What is OLAP?

OLAP stands for

OnLine Analytical Processing” 

It is the most powerful and exciting business technology available for real-time decision making.

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Download the OLAP 101 eBook

This book offers context for newbies to OLAP technology. Learn where OLAP came from and how it developed into the Business Intelligence technology we know today.

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Download the eGuide OLAP and BI Terms

A quick reference guide to commonly used Business Intelligence and OLAP words. Keep up with the techie talk with this handy reference.

 Our Recent Blog Posts

Infographic: Why BI is Key for Competitive Advantage

Infographic: Why BI is Key for Competitive Advantage

A great infograhic from the Master of Science in Computer Information Systems program at Boston University.  The BU researchers focused on: growth of business intelligence, management of data, decision-making and budgeting.  Enjoy!   {Originally posted...

Big Data Collection: What’s in it for Me?

Big Data Collection: What’s in it for Me?

Many of us stand to benefit from certain types of big data collection. In the medical field, big data can be applied in numerous ways, for example: predictive modeling for R&D, enhancing clinical trial design, or conducting Comparative Effectiveness Research...

How Excel-Friendly BI Teaches Business Analytics

How Excel-Friendly BI Teaches Business Analytics

By Bill Tastle, our newest OLAP.com contributor As a Professor at an AACSB accredited business school, I am responsible for preparing  business students who are eager to enter the marketplace upon graduation. Naturally,  I spend a lot of time researching about what...

3 Reasons Everything in Business is About to Change

3 Reasons Everything in Business is About to Change

There are three important patterns happening in the world that will ultimately change business in fundamental ways: where it is done, how it is done, and who does it.  An article from McKinsey Quarterly, Management Intuition for the Next 50 Years, documents these...

2 Questions to Ask about Your BI Project

2 Questions to Ask about Your BI Project

If you are considering a Business Intelligence Project, there are two questions you should consider.  These questions will help you pinpoint what exactly you may need to do with your BI project, as opposed to simply getting "analytics" or "implementing a BI tool"....

Constructing an Optimized Project Performance Management Solution

Constructing an Optimized Project Performance Management Solution

With the World Cup over–and what a great final match it was!–Brazilians (once they get over their team’s collapse) will surely refocus on the huge overruns in  cost and un-readiness of the building projects associated with the event. The projects you manage may not...

Hand drawing an upward arrow labeled 'Productivity.'

 Follow OLAP Tutorials

Exercises with a real OLAP product will teach you about Business Intelligence and OLAP basics.

These tutorials give you a chance to get hands on with data modeling and analysis with access to actual software and step-by-step instructions.   To follow these tutorials as they are intended, please first download the Free OLAP and Business Intelligence software provided by our sponsors at PARIS Tech.

OLAP Tutorials

 Learn about Types of OLAP Systems

Read about different types of OLAP and what is new in the market now.

First there was ROLAP, and then MOLAP, and Hybrid systems as well as in-memory systems.  Read about what defines different systems, their limitations and what is trending in the OLAP and Business Intelligence market now.

Types of OLAP

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Download the World Cup Analysis eBook

This eBook takes it beyond just business, showing what can be done with OLAP technology with any kind of data. In this case, it’s sports data, applying OLAP technology to World Cup data.