What is OLAP ?

OLAP stands for On Line Analytical Processing,

a series of protocols used mainly for business reporting. Using OLAP, businesses can analyze data in all manner of different ways, including budgeting, planning, simulation, data warehouse reporting, and trend analysis. A main component of OLAP is its ability to make multidimensional calculations, allowing a wide and lightning-fast array of possibilities. In addition, the bigger the business, the bigger its business reporting needs. Multidimensional calculations enable a large business to complete in seconds what it otherwise would have waited a handful of minutes to receive.