microsoft joined the market in 1998 with
Analysis Services and today has the biggest market share in OLAP. Later
technologies, such as the column-store database used in PowerPivot and
Analysis Services Tabular are not OLAP, but are presented in a very similar
way to front-end tools to maintain backward compatibility.
