What is the role of OLAP in decision - making? What does the term drill mean down in an executive information system

the Short for Online Analytical Processing, a category of software tools that provides analysis of data stored in a database. OLAP tools enable users to analyze different dimensions of multidimensional data. For example, it provides time series and trend analysis views. OLAP often is used in data mining.
The chief component of OLAP is the OLAP server, which sits between a client and a database management systems (DBMS). The OLAP server understands how data is organized in the database and has special functions for analyzing the data. There are OLAP servers available for nearly all the major database systems.

OLAP (online analytical processing) is a function of business intelligence software that enables a user to easily and selectively extract and view data from different points of view. Designed for managers looking to make sense of their corporate data and related information, OLAP tools structure data hierarchically – the way managers think of their enterprises.  But the best OLAP tools also allow business analysts to rotate their views on the information, changing the relationships in order to get more detailed insight into corporate trends and identifiy potential issues and opportunities.

Information Builders' WebFOCUS combines all the functionality of query tools, reporting tools, analytics and OLAP into a single powerful solution with one common interface so business analysts can slice and dice the data and see business processes in a new way. WebFOCUS makes data part of an organization's natural culture by giving developers the premier design environments for automated ad hoc and parameter-driven reporting and giving everyone else the ability to receive and retrieve data in any format, performing analysis using whatever device or application is part of the daily working life.
WebFOCUS ad hoc reporting features allow users to slice and dice data in an almost unlimited number of ways. Satisfying the broadest range of analytical needs, business intelligence application developers can easily enhance reports with extensive data-analysis functionality so that end users can dynamically interact with the information. WebFOCUS also supports the real-time creation of Excel spreadsheets and Excel PivotTables with full styling, drill-downs, and formula capabilities so that Excel power users can analyze their corporate data sources in a tool with which they are already familiar.

A way of viewing related items of a Dimension as defined in a Hierarchy by expanding Members to access a more detailed data range; put simply, this means displaying Child Members associated with a specific Parent Member or Aggregate Member within a defined Hierarchy.

DRILL DOWN/UP
Drilling down or up is a specific analytical technique whereby the user navigates among levels of data ranging from the most summarized (up) to the most detailed (down). The drilling paths may be defined by the hierarchies within dimensions or other relationships that may be dynamic within or between dimensions. For example, when viewing sales data for North America, a drill-down operation in the Region dimension would then display Canada, the eastern United States and the Western United States. A further drill- down on Canada might display Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, etc.

Explain the advantages of outsourcing computer facilities. Also, explain its major drawbacks. In Indian context.

The advantages and Risks of Outsourcing  Services

Introduction

For small and medium size organizations, there are benefits and risks to consider when outsourcing information technology (IT) infrastructure, support, and maintenance.

If you are a business owner or CFO, you are probably looking at IT outsourcing first and foremost as a cost saving measure. Sophisticated technology and support solutions continue to grow in accessibility, and return on investment (ROI) can be excellent.

If you are a network administrator, you are interested in using tools that can automate repetitive, simple tasks so you can focus your time on higher level projects.

Either way, there are both advantages and disadvantages to outsourcing IT services. Weighing them properly for you specific needs is important for ROI and to guarantee that the tools and support that are in place bring value to your company’s bottom line.

The Benefits of IT Outsourcing

As a business owner or manager, when you have a solid service taking care of IT, it lightens your workload.
For example, if you are using an IT managed service provider, you can pay a flat-fee for all ongoing IT support and service. Your underlying technology platform is taken care of and the price is set, so decisions involved in these areas do not have to be made on a regular basis.

These solutions are designed to be proactive: your service provider will call you about a problem that was prevented rather than you having to call them to arrange service.

Depending on the size of your network, this type of service can save money. If your technology needs are great enough to require at least one full-time staff member for support, then outsourcing to a managed service provider should actually lower your costs.

If you use an outside contractor who comes onsite to do most network support, then you will only have to pay for services rendered. If you are lucky enough to have few problems with your network or your reliance on technology is fairly minimal, then using an outsourced, individual contractor will be the least expensive way to set-up support.

If you are a time-strapped network administrator, outsourcing to a service that has automated, Internet-based support architecture will allow you relegate low-level, time consuming maintenance and support to a data center with tools you would otherwise not have access to.

Security updates, data backup procedures, and low-level user support can all be done using remote access tools. This frees you to take care of internal, proprietary planning and support for your business network.

 drawbacks

The risks involved with outsourcing mainly involve accessibility to service.

If you rely on an outside contractor who generally has to come onsite to support your network, then you live in a world where you simply hope critical services don’t go down at a time when your ability to conduct business will be interrupted.

Busy IT contractors may take days before they can come in to help, and this will likely be unacceptable if the problem is making it impossible for your staff to work. All the money saved by using a pay-as-you-go contractor can be lost with one serious issue within your network.

With remote IT support such as managed services, some business owners are uncomfortable with having less personal touch and immediate feedback. When you have your own network administrator onsite, you can call them into your office and get a report or have questions answered. A remote based service will never be able to match that level of personal touch.

Also, with remote based managed services, Internet conductivity is critical. The entire support structure relies on being able to maintain access to network nodes via the Internet. If conductivity fails, then the necessary maintenance and support cannot be delivered.

main Drawback
With so much IT infrastructure now being delivered via the Internet with significant cost savings, including many of the most critical software applications, most businesses are by default going to be outsourcing at least some of the IT infrastructure.

If you choose to maintain your environment completely onsite (meaning you own and maintain your own hardware and software as well as keep in-house staff) you will keep an element of control over your environment, but it will cost you.  Every year, this option becomes more expensive when compared to outsourcing infrastructure and support.

If you have a very small network environment, you may be able to get away with using an outside contractor for IT support. This will give you the lowest monthly bill unless you have a major issue. Also, you will need a plan in place for how to do business should you have a network failure and have to go an extended period of time before the issue can be resolved.

With advanced data center level support, your business can access technology that is proactive, preventative, and predictable. For network maintenance that must be done on a regular basis, such as security updates and data backup, these solutions are effective, and redundancies with Internet conductivity will greatly minimize the risk of loosing service.

You may loose some sense of control over what is going on with your business IT, but that can also translate into time saved not having to think about it.