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Assignment 5

The document discusses decision support systems and online analytical processing (OLAP). It defines a decision support system as a computerized program that analyzes large amounts of data to help with decision making. It then describes the characteristics of a decision support system and how it differs from regular operations applications. The document then defines OLAP and explains how it allows analyzing data from multiple databases at once. Finally, it discusses the significance of OLAP in data warehouses, including how it organizes data dimensionally and supports analyzing data from different sources.

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120 views4 pages

Assignment 5

The document discusses decision support systems and online analytical processing (OLAP). It defines a decision support system as a computerized program that analyzes large amounts of data to help with decision making. It then describes the characteristics of a decision support system and how it differs from regular operations applications. The document then defines OLAP and explains how it allows analyzing data from multiple databases at once. Finally, it discusses the significance of OLAP in data warehouses, including how it organizes data dimensionally and supports analyzing data from different sources.

Uploaded by

Hira
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Data warehouse

Assignment no -4

Submitted by : Hira Zafar 21424

FACULTY Khalid Bin Muhammad


DATA WAREHOUSE
ASSIGNMENT NO. 5
What are Decision Support Systems?

A decision support system (DSS) is a computerized program used to support determinations,


judgments, and courses of action in an organization or a business. A DSS sifts through and
analyzes massive amounts of data, compiling comprehensive information that can be used to
solve problems and in decision-making.

Typical information used by a DSS includes target or projected revenue, sales figures or past
ones from different time periods, and other inventory- or operations-related data.

 A decision support system (DSS) is a computerized system that gathers and analyzes
data, synthesizing it to produce comprehensive information reports.
 A decision support system differs from an ordinary operations application, whose
function is just to collect data.
 Decision support systems allow for more informed decision-making, timely problem-
solving and improved efficiency in dealing with issues or operations, planning, and even
management.

Characteristics of a Decision Support System

1. The primary purpose of using a DSS is to present information to the customer in an


easy-to-understand way. A DSS system is beneficial because it can be programmed to
generate many types of reports, all based on user specifications.
2. Since a DSS is essentially an application, it can be loaded on most computer systems,
whether on desktops or laptops.
3. The flexibility of the DSS is extremely beneficial for users who travel frequently. This
gives them the opportunity to be well-informed at all times, providing the ability to
make the best decisions for their company and customers on the go or even on the
spot.
What is OLAP and its significance in Data Warehouse?

OLAP

OLAP is a category of software that allows users to analyze information from multiple database
systems at the same time. It is a technology that enables analysts to extract and view business
data from different points of view. OLAP stands for Online Analytical Processing.

Analysts frequently need to group, aggregate and join data. These operations in relational
databases are resource intensive. With OLAP data can be pre-calculated and pre-aggregated,
making analysis faster.

OLAP databases are divided into one or more cubes. The cubes are designed in such a way that
creating and viewing reports become easy.

Significance of OLAP in Data Warehouse

OLAP’s biggest value lies in its multidimensional approach to organizing and analyzing data.
OLAP breaks down data into dimensions; for example, total sales might be broken into such
dimensions as geography and time.

The geography dimension might contain the levels of country, state, and county, while the time
dimension might be broken down by year, month, and day. Thus, OLAP in a data warehouse
enables companies to organize information in multiple dimensions, which makes it easy for
businesses to understand and use data.

Since OLAP contains multidimensional data usually obtained from different and unrelated
sources, it requires a special method of storing that data. Using a spreadsheet with rows and
columns is good for two-dimensional data, but not for multidimensional data. Instead, OLAP
cubes should be used for that purpose. They are structured in a way that allows for storing
various data types from heterogeneous sources and analyzing it in a logical and orderly manner.

Requirements for the OLAP component of a data warehouse or data mart strategy include:

• The ability to scale to large volumes of data and large numbers of concurrent users

• Consistent, fast query response times that allow for iterative speed-of-thought analysis

• Integrated metadata that seamlessly links the OLAP server and the data warehouse relational
database

• The ability to automatically drill from summary and calculated data, which is managed by the
OLAP server, to detail data stored in the data warehouse relational database

• A calculation engine that includes robust mathematical functions for computing derived data
(aggregations, matrix calculations, cross-dimensional calculations, OLAP-aware formulas and
procedural calculations)

• Seamless integration of historical, projected and derived data

• A multi-user read/write environment to support user’s what-if analysis, modeling and


planning requirements

• The ability to be deployed quickly adopted easily and maintained cost-effectively

• Robust data-access security and user management

• Availability of a wide variety of viewing and analysis tools to support different user
communities.

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