TABULUS® vs. other OLAP solutions
OLAP?
WHAT IS OLAP?
OLAP stands for On Line Analytical Processing. Originally, OLAP was only used for high end enterprise level analysis solutions.
Now, OLAP is commonly used to refer to any multidimensional database used for data analysis. A multidimensional database
creates cubes or tables which are separated by dimensions, or categories. A table can have as many dimensions as you need.
For example, typical dimensions in a cube for sales would include time, geography, channel, organization, scenario (budget
or actual), product, etc. Typical sales information would include dollar sales, unit sales, inventory, headcount, income,
and expense.
To better understand OLAP the example cube below represents the three dimensional data that would be held within a file.
From here you can pull sales information such as the North America Profit Margin % for March.
TABULUS® is an OLAP product, but traditional spreadsheets are not.
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WHY USE OLAP?
OLAP allows several key benefits over spreadsheets which help organize bigger models, and reduce errors. Data is kept in
a database, not in cells, this allows data to be viewed and edited from a variety of locations. Because data is structured,
analysis becomes easier and more reliable. Spreadsheets can only organize data in 2 dimensions, rows and columns. Successful
business decisions are based off of complex data analysis along a number of dimensions. OLAP allows you to slice and dice
data or drill down. Since TABULUS® utilizes OLAP capabilities successful business
decisions can be made.
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WHO USES OLAP?
OLAP is used throughout the business world by many different industries for a variety of applications. An organizational
example would be executives for planning, marketing and accounting for analysis, and sales divisions for reporting. The
more data you have, the more OLAP makes sense. Business performance management, business intelligence, budgeting, forecasting,
financial reporting, and sales tracking are just a few uses. Visit the follow TABULUS®
website page for a snapshot list of Industries, Departments, End Users and Applications.
Who uses TABULUS® and for what?
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WHAT MAKES TABULUS® UNIQUE AMONG OLAP SOLUTIONS?
TABULUS® IS A PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTION, LIKE TRADITIONAL SPREADSHEETS.
Enterprise level OLAP solutions, like Hyperion are server based. What this means is that the data is centrally located and
when changes are made there is no room for error. This is where having the flexibility of a spreadsheet gives the advantage
to TABULUS. TABULUS® is file based, not server based and the data is kept in a
file. Working with data in this manner allows the user to copy the file, save versions of the file, and email the file,
like any other spreadsheet. Any changes or modifications to your TABULUS® file
are yours alone, unless you care to share them in the same way you share a spreadsheet file. In addition,
TABULUS® is based on your desktop, not on the web, so its interface is richer then web based
applications.
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Traditional OLAP solutions allow the user to create any type of model, by building models up from formulas.
TABULUS® does this also, but in addition, TABULUS® comes
out of the box with various built-in capabilities. TABULUS® understands complex
financial calendar and accounting relationships. With TABULUS, you have the choice to use these capabilities, or build your
own models from scratch.
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TABULUS® HAS AN INTERFACE MORE LIKE THE FAMILIAR SPREADSHEET.
The goal of TABULUS® is to bring OLAP power to the spreadsheet user. As such, the
interface in TABULUS® has been designed to share the “ease of use” feel of a traditional
spreadsheet. When two formulas interfere with each other, most OLAP systems allow the user to create confusing ‘exception’
statements. TABULUS® allows the user to override the formula directly in the worksheet,
so it’s much easier to understand, like a traditional spreadsheet.
For spreadsheet users TABULUS® is an easy transition into OLAP. For people that
know OLAP, using TABULUS® will be a pleasure.
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TABULUS® ALTERNATIVE TO OLAP MEASURES
TABULUS® supports having more simpler cubes, rather than a few convoluted ones.
Most OLAP system use a concept called measures, which are special categories which force many different types of data into
the same cube. The result is usually a very confusing cube structure with many more dimensions than necessary.
TABULUS® allows this type of structure also, but TABULUS®
provide a superior method of organizing different types of data.
TABULUS® encourages the user to place each type of data into its own individual
cube. Then, to make a report, it’s simply a matter of dragging out the cubes you want in the report, rather than tediously
selecting parts of a cube. Most OLAP systems don’t allow multiple cubes to be part of a single report, so you cannot use
this simpler technique. The smaller simpler cube system has several big advantages. Data is easier to manage, because it’s
compartmentalized according to its type. Second, data is easier to do analysis, because when a entire cube holds a single
type of data, the cube can be operated on as a whole, rather than a slice. Third, it’s easy to later on reorganize parts
of your data. If all your data is in a single large cube, reorganization is almost impossible.
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TABULUS® IS REASONABLY PRICED, LIKE SPREADSHEETS.
TABULUS® is not cost prohibitive and can be placed on everyone’s computer that
needs to work with spreadsheets. TABULUS® offers most of the advantages of high
priced enterprise systems at a fraction of the cost.
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