Technical data

CHAPTER 3

Understanding Analytic Models

This chapter discusses:

• Analytic models.

• Relationship of parts.

•Tools.

• Naming conventions for analytic models and parts.

Analytic Models

An analytic model is an information workshop. Just like an ordinary workshop, it contains parts that you use

to build your projects, and tools to put the parts together. B ut instead of building a cabinet or a chair, you

organize data by building analytic models of information. This analytic model imitates the structure and

relationships of information in the real world.

You can think of an analytic model as a collection of various kinds of information that are held together by a

common purpose. For example, you can create an analytic model of an entire business, with information about

revenues, employee expenses, accounts receivable, assets, liabilities, equity, and so on. You can also create

an analytic model of a particular part of a business—such as employee expenses—and include more detail

than you would in a more general analytic model of a business. The focus can be wide or narrow, but all the

information about the area of interest goes into a single analytic model.

Because of an analytic model’s multidimensional capabilities, end users analyze data from different angles to

gain insight into their data. This data can range from a small table of values to a very large table containing

hundreds of kinds of data about thousands of people, places, or things.

Relationship of Parts

This section discusses:

• Data cubes and dimensions.

• Formulas.

• Cube collections.

• Organizers.