Why Use SSAS?
Back in July, 2009, it was a usual hot summer day in the Big Apple, but inside the NYC Microsoft Headquarters, was a very cool and awesome presentation going on, brought to us by SQL MVP, Principal of Pragmatic Works, co-founder of SSC.com (and in his own words, amateur surgeon), Brian Knight. We’ve read much on the topic since it was introduced in SQL Server 2005 (read my article Analysis Services, The Year of BI), but nobody delivers the goods quite like Brian. An introduction to SQL Server Analysis Service (SSAS), Brian gives us the benefits of using SSAS, explains dimensions and hierarchies, cube design and measures, as well as usage based optimization (UBO). With some great live demos, he walks us through creating a cube, building a user interface for developers, as well as how to browse the cube in Excel.
Tags: design, introduction