Reviews for OLAP Solutions: Building Multidimensional Information Systems

1. Fundamental Olap principles

   Rated 4 out of 5 stars, December 12th, 2007

   I was impressed by the quality of this book; this is probably the most complete book on OLAP theory and is a fundamental reading for professionals involved in the design of olap systems. In most cases it gives all the details and information needed to master this technology. It also contains some practical examples that are very useful to see how the theory can be applied in the real world.
   I didn't read the first edition, but the second edition contains new sections and many updates, like a description of SQL-99 OLAP extensions.
   The author chose to be vendor-independent, so all practical examples are based on a multidimensional language that he created, called Located Contents (LC). However, when I read it I had already used a couple of OLAP tools (Microsoft Analysis Services and Microstrategy), and I think that this helped me understand many of the concepts contained in the book.

2. A must read for anybody involved in Olap design

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, September 12th, 2002

   A book which gives you a comprehensive theoretical foundation together with useful, pratical techniques to design Olap solutions.
   In the first half of the book the author explains you all you need to think clearly in N dimensions, in the second half he guides you through the design of a rather complex application, stepping into the purchasing process, the material inventory analysis, sales & marketing, and activity-based management. He teaches you using maieutics, Socrates' way of teaching, via a dialogue between two designers. This way, a lot of questions that usually arise during real-life development are examined and solved.
   Whilst the examples in the first edition of this book were based on TM1, in this second edition they are written using a vendor-independent language, called LC (Located contents), which provides you with a solid, logically based foundation to multidimensional design.
   The vendor languages, like those used by Microsoft Analysis Services (MDX), Applix TM1, Oracle Express and Hyperion Essbase, are kind of Plato's shadows in the cavern of this ideal language (which is sort of a tautology for MS Plato...), so if you start thinking in LC, you'll be able to work with all of these products.
   Ideal complements to this book, if you use Microsoft Analysis Server, are "MDX Solutions" by George Spofford, and "Microsoft Olap Solutions", by Thomsen (again!), Spofford and Chase.

3. A key reource for building an intelligent enterprise

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, June 12th, 1998

   OLAP technology enables a data analyst to view information in multiple dimensions, e.g., sales by territory by saleperson, by quarter. This is the definitive book on how OLAP works.