Frequently Asked Questions

What is Business Intelligence:

Business Intelligence, or BI, is a term used by the information technology industry to describe the methods of extracting data from one or more accounting and ERP systems and depositing it into a central data repository or “data warehouse”. The data warehouse is then used to feed other reporting tools including On Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) ‘drag and drop tools” such as Microsoft Analysis Services, Cognos, Hyperion etc.

Business Intelligence tools are essentially enhanced reporting tools and included Executive Information Systems (EIS) and Decision Support Systems (DSS)

How is this different to my report generator:

Reports created from report generators are static and two dimensional….row and column. So each time a different perspective of the data is required the report needs to be run again. Each perspective usually needs to be a different report and therefore probably needs to be written by a report generator specialist.

OLAP tools bring all the data into one cube (or container) which allows “slice and dice” or “drag and drop” reporting. Reports such as Sales by Month by Channel by Year by Product are instantly re-arranged into any combination and any order.

One OLAP cube could replace hundreds of report generator reports.

What is Business Performance Management?

BPM is the next evolution of Business Intelligence (BI). Where BI is enhanced reporting and analysis BPM seeks to integrate information into the overall process of an organisation. BI speeds up the information gathering process and as such it can be described as “driving very quickly while looking in the rear view mirror”.

BPM adds business modeling, budgeting and forecasting capabilities to the traditional reporting and data analysis. BPM integrates and delivers a forward looking perspective.

The ability to “Writeback” data to the centralised multi-dimensional database is a crucial element of a successful BPM system.

Is a Business Intelligence tool just like a Pivot Table?

Yes. The Excel Pivot table uses similar technology to create a drag and drop reporting capability. Excel’s pivot table however has a 65,000 line data limitation therefore data sets are limited.

PowerOLAP is a Pivot Table enhanced by 1000 times with the additional capability of Writeback and true formula driven calculations not just aggregation.

For those not familiar with Excel’s pivot table capability think of PowerOLAP as replacing thousands of “sum if” statements.

Where does the data come from for Actuals.

Actual data comes from the company transactional systems. These include General Ledger, Sales, Purchases and Logistics modules.

What is a hierarchy?

Data from the Accounting system contains roll-ups for Customers, Products, Channels, General Ledger etc. These roll ups are then used within PowerOLAP to create roll ups of data. The typical example is Customer which often rolls up into City, State, Country, Region etc.

The hierarchy system in PowerOLAP means that for Actuals data not one single formulae

With the PowerOLAP hierarchy system it is conceivable that for Actuals data not even one single formula will be required.

Does PowerOLAP have formulae?

Yes. Although the hierarchy system takes care of most aggregations a PowerOLAP formula may be required. Unlike 95% of other BI systems PowerOLAP allows powerful yet easy to construct formulae for cross-cube modeling (i.e. multiply forecast unit sales in the Sales Budget by Price from the Price Book and place the result into the GL Account “4000 Sales”). For most BI systems a full time rocket scientists will be required. With PowerOLAP anyone who has good excel skills will be capable of setting up formulae. Simple.