You can create hierarchies in the data model of OLAP applications. With DeltaMaster, however, you can even add customized hierarchies to these existing structures in no time flat.

DeltaMaster supports three additional types of hierarchies. These hierarchies are either user-defined, virtual or generated from member properties (attributes). All of these hierarchies create structures or groups which you can use in analysis or reporting. This month, we will focus on user-defined hierarchies.

At the start of your analysis, sometimes the things that you want to examine are not all in one place. In some markets, for example, technical product features change so quickly that you couldn't possibly rearrange the entire data structure with each additional function. The two-finger handling feature, for example, didn't exist in mobile phones until very recently. Then came the iPhone and, all of a sudden, this criterion became very relevant for analysis. Using a user-defined hierarchy, for example, you could now group competitive models based on this feature. Alternatively, your analysts could use it to create and analyze the market chances for a new bundled offer or other combinations.

"I want to" create a user-defined hierarchy. Thanks to DeltaMaster, you don't need to be a database professional to do that.

Creating a user-defined hierarchy in DeltaMaster is easy: You simply select the members and click on a menu command. You can then repeat this step for as many classes as you want. The new hierarchies are instantly available throughout the entire application - without making any changes to your database. You can immediately visualize user-defined hierarchies in pivot tables, examine them in detail using a drill-down or the pivot navigation, and even present them in well-structured reports.

The same vehicle models from the same database - just grouped differently depending on which spontaneous questions you are trying to answer.

Of course, DeltaMaster supports user-defined hierarchies in its multiple, built-in analytical methods ranging from simple rankings to data mining. This way, business professionals have the ability to extend their data model whenever they deem appropriate.

To learn more about the other options for building hierarchies, check back soon.

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