The Great OLAP Debate! TM1, PowerPlay & DMRs April 29, 2011

Panel Presenters Michael Langton Scott Luck-Baker Mike Roberts Pedro Mendoza

Panel Debate Format  Each one of the panelists will present evidence that their approach is the best way to handle OLAP reporting  Your job as a participant is to ask questions to challenge each OLAP approach …

Goals For Session  IBM provides several options for OLAP reporting  Does one size fit all?  We will review each technology:  Description  Product Background  Key Functionality  Business Use Case “Sweet Spot”  Usage Notes, Design and Deployment Considerations

IBM TM1

IBM TM1 - Overview  Developed in the late 80’s as a backend for spreadsheets  Multi-dimensional database designed to simplify complex spreadsheets and separate the data from the formulas  TM1 cubes are essentially collections of business hierarchies (dimensions); numeric and text data can be stored at the intersections of every dimension element  TM1 cubes sit in RAM so that data consolidation and formulas (cube rules) are performed in “real-time”  TM1 clients include Excel, TM1Web, Contributor (for workflow), Executive Viewer, and Cognos BI

TM1 Web

TM1 Contributor

Executive Viewer

IBM TM1 - Sweet Spot  TM1 is designed for the WRITEBACK of numeric and text data  It is ultimately flexible and models can be built from a variety of data and meta-data sources to hold almost any type of data  TM1 includes a rule language for writing complex formulas into your model; rules are evaluated in real-time for instant feedback  Non-technical users can perform administrative/modeling tasks via wizards, drag & drop actions, or using customizable buttons through the web  Users can slice & dice cube views, and drill through to further levels of detail

IBM TM1 - Usage Cases  Replacing Excel as a planning tool  Slicing & dicing aggregated data  Comparing apples to apples  Processes that require manual entry  Processes that require real-time feedback/calculations  Processes that require workflow/security  What-if analysis / Driver-based planning  New ways of rolling up your data  Anywhere non-technical users need to build reports, add/remove elements, launch imports/exports

IBM Cognos PowerPlay

IBM Cognos PowerPlay- Overview  Originally developed by Cognos in 1989  PowerPlay Transformer is used to define OLAP cube structures and building static “cubes” for analysis or reporting, usually on a scheduled basis  PowerPlay Cubes contain summarized data organized into dimensions and measures, can be built from very large datasets and are highly optimized for data retrieval  PowerPlay Cubes can be viewed via the web (Analysis Studio, Query Studio, Report Studio, C10 Biz Insight/Advanced) or via a full client (PowerPlay Client, CAFÉ Excel)

IBM Cognos PowerPlay- Sweet Spot  Ideal where users have large datasets that require flexible summarization and reporting options, as opposed to a list of canned reports  Transformer provides advanced multi-dimensional model support and varied data sources (via Framework Manager), incremental refresh options, alternate drill paths, automatic category counts, time-based and volume-based partitioning strategies  Non-technical users can explore data through simple click and drag operations and can gain insight through functions such as rank, sort, nesting and calculations  Users can drill from cube-to-cube or cube-to-database

IBM Cognos PowerPlay- Usage Cases  Great for sales, marketing and financial analysis  Users have large datasets, possibly in an existing database or across multiple sources  Users or IT want “self serve” analysis capabilities  Users want “zero footprint”  Users have no interest in budgeting or planning  Users don’t need real time reporting  Users don’t need to report on “non-dimensional data” elements  Warning: Prone to User Misuse (esp. in S7)

DMR Framework Designs

DMR Framework Designs - Overview  Introduced in Cognos 8  Uses Framework Manager to model Relational Data to appear “like a cube”  Model can be used in Analysis Studio and Report Studio Express

Define Regular Dimensions  Consists of one or more user-defined hierarchies  Each hierarchy consists of  levels  keys  captions  attributes

Edit DMR in the Dimension Map  View, create, or modify:  regular or measure dimensions  hierarchies or levels  scope relationships

What the Authors See Dimension Hierarchy Level Member Child members Report Studio Data Tree

DMR Framework Designs - Sweet Spot  You do not need another application to build cubes  No need to wait while cube is being built  Data changes in the underlying tables are immediately available  Complex security rules can be created in one place (Framework Manager)  Define multiple Hierarchies for a Dimension  Define as many member attributes as you want

DMR Framework Designs - Usage Cases  Implement Drill Up/Down in reports without cubes  Analysis of Real-time data or data that would take too long to build into a cube  Models that have complex business rules that would be difficult to implement in a cube  Solutions where security is defined at the database level

DMR – Deployment Considerations  Aggregations are not stored in a cube. They are calculated from detail every time a report or analysis is run.  Performance is dependent on good hardware and design  Databases must be optimized to maximize performance  It may be necessary to employ a form of database vendor materialization to improve performance  DMR packages are usually built on top of existing FM models and are deployed the same way.

DMR – Design Considerations Design for Performance  Physical data should be in star schemas to minimize complex joins  Create summary tables to avoid aggregating on the fly  Model for high level analyses and rely on drill-through reports to give detail  DMR works best with small narrow dimensions rather than large wide dimensions  Build on top of a good well-designed relational Framework.  Build mandatory filters into your model to ensure that end users do not accidentally retrieve excessively large data sets

Panel Debate