Robin SchumacherOLAP for DummiesCognos NovaView offers help to OLAP novices
As business sophistication continues to grow, enterprise decision makers are increasingly demanding that data used to determine important business situations be delivered in new and flexible formats. Users must be able to view information at both the global and corporate levels and dissect and drill down into different levels of that information, which may include geographical territories, product lines, and business units. Such requests are not new; however, the speed at which users receive the data is now critical to keeping a leg up on increasing competition. Furthermore, the information must be as up-to-the-minute as possible so users can make decisions with as much knowledge as possible. Corporate facts and figures such as these have been around (even in the days of flat-file systems), but they were not readily accessible to those who needed them the most. Times have changed, however, and now technology has pushed the data-at-the-fingertips concept up the corporate ladder. Although relational databases have reigned supreme in the database arena for some time, newer online analytical processing (OLAP) engines, such as those from Hyperion Solutions Corp. and Oracle, have just begun to make inroads into the data analysis storage area. And now, with the release of Microsoft’s SQL Server 7.0 database, which bundles the Redmond software giant’s OLAP Services toolset, the potential for multidimensional database technology to reach the masses has just increased significantly. Still, having an OLAP engine is one thing, but getting data out of it and into a usable format is another. As OLAP databases become more popular, the need for easy-to-use interfaces in such products as Microsoft’s OLAP Services increases in importance. Surprisingly, many of the major third-party database players have been slow to deliver in this area, but the release of SQL Server 7.0 has brought more OLAP products out into the light. Now Cognos Corp. — a company that has been at the forefront of data delivery — has incorporated NovaView, its OLAP interface, into Microsoft’s engine. I was able to review the 1.0 release of the Cognos NovaView client (an administrator component is also available) and tested the product on a Pentium 200MHz Windows NT 4.0 workstation loaded with 128MB of RAM. In terms of prerequisites, the product uses Microsoft’s OLAP Services as its OLAP engine, so it should already be installed and the accompanying NT service running. The NovaView installation was quite easy, and it took about five minutes to complete. My installation consumed a little over 18MB of hard-disk space. When invoked, the product initially took up about 13MB of memory, then hovered at around 19MB of RAM when running an application. Upon initial execution, NovaView displays a demonstration application that can familiarize users with the tool (see Figure 1). As in other, similar OLAP graphical interfaces, NovaView presents information in the familiar crosstab formats as well as various graphs. The tool uses internal “views” to display the data from the multidimensional cubes, and their crosstab or graphical representations are quite modifiable in terms of data positioning and exterior cosmetics. Drag and drop abilities abound in the product as does the capacity to view and edit dimensions and members. Termed “slicers” in NovaView, these boxes, which may be hidden or displayed in the main work area, let you easily access the underlying data shown in the views.
Antagonists of OLAP databases and their accompanying front ends contend that a high-powered relational engine flanked by a strong DSS crosstab reporting tool can mirror the same results produced in these toolsets. And there is no doubt that there are many companies doing just that. But for true OLAP work, the RDBMS and crosstab marriage sometimes falls short of desired results. This is where the combination of a tool such as NovaView and Microsoft’s OLAP Services comes into play. Positioning and manipulating data within NovaView begins by creating an application, which is used to serve as a type of company container for various business units or areas of analysis interest (called “domains” within NovaView). Information within domains is organized in what the tool calls “binders,” which are collections of NovaView’s views sharing a common theme. This hierarchical approach to OLAP management works quite well, and it is easy to use and implement. The only thing lacking in this approach is the absence of any wizard-driven processes to set up a NovaView application. Some users like wizards in toolsets, and some don’t. But such a methodology could work well in a product such as this one, and especially in such an area as OLAP, which is new to most IS professionals. NovaView is quite rich on features and boasts an array of OLAP options that should satisfy most decision analysts. A comprehensive set of analytical functions is available for NovaView users, including mathematical, statistical, financial, and typical multidimensional operations. Capabilities outside of numerical manipulation include the all-important OLAP navigational features — drill down and up and pivot — and impressive search and sort functions. When views within the tool include both charts and crosstab reports, drilling down into either the crosstab or chart caused both reporting views to refresh.
Navigating NovaView in this manner was easy and quite intuitive. Ease of use is paramount in sophisticated toolsets such as NovaView, and the engineers behind the GUI interface of the product really knew what they were doing. Those accustomed to “right-clicking” their way through chart or report-style presentations and choosing the object’s accompanying options will have no trouble working with NovaView. I was able to quickly drill up and through dimensions with no trouble and had little difficulty locating detailed information on any defined views. In terms of security, NovaView gives the end user the ability to lock views, which limits the amount of activity users may perform on them. There is little difference between working with a locked or unlocked view; however, a locked view ensures that the data is secure, the displayed information cannot be changed, and only minimal navigation is allowed. One other advanced feature in which developers may be interested is the drill-through feature, which users can implement using Microsoft Visual Basic or Visual C++. Users may create drill-through, add-in functions in Visual Basic or Visual C++ by implementing the drill-through interface that comes with NovaView. Users may use other development tools in lieu of Microsoft’s tools, as long as the capability to create ActiveX controls or executables is present. I experienced no crashes or abnormal terminations when using Cognos’s OLAP product. The speed at which data was delivered to and from the tool was impressive, and no hang-ups of any type occurred.
As OLAP becomes more mainstream and increases in popularity, the need for excellent interfaces into multidimensional databases will increase as well. Companies testing the OLAP waters with Microsoft’s new OLAP Services engine should certainly include NovaView in their software reviews.
Robin Schumacher is a senior DBA for Louisville Gas & Electric Co. in Louisville, Ky. He is also a database software consultant and author of a book on corporate software development. You can reach him via email at robins@ka.net. |
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