Reporting and analysis.
WHAT IT PROVIDES
Connecting to data sources Transforming and modelling data Building interactive reports and dashboards Sharing them with others
WHAT THE COMPONENTS ARE
A desktop application for building A service for publishing and sharing Mobile applications for viewing
WHAT THE PROCESS IS
Connect to data Transform it into a usable shape
Model it: relationships and calculations
Visualise it Publish and share
WHAT MOST PEOPLE UNDERESTIMATE
The transformation and modelling steps.
WHY
Poor models produce reports that are slow, wrong, or impossible to extend.
WHAT A GOOD MODEL LOOKS LIKE
Fact tables containing measurements Dimension tables describing them Relationships defined between them
WHY THAT STRUCTURE
It performs well and expresses most business questions naturally.
WHAT TO AVOID
One enormous flat table Relationships in both directions without reason Calculations repeated in many places
WHAT TO LEARN
The expression language, properly, since it is where the difficulty lies.
