by Teknita Team | Aug 22, 2022 | Process Automation
OLAP (online analytical processing) is software for performing multidimensional analysis at high speeds on large volumes of data from a data warehouse, data mart, or some other unified, centralized data store. High-speed analysis can be accomplished by extracting the relational data into a multidimensional format called an OLAP cube; by loading the data to be analyzed into memory; by storing the data in columnar order; and/or by using many CPUs in parallel (i.e., massively parallel processing, or MPP) to perform the analysis.
OLAP CUBE
The core of most OLAP systems, the OLAP cube is an array-based multidimensional database that makes it possible to process and analyze multiple data dimensions much more quickly and efficiently than a traditional relational database. Analysis can be performed quickly, without a lot of SQL JOINs and UNIONS. OLAP cubes revolutionized business intelligence (BI) systems. Before OLAP cubes, business analysts would submit queries at the end of the day and then go home, hoping to have answers the next day. After OLAP cubes, the data engineers would run the jobs to create cubes overnight, so that the analysts could run interactive queries against them in the morning.
The OLAP cube extends the single table with additional layers, each adding additional dimensions—usually the next level in the “concept hierarchy” of the dimension. For example, the top layer of the cube might organize sales by region; additional layers could be country, state/province, city and even specific store.
In theory, a cube can contain an infinite number of layers. (An OLAP cube representing more than three dimensions is sometimes called a hypercube.) And smaller cubes can exist within layers—for example, each store layer could contain cubes arranging sales by salesperson and product. In practice, data analysts will create OLAP cubes containing just the layers they need, for optimal analysis and performance.
OLAP cubes enable four basic types of multidimensional data analysis:
Drill-down
The drill-down operation converts less-detailed data into more-detailed data through one of two methods—moving down in the concept hierarchy or adding a new dimension to the cube. For example, if you view sales data for an organization’s calendar or fiscal quarter, you can drill-down to see sales for each month, moving down in the concept hierarchy of the “time” dimension.
Roll up
Roll up is the opposite of the drill-down function—it aggregates data on an OLAP cube by moving up in the concept hierarchy or by reducing the number of dimensions. For example, you could move up in the concept hierarchy of the “location” dimension by viewing each country’s data, rather than each city.
Slice and dice
The slice operation creates a sub-cube by selecting a single dimension from the main OLAP cube. For example, you can perform a slice by highlighting all data for the organization’s first fiscal or calendar quarter (time dimension).
The dice operation isolates a sub-cube by selecting several dimensions within the main OLAP cube. For example, you could perform a dice operation by highlighting all data by an organization’s calendar or fiscal quarters (time dimension) and within the U.S. and Canada (location dimension).
Pivot
The pivot function rotates the current cube view to display a new representation of the data—enabling dynamic multidimensional views of data. The OLAP pivot function is comparable to the pivot table feature in spreadsheet software, such as Microsoft Excel, but while pivot tables in Excel can be challenging, OLAP pivots are relatively easier to use (less expertise is required) and have a faster response time and query performance.
You can read more about OLAP here.
Teknita has the expert resources to support all your technology initiatives.
We are always happy to hear from you.
Click here to connect with our experts!
by Teknita Team | Jun 2, 2022 | Process Automation
Automation, if executed poorly, can have negative impacts on data usage, processes, employee morale and customer satisfaction.
10 Automation Mistakes to avoid:
1. Focusing on a single technology
Once an organization has purchased and implemented a specific process automation tool, such as robotic process automation (RPA), successfully, it’s natural that colleagues want to adopt it more widely.
2. Believing that business can automate without IT
More and more business users believe that the adoption of RPA and low-code/no-code applications don’t require the assistance of IT. But business users may lack knowledge of how customer and data records work, and there’s a risk of mishandling the information.
3. Thinking automation is always the solution
Automation may be the best long-term option for business and IT processes, but leaders cannot simply use it to cover gaps in a poorly designed process. Automation is not meant to make up for failures in systems or defer system replacement.
4. Not engaging all stakeholders
Automation, by nature, has a broad impact on the enterprise, which means you should engage stakeholders from across the organization for decision making and sign off. For example, if adoption of new automation processes changes the nature of people’s roles, involve HR; changes to access rights and IDs, or server requirements must involve security or IT.
5. Failing to devote enough time to testing
Automation technologies only work when the algorithms and rules are exactly correct. The technologies may seem easy to use, but they are unforgiving when programmed incorrectly. They can very quickly wreck business data and fail to deliver the desired business outcome.
6. Wasting effort on overly complicated processes
At times, organizations find themselves in a quagmire when automating a process. That most often happens when processes are not well-documented or understood, if the workflow is not consistent or if there are too many variants in the decision-making process.
7. Treating automation as simple task replication
Using automation tools to copy exactly what is being done manually misses a critical benefit of automation — improving the end-to-end process to create a better customer and employee experience. If process redesign is not part of the automation process, you may use the wrong automation tool and lose the business outcome you hope to achieve.
8. Failing to monitor in postproduction
Just like any system implementation, automation projects will require extensive “hands-on” IT involvement after implementation. For example, for RPA rollouts, establish continuous assessment, monitoring and regular quality checks to ensure that robots have been scripted correctly and are continuing to work as expected. This avoids huge data cleanup tasks.
9. Using the wrong metrics to measure success
It’s typical to measure technology applications and tools to ensure that they are working as designed. However, this doesn’t reflect whether or not the project is successful. Measuring the impact on processes and the enterprise as a whole is key to the success of automation.
10. Ignoring the culture and employee impact
While it’s critical to focus on how to adopt and scale automation, it is equally important to consider the impact on employees, especially if roles are eliminated or reimagined.
You can read more about Automation Mistakes here.
Teknita has the expert resources to support all your technology initiatives.
We are always happy to hear from you.
Click here to connect with our experts!
by Teknita Team | May 25, 2022 | Process Automation
Microsoft Power Pages is a low-code, scalable, and secure solution, which empowers low-code maker or professional developers to build business-centric websites quickly and easily. Power Pages extends far beyond portals former capabilities to enable organizations of any size to securely build websites with exciting new aesthetic features and advanced capabilities for customization with pro-developer extensibility.
Visual Studio Code in Power Pages is used to code advanced capabilities using JavaScript, Liquid templates, code components, and web APIs. With these tools, professional developers can securely interact with underlying business data and implement custom business logic, all without leaving the surface of their favorite developer tools. Microsoft Power Platform command line interface also helps developers easily download and upload their customization projects.
MPP possibilities:
- Community services: Reach and serve millions of citizens at scale, providing community services such as self-service permitting, licensing, incident and outage reporting, and applying for grants.
- FAQ sites: Provide answers to common questions about products, services, special events, policies, and procedures.
- Customer self-service: Provide all-day customer self-services, such as warranty registration, returns, support inquiries, appointments, and bookings.
- Partner support: Streamline business processes with partners, such as supplier onboarding, sustainability tracking, inquiry management, and vendor support.
You can read more about Microsoft Power Pages here.
Teknita has the expert resources to support all your technology initiatives.
We are always happy to hear from you.
Click here to connect with our experts!
by Teknita Team | May 12, 2022 | Process Automation
Electronic Data Interchange is a standard electronic format that replaces paper-based documents such as purchase orders or invoices. By automating paper-based transactions, organizations can save time and eliminate costly errors caused by manual processing.
In EDI transactions, information moves directly from a computer application in one organization to a computer application in another. Data can be shared rapidly instead of over the hours, days or weeks required when using paper documents or other methods.
There are 5 key business benefits that EDI technology delivers:
– EDI technology saves time and money through automation of a process previously manually executed with paper documents.
– EDI solutions improve efficiency and productivity because more business documents are shared and processed in less time with greater accuracy.
– EDI data transfer reduces errors through rigid standardization, which helps to ensure information and data are correctly formatted before they enter business processes or applications.
– EDI integration improves traceability and reporting because electronic documents can be integrated with a range of IT systems to support data collection, visibility and analysis.
– EDI automation supports positive customer experiences by enabling efficient transaction execution and prompt, reliable product and service delivery.
You can read more about Electronic Data Interchange here.
You need more details about automating your business processes?
Teknita has the expert resources to support you. Contact us now to kick off your planning with a complimentary assessment with our experts.
