Essbase Server consolidates and calculates data to provide different views of the data. Using a multidimensional database, users can perform several tasks:
Consolidate (aggregate or roll up) data
In block storage, consolidation computes the data relationships for all parent and child combinations within a dimension. For example, the consolidation for the Year dimension is as follows:
Year = Quarter1 + Quarter2 + Quarter3 + Quarter4
Assume you set a sales goal of ten percent growth on all product lines. You can compare sales forecasts with actual sales data (retrieved from the online transaction processing [OLTP] database) to see how close you are to achieving your goals. If actual sales run lower than projected, salespeople can access the forecast data, input new sales scenarios, update the forecast data, and generate revised figures.
Input strategic planning assumptions
Assume your company is planning 50 percent growth over three years. You know how many new products you need, but how many new people can you hire while still optimizing profits and gross margin?
In block storage, you can input projected sales and expenses and calculate downward to determine the projected cost of goods sold. If the results do not look practical, you can create different scenarios with different mixes of products, people, and expenses until you produce the profit picture that you require.
Conduct spreadsheet operations
To drill down or drill up on data retrieves progressively more detailed or progressively more generalized data relative to a selected dimension. Drilling down on a multidimensional database dimension provides you with greater detail on the dimension. Drilling up provides you with a more summarized view of the dimension.
For example, you can drill down on the Year dimension to view each quarter. You can drill up from Chicago to view sales totals for the Central region.
Pivoting alters the data perspective. When Essbase Server retrieves a dimension, it displays a configuration of rows and columns. A user can pivot (rearrange) the data to obtain a different viewpoint.
See the Oracle Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in or Oracle Hyperion Smart View for Office, Fusion Edition documentation.