I can’t seem to find the original Hugh McLeod quote Andrew Fryer is referring to, but here is how it goes anyway:
On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) is actually about business, it just sounds like a science project.
This potential confusion is one more hint that this field (multidimensional modeling and analysis but really Business Intelligence in general) requires both technical skills and business acumen. Probably just another argument in favor of Business Intelligence Competency Centers…
Still on the OLAP front, a new (beta) version of Palo is available. Wikipedia has a short summary:
Palo is a memory resident multidimensional (OLAP or MOLAP) database server [...] typically used as a Business Intelligence tool for Controlling and Budgeting purposes with Microsoft Excel as a user interface. Beyond the multidimensional data concept, Palo enables multiple users to share one centralised data storage (”Single version of the truth“).
There’s a (somewhat old) discussion thread here. I only played 10 minutes with it - it seems to offer many interesting features. You can also apparently connect Palo and Microsoft Analysis Services using software from Cubeware.
