What’s the difference between BCP and traditional relational database models which have been published into an OLAP cube which is then interacting with spreadsheets?
• Today’s business users are working with a set of denormalized relational database data “reported” to either Excel or OLAP • The mapping between ERP <-> OLAP is an expensive and rigid mapping due to the design of data marts/queries • The denormalized report created by the OLAP is typically not an updatable report and the users either have to loop through the ERP system or use Email and Excel to come to an agreement on conflicts • When business information is delivered through BCP the cost of setup is negligible and it naturally supports an environment to collaborate/consolidate information • Today’s OLAP solutions mainly consider ERP database systems as the only source of reliable information and can’t tap into thousands of spreadsheets which are running critical processes as a reliable source of data. • By connecting the spreadsheet <-> BCP<-> OLAP, OLAP solution vendors can get into the planning (changed data) side of the enterprise that they have not be able to do so.
