OLAP Tools Evaluation: Criteria, Analysis and Comparison

The learning outcomes that are assessed by this coursework are:

1.A comprehensive understanding of the concepts, purposes, architectures, evolution and benefits of OLAP.

2.A systematic knowledge of how to access data in data warehouses using OLAP.

3.The ability to choose right OLAP tools according to their applicability and limitations.

When completed you are required to submit your summative coursework:

1.As a Word Document via Turnitin (via the appropriate Turnitin facility set up within the Turnitin folder of IMAT 5167 module’s BB shell)

If for any reason Turnitin is not working at the date/time of the submission deadline, please provide it as an attachment to an email to [email protected] by the specified deadline date/time and a subsequent Turnitin submission can be completed as soon as the facility is available again to use.

If you need any support or advice on completing this coursework please visit the Student Matters tab on the Faculty of Technology Blackboard page.

Late submission of coursework policy: Late submissions will be processed in accordance with current University regulations which state:

“the time period during which a student may submit a piece of work late without authorisation and have the work capped at 40% [50% at PG level] if passed is 14 calendar days. Work submitted unauthorised more than 14 calendar days after the original submission date will receive a mark of 0%.  These regulations apply to a student’s first attempt at coursework. Work submitted late without authorisation which constitutes reassessment of a previously failed piece of coursework will always receive a mark of 0%.”

These include plagiarism, cheating, collusion, copying work and reuse of your own work, poor referencing or the passing off of somebody else's ideas as your own. If you are in any doubt about what constitutes an academic offence or bad academic practice you must check with your tutor. Further information and details of how DSU can support you, if needed, is available at:

Tasks to be undertaken:

OLAP Tools Evaluation

There are many varieties of OLAP tools available in the marketplace, including: Multidimensional server-based (MOLAP) tools; a number of Relational OLAP (or ROLAP) alternatives; some Hybrid OLAP (HOLAP); a  number of Desktop OLAP (DOLAP) systems.  The OLAP marketplace is still diverse, with different tools competing for both marginal differentiation and substantial technical and operational advantages over their competitors.  How to choose an OLAP tool for a specific business scenario or a specific data warehouse ?  This choice has resulted in a considerable confusion among users, and a careful comparison and evaluation of the available commercial tools in the market will provide a useful guide to business users and contribute to the further development of data warehousing and business intelligence.  

Submission Guidelines

To give a systematic evaluation to various OLAP tools in the market, it is necessary to establish a set of criteria first.  The criteria will serve for the judgement on the suitability of each tool under a specific situation.  It is also certainly essential to find out what tools are available and their associated architecture and functionality.  

Your Tasks

In a group of 2 – 4 students, you need to complete the following tasks.

Task 1: Define a set of criteria for evaluating an OLAP tool

You need to do some research in literature and discuss with your group members to draw a sensible set of criteria.  You can certainly propose your own criteria if you can justify it by literature or other materials.  However, it has to be approved and shared by the whole group.

Task 2: Investigate the available commercial OLAP tools in the market.  There are many tools available in the market, and you need to select some representative tools to do your evaluation.   You have to justify your selection of the tools according to what you have learnt from our module and your reading from literature.     

Task 3: Do research in library and the Internet to investigate your selected tools, identify their architecture and functionalities.  You should pay attention to their relationship with data warehouses and their strength and weakness under different situations according to your criteria.  

Task 4: Discuss in your group your findings with each other, and then come up with a critical evaluation and comparison between the involved tools.  

Task 5: Discuss in your group to identify one business scenario where one OLAP tool is clearly better than the others.  Explain your reasons.

Task 6: Based on your group discussion, derive a set of feasible future developments in OLAP tools  

Task 7: Write the group report that describes the work undertaken for tasks 1-6 above.  The report should be in a formal academic paper format.  It should include title, authors, abstract, key words, contents and references.  Each reference has to be cited somewhere in your texts.   It is expected that the tables or figures of your comparison should be included in your report.

Every member is expected to make an equal contribution to the group work.  In addition to the academic report on your work, each member in a group needs to submit a management evaluation report (template provided in the next page).  The report needs to give a clear evaluation on the percentage of work contribution of each member in the group and a brief rational explanation (the sum of all percentages should be 100% for the whole group).  The report could be submitted together with the group report, or independent from the group report.  The average percentage from all other members in the group will be adopted to assign marks for each individual in the group.  For equal contribution, each member gets the full mark of the report.  If difference arises, the one with the highest percentage gets the full mark, others will be proportionally reduced.  In the situation where there is serious argument, an additional viva might be organised to further examine the submitted work for the involved group members.   

One management evaluation report for each student, on which the student needs to evaluate the contribution of each member in the group (including him/herself).