Analytics applications are designed to measure, predict, and optimize business performance; they are used to analyze specific data related to particular aspects of a business. This paper discusses how Pivotal CRM Analytics can help companies across a range of industries improve their effectiveness through practical, low-cost CRM analytics applications.

1. W H I T E
P A P E R
Practical CRM Analytics
Business Insight You Can Use
Executive Summary
Analytics applications are designed to measure, predict, and optimize business
performance; they are used to analyze specific data related to particular aspects
of a business. Through analytics applications, analysts, managers, and executives
have the information they require to identify trends and anomalies to better understand
—and act upon—specific business conditions.
This paper discusses how Pivotal CRM Analytics can help companies across a range
of industries improve their effectiveness through practical, low-cost CRM analytics
applications. Traditionally too costly, time-consuming, and complex for all but the
largest companies, analytics is now accessible to companies of all sizes.

2. Analytics applications are designed to measure, interconnected spreadsheets, static reports, and
predict, and optimize business performance; scattered data sources. However, these homegrown
they are used to analyze specific data related to solutions stretch IT resources beyond capacity—and
particular aspects of a business. Through analytics they rarely enable users to truly analyze information.
applications, analysts, managers, and executives
have the information they require to identify trends Companies seeking quick results, predictable costs,
and anomalies to better understand—and act and an opportunity to leverage existing resources
upon—specific business conditions. and familiar tools need a better solution.
In contrast to the traditional reporting tools widely This paper discusses how Pivotal CRM Analytics can
used today, analytics solutions are well suited to help companies across a range of industries
real-time and ad hoc decision support. They offer improve their effectiveness through practical,
complex information in an easy-to-understand low-cost CRM analytics applications. Traditionally
format. Agile businesses can take advantage of too costly, time-consuming, and complex for all but
these capabilities to explore information at will; the largest companies, analytics is now accessible
with an analytics solution, managers have an to companies of all sizes.
effective tool for measuring results and meeting
business goals.
Reporting Versus Analytics:
How They Differ
“ The largest barrier to business intelligence
deployment is a lack of user skills and
The ability to track sales trends, expenses, growth, and
other key metrics is vital to the success of any sales
& marketing organization. While reporting can provide
knowledge of best practices, according to a snapshot of the required key performance indicators at
Gartner, Inc.…Large enterprises will need three any point in time, managers, VPs, and directors require
a deeper level of functionality—the ability to interact with
times as many business intelligence personnel the data to find out “why” and “how.” This enables them to
in 2008 as they did in 2004. The second largest monitor the health of the company dependably over time
to quickly spot declining profitability and eroding market
barrier to business intelligence is the high total share, and facilitate rapid responses to new opportunities.
”
cost of ownership (TCO).
DM Review.com Online News The Essence of Reporting
March 2005 Reporting applications present a detailed view of
a business situation by extracting data from database
tables and presenting them in a report. These reports
It’s no secret, however, that only the largest often involve sophisticated formatting and they are
companies—those with deep pockets and based on the relational data model.
substantial resources—can afford the time
and cost usually required for large-scale data Reporting lets users validate anomalies or trends that
are already known by “drilling down” into subsets of data
warehousing and analytics projects. When smaller
contained in a report. Reports are static presentations of
businesses attempt to implement “light” versions data, so they do not enable users to analyze or model
of analytics systems designed for mammoth data to identify potential trends or anomalies. Because of
enterprises, their experiences are often marred this, reporting cannot be used to study historical data for
by unnecessary complexity and disappointing developing trends; it cannot be used to analyze data to
results. These systems are usually too complex for judge whether or not an action is required.
the average user, and too unwieldy for modestly
sized IT departments to implement and support Individual reports are created to present the state of
existing information; it is up to users to interpret and
appropriately. And the time-to-benefit is far too long.
derive meaningful information from them. Reporting is
also an iterative process. A lot of manual effort goes
Frustrated by the barriers of cost and limited into the preparation of data in order to display a report
resources, many enterprises are forced to build in a pre-determined format.
their own makeshift analytics applications based on
Pivotal CRM | White Paper 1

3. OLAP: The Technology Behind Analytics
In the past, the bulk of investment in corporate computing was in business departments that generated
or captured data, such as accounting, order processing, manufacturing, and customer information.
Data warehousing developed out of a need to add value to this data by collecting, cleansing, and sifting
data from a variety of operational systems and making the resulting information available to a wide
audience of end users for analysis and reporting.
Today, organizations are investing in applications and technologies that deliver additional value from this
collected data. Most information in a relational data warehouse is too arcane or unwieldy for the average
business user. Advanced query tools hide the database complexity to some degree, but for a large
class of applications where the end user is viewing multi-dimensional data, Online Analytical Processing
(OLAP) technology provides a better solution.
The OLAP Data Model
In the OLAP data model, information is viewed conceptually as cubes, which consist of quantitative
values (measures) and descriptive categories (dimensions). For example, typical measures could
include dollar sales, unit sales, and inventory; typical dimensions could include time, geography, and
product. Within each dimension, data can be organized into a hierarchy that represents levels of detail
in the data. A time dimension, for example, could include levels for years, months, and days. The
multi-dimensional data model makes it simple for users to formulate complex queries, arrange data
on a report, switch from summary to detailed data, and filter or slice data into subsets.
OLAP applications deliver information to end users by preparing some computed values in advance,
rather than at execution time. The combination of easy navigation and fast performance lets end
users view and analyze data more quickly and efficiently than is possible with relational database
technology alone.
OLAP Analysis Capabilities
OLAP tools were first used for specialized financial applications, such as budgeting, forecasting,
and reporting. Today, OLAP technology is being used to accelerate analysis and decision-making
for business-critical applications throughout the enterprise, such as enterprise resource planning,
manufacturing, supply chain management, and now customer relationship management (CRM).
Through OLAP technology, business users can explore different views of data by “slicing and dicing”
or manipulating OLAP cubes on the fly through a process called multi-dimensional analysis. Through
multi-dimensional analysis, users can discover trends and relationships in data that might not be
obvious at first glance. And, of course, this means that it is possible to gain insight into certain aspects
of a business in order to make more effective decisions.
OLAP for the Mid-sized Enterprise
Historically, OLAP server technology has been tightly linked to proprietary client technology, meaning
that companies have had little choice in their selection of mixed, best-of-breed products. This restriction
has led to high implementation costs and often inadequate choices for applications that require both
client/server and Web-based OLAP analysis capabilities. However, the cost and availability of OLAP
technology is no longer a barrier to deployment.
Microsoft’s OLE DB for OLAP (ODBO) open standard makes it possible for OLAP data stores from
different vendors to communicate consistently with a growing number of front-end analysis tools and
OLAP server products. Businesses now have the opportunity to build integrated solutions by combining
best-of-breed products. ODBO provides an ideal way to access third-party analysis applications directly
without having to change a system’s architecture.
Pivotal CRM | White Paper 2

4. Very little flexibility exists in the reporting process, which Managers can use analytics applications to explore
often results in considerable delays between decisions. and navigate data by dimensions, which provides a
Furthermore, reporting is driven from a relational “big-picture view” of a business situation. They can view,
database. Information from alternative data sources investigate, and act upon potentially unknown anomalies
is not available, limiting the scope of the results reports and trends presented visually through front-end viewers
can present. such as Microsoft® Excel.
Analytics can also be used to measure current
The Essence of Analytics performance against some historical baseline. This
Relational databases store entities in discrete tables; capability enables managers to align the information
this structure is good for operational databases, but for provided through a daily monitoring process with
complex multi-table queries it is relatively slow. Analytics corporate or departmental objectives. The results of
applications, on the other hand, are made possible multi-dimensional analysis can be displayed in a
through the multi-dimensional OLAP data model. The dashboard or portal to represent the outcome of
advantage of using OLAP to answer queries is speed. analyzing a particular problem.
In most businesses, managers operate either from
the position of knowing a problem exists and needing Criteria for a Practical CRM
to articulate a solution, or of not being certain where
the problem is and needing to find it before they can Analytics Solution
determine a solution. Analytics is effective in both of Improving operational efficiency, increasing
these situations. competitiveness, growing revenues—these are issues
for any business, regardless of size or resources. The
Figure 1: Pivotal CRM Analytics is composed of many building blocks. Featuring a pre-defined process for building a custom BI
solution, including pre-configured data structures and processing logic, organizations can create a prototype in days, not months.
Pivotal CRM | White Paper 3

5. appropriate tools for attaining these goals, however, skills required to make the most of the technology. When
do differ by company. Unless a business has high risk necessary, it is also easier to find external resources with
tolerance, boundless resources, and a willingness to these skill sets than it is to find equivalent resources for
wait years before seeing a return on investment, it needs more complex proprietary technologies.
analytics software better suited to its project timelines and
financial resources. Practical businesses need software Flexibility and Interoperability. It is essential that an
that works as promised, is easy to use, and demonstrates analytics solution be built on open standards to allow
measurable results within weeks or months—not years. the business to choose third-party viewers and tools that
connect to the underlying platform without the need for
Enterprises seeking a practical end-to-end analytics specialized resources.
solution should search out a system that meets the
following criteria: Industry-Specific Functionality. In order to deliver results
out of the box, a practical analytics solution should be
Quick Results. Companies that don’t have the budget able to address the needs of various industries. Each
for multi-year projects need sensible solutions that can analytics solution differs according to its application.
be up and running with a minimum of customization, and Business-specific issues for financial services, for example,
achieving tangible results within weeks of implementation. are not the same as those for manufacturing or healthcare.
It is also important for an analytics solution to have specific
Modular Design. Analytics solutions that can be built capabilities for different business functions, such as sales
incrementally make it possible for organizations to realize and marketing.
immediate benefits while planning for growth at the
same time. A modular system is built to adapt as a
business changes. Pivotal CRM Analytics
Predictable and Tolerable Costs. The total cost of CRM analytics are a necessity for any successful
ownership (TCO) is a critical measurement of how company, regardless of size. Pivotal CRM Analytics is an
well an analytics solution matches the resources of an open, flexible, low-risk business intelligence solution for
organization. TCO calculations include realistic estimates enterprises that want practical analysis capabilities that
of how much the system will cost to acquire, implement, give them insight they can act on. It provides new levels
customize, and maintain. After implementation, costs of information richness and usability to professionals
can shift disproportionately to support and maintenance. throughout the enterprise and in the field. All users,
Ballooning costs can undo the advantages of having from sales executives to front-line personnel, can
an analytics solution in the first place. It is essential to get up-to-the-moment and complete insight that’s
know about this possibility up front—before committing personalized, relevant, and usable.
to any project.
Built on Microsoft’s integrated business intelligence
(BI) platform, Pivotal CRM Analytics is packaged with
“ The value of any analysis or analytics comes
from its application to specific business
the data mart schema, data integration, and extraction,
transformation, and loading (ETL) routines required
to quickly implement a solution and realize benefits
immediately. Featuring the flexibility of a business
problems, which requires customization, but intelligence (BI) tool framework, combined with the
which can and should be developed around usability of a pre-packaged analytics application, Pivotal
CRM Analytics delivers a cost-effective solution for
standardized technology building blocks, deploying and customizing a decision-
[according to] Chris Selland, vice president of support system.
”
sell-side research at the Aberdeen Group.
Richer Business Insight
Kelly Shermach
“BI Analytics: Beyond the Hype.” Pivotal CRM Analytics solutions are pre-built solutions that
CRMBuyer.com, October 2004 can integrate data from multiple sources. Through the
SmartPortal, users receive information relevant to their
Available Resources and Familiar Tools. Few role and needs. The applications are supported by
enterprises can afford expensive, specialized IT a mission-critical architecture: it enables businesses
resources. Analytics solutions built on established, to apply multi-dimensional analysis capabilities to
familiar technologies such as Microsoft SQL Server take operational CRM data through Microsoft SQL Server
advantage of an organization’s current IT infrastructure. Analysis Services. Microsoft SQL Server provides an
It’s more likely that existing IT staff will already have the interoperable, industry-standard OLAP platform, which
lowers the risk and TCO for CRM analytics.
Pivotal CRM | White Paper 4

6. Organization-Wide Availability SQL Server 2000 and Windows Server 2003 also
deliver enterprise-class reliability. Failover clustering,
Enterprise analytics solutions often require significant log shipping, and server-less snapshot backups (with
investments in both license fees and specialized appropriate hardware) help organizations make certain
implementation teams. What many organizations fail that essential performance indicators are available when
to realize, however, is that the biggest cost of any they’re needed. Customers can improve performance of
CRM-integrated analytics solution is likely to be incurred large-scale database applications, such as data analysis
after implementation. and warehousing solutions or large, complex OLAP
analyses, at a lower cost than with more proprietary
In contrast, Pivotal CRM Analytics for Sales, for example,
hardware solutions.
provides key sales and opportunity insight out-of-the-box,
along with the ability to cost-effectively tailor the solution Finally, SQL Server 2000 and Windows Server 2003
to specific business needs, lowering post-implementation have proven faster and easier to deploy than comparable
costs. Dashboards and alerts are individually customizable, alternatives. By leveraging familiar desktop and server-
so that each professional gets the information needed to based Microsoft products, this platform does not require
achieve increased performance. a large initial investment in hardware or software—which
means that you can achieve business value faster.
Lower Infrastructure Costs
Based on the market-leading Microsoft BI platform, Pivotal The Microsoft Business
CRM Analytics also dramatically reduces infrastructure
costs. Businesses can leverage in-house Microsoft Intelligence Platform
programming resources and Microsoft SQL Server
A business intelligence solution helps organizations gain
database skills to implement, maintain, and update their
insight, which leads to better, faster, and more relevant
analytics solution, enabling them to quickly assemble a
business decisions. The data management capabilities of
pre-defined,
Microsoft SQL Server combined with the Microsoft Office
end-to-end solution—including ETL routines, data mart
System, including Microsoft Excel, makes it possible to
schema, and reports—in
build an end-to-end business intelligence solution that is
weeks.
both comprehensive and cost-effective, turning corporate
Microsoft BI Platform data into useful information that facilitates better, timelier
Advantages: Faster, Easier business decisions.
Increased productivity. Microsoft
BI solutions provide time-saving
Implementation The Microsoft BI platform is primarily made up of two
capabilities that enable information Pivotal CRM Analytics components, Microsoft SQL Server and the Microsoft
workers to make better decisions faster. provides all of the technology Office productivity suite. SQL Server provides the back-
Best economy. Seamless integration necessary to provide rich, end analytics engine used for staging and warehousing,
with SQL Server, Windows® Server timely insights. With the while Office System productivity tools offer a rich and
system, and the Office System helps ability to integrate quickly with simplified user interface. Together, they represent a
organizations control costs and speed major enterprise applications, familiar infrastructure for building analytics on the
deployment. including ERP systems, Microsoft BI platform.
Dependability. Enables reliable organizations can avoid the
near-real-time response to changing lengthy time requirements Microsoft’s BI technology platform helps extend a wide
business conditions. and high costs of deploying variety of third-party applications across vertical industries
Familiar tools. Leverages existing traditional business and throughout organizations. The Pivotal CRM team
systems and skills to quickly gain intelligence systems. This brings value to existing investments in the Microsoft
insights into the health of a business enables faster deployment, platform by incorporating Microsoft BI technology into
with easy-to-use tools. with lower risks and better Pivotal CRM Analytics, delivering seamless analysis and
business results. reporting on underlying data.
Together, the Pivotal CRM team and Microsoft deliver:
Scalable, Reliable, Secure Platform
SQL Server 2000 Optimization. Pivotal CRM Analytics
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition and the
is tuned to access the full capabilities of SQL Server.
Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 operating system
provide the most powerful and cost-effective platform from SQL Server provides several tools for data storage
which to operate Pivotal CRM Analytics. SQL Server 2000 and analytics, including a relational database engine,
Enterprise Edition provides a scalable data platform with data transformation services, and analysis services to
tools to help companies intelligently analyze large data handle even complex business intelligence inquiries.
quantities, and supports multi-terabyte data warehouses
and thousands of concurrent users worldwide.
Pivotal CRM | White Paper 5

7. SQL Server 2000 Data Transformation Services. Microsoft Access, and Microsoft Excel installed, OWC
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 includes a very powerful, allows users to publish interactive data as part of a Web
easy-to-use, graphical ETL tool: Data Transformation page. Using Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.01 or
Services (DTS). With DTS, Microsoft gives SQL Server later, OWC allows them to view a published control (i.e.,
2000 the power to import, export, and transform data from spreadsheet, pivot table, chart, or database) on a Web
disparate sources into single or multiple destinations. Sets page; with Internet Explorer version 5 or later, OWC allows
of tasks, workflows, and constraints can be collected as users to view data-access pages.
DTS packages and scheduled to run periodically or when
a certain event occurs.
Practical Analytics Means
Analysis Services Support. Pivotal CRM Analytics fully
leverages Analysis Services to provide connectivity to Analytics for Everyone
Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) data sources. SQL Most analytics solutions are aimed squarely at analysts,
Server 2000 Analysis Services is a server product that who tend to focus on tactical and strategic decisions that
provides a set of integrated data-mining features. It influence business performance. But at the operational
enables business analysts and application developers level, end users are often overwhelmed by the sheer
to easily build multi-dimensional cubes, organizes data volume of data associated with the task at hand, and they
from a data warehouse into cubes with pre-calculated rarely have the time or tools to digest it properly. In the
aggregation data, and provides application programs absence of business intelligence, users continue to make
with access to the cubes. thousands of uninformed decisions, none of which are
very strategic, but all of which are extremely important
“ Microsoft leverages its installed base of
customers by integrating with the Microsoft
to customer satisfaction, retention, and (ultimately)
long-term profitability.
The traditional tendency to make business intelligence
Office System. Let no one doubt that Microsoft available only to executives, middle managers, and
”
Excel is the leading BI tool used today. professional analysts has ignored the decision-support
needs of users such as customer service reps, sales
Rick Sherman reps, and account managers—until now. Pivotal CRM
“BI Briefs: Business Intelligence Vendor Trends for 2005” Analytics helps all types of decision-makers understand
DM Review.com, February 2005 customer buying patterns, identify sales and profit growth
opportunities, and improve overall decision-making:
Microsoft Office System Integration. Pivotal CRM
Analytics offers seamless integration with Microsoft Office Analysts. Whether they require a powerful visualization
System applications. Office System technologies like tool or want to employ their favorite BI viewer, Pivotal CRM
Excel 2003, SharePoint Portal Server, and Office Web Analytics provides these sophisticated power users with
Components provide employees with rapid, real-time the multi-dimensional analytics they require to be able to
access to BI data. For example, Microsoft Excel can be effectively slice and dice, drill down, and discover trends
linked to Pivotal CRM Analytics for dynamic updates as and anomalies in data.
corporate data changes, without requiring users to have
extensive training. Managers. Pivotal CRM Analytics provides the key
capabilities managers need to answer common sales
Microsoft Excel includes PivotTable Service, which lets and marketing questions:
analysts connect to Analysis Services databases. Pivot
tables and pivot charts can easily be created within Excel • How can I improve my win/loss ratio?
by simply pointing to a data source, without writing code. • How can I improve individual sales rep performance?
Office Web Components (OWC) Support. For many • How can I forecast more accurately?
applications that use complex data, graphing is an • How can I keep expenses down?
indispensable tool for providing a consolidated view
• How satisfied are my customers?
of the data. Pivotal CRM Analytics uses Microsoft Office
Web Components (OWC) to build graphs on-the-fly in • How can I improve customer loyalty?
Web applications. • How effective are my channel partners?
OWC is a collection of Component Object Model (COM) • How can I improve market share?
controls for publishing and viewing spreadsheets,
Additionally, Pivotal CRM Analytics allows the creation of
charts, databases, and data access pages on the Web.
personalized dashboards directly within its SmartPortal
With Pivotal CRM Analytics and Microsoft FrontPage,®
for managers who prefer to interact with rolled-up,
summarized data.
Pivotal CRM | White Paper 6

8. Standard Users. These information consumers prefer For example, through the Pivotal CRM SmartPortal
Microsoft Excel as their viewer of choice. Pivotal CRM Dashboard, the sales director can create an analysis
Analytics enables IT staff to manage and control secure, report, tracking opportunity value versus booked revenue
persistent data connections to deliver the data directly by region, product, source, and time. In doing so, they
within Excel. Excel pivot tables and charts can also quickly notices that sales have declined for a specific
be embedded into the Pivotal CRM SmartPortal via product across all regions. Supporting detail reveals itself
integration with Microsoft Office Web Components. When as they drill down into specific prospect names, cities,
preferred, viewers offered by other third-party vendors can and sales reps.
also be connected to the Pivotal CRM Analytics solution.
They learn that there is a disproportionate number of
In addition, where companies already have a data opportunities in a particular region assigned to specific
warehouse in place, Pivotal CRM Analytics’ packaged sales reps. The verdict? The region in question is
extract, transform, and load routines can facilitate possibly understaffed or the reps are ineffective. With
integration of Pivotal CRM data. No other CRM vendor’s that information, they can act immediately by changing
decision-support solution offers the same flexibility of the account management and territory assignment rules,
deployment and an open, agnostic front-end that can and then investigate whether there are any people issues
accommodate both sophisticated and unsophisticated to address.
users, as well as existing technology.
The Marketing VP
Pivotal CRM Analytics in Action A marketing VP is thrown a handful of crucial issues that
need immediate action: declining market share, ineffective
The Sales VP new product introductions and promotions, high client
dissatisfaction, difficulty positioning new products and
A sales VP deals with a range of issues: falling short on
services, an inability to get new products to market
sales forecasts, increasing sales expenses, declining
quickly, and poor access to relevant market data. Where
customer satisfaction, ineffective sales reps, inaccurate
do they even start? With a Pivotal CRM Analytics solution,
forecasting, and difficulty monitoring sales trends. With
they can quickly view the relationship between business
a Pivotal CRM Analytics solution, the sales VP can track,
dimensions to uncover anomalies. Then they can lead
measure, and understand key performance indicators
targeted campaigns based on history, trends, buying
(KPIs). It becomes possible to keep a “scorecard” to
habits, and inventory levels.
drive the sales organization. It also becomes possible to
scan aggregate data for trends and patterns that reveal For example, through a Marketing Dashboard, they can
new opportunities. monitor campaign performance relative to forecast and
budget to analyze trends. Non-performing campaigns
For example, through a Pivotal CRM SmartPortal
with a particular offer show up immediately, and help to
Dashboard, the sales VP might notice that “sales lost for
determine which programs need to be adjusted as soon
price” is increasing. He or she drills down on the measure
as possible and in what priority. They can now ask a
and selects the “by product interest” dimension to gain
business analyst to create new, targeted campaigns with
insight into which products were lost due to price, and
a clearer sense of what results are needed and why.
what a “winning” customer profile looks like. They learn
that deals for a particular high-end product were lost
primarily for price reasons, but that winning customers The Business Analyst
tend to be from the high-tech manufacturing sector. A business analyst has trouble analyzing data in
Based on this insight, they implement a program to a business context due to poor access to the relevant
identify the customer’s industry type earlier in the sales pieces of information. It exists, but where and how do
cycle, so that pricing can be differentiated accordingly. they get it? First and foremost, they need a business
view of the data to perform both “what if” analysis, and
The Sales Director pattern identification. A Pivotal CRM Analytics solution
provides these capabilities.
Sales directors need to manage the business
performance of their teams and ensure execution on For example, let’s suppose the business analyst’s
business strategies. What challenges often arise? immediate goal is to segment customers to create the
Difficulty forecasting sales accurately and identifying audience list for an upcoming marketing campaign.
ineffective sellers on the team. A Pivotal CRM Analytics They can use the analytics application to monitor
solution makes it possible for the sales director to monitor information according to current customer segmentation.
sales forecasts and analyze the performance of each With a view into opportunities by campaign, industry,
sales rep in relation to these forecasts, to uncover top won and lost deals, cycle time, and top ten customers,
performers and underperformers. their analysis is now straightforward. They discover which
Pivotal CRM | White Paper 7

9. campaigns are more successful than others and provides Data Warehouse: A database designed to support
the marketing VP with the best, most targeted list of decision-making in organizations. It is batch-updated
prospects for that campaign, with the confidence that and structured for rapid online queries and managerial
the success rates will rise. summaries. A data warehouse is a subject-oriented,
integrated, time-variant, non-volatile collection of data
Conclusion used to support managerial decision-making processes.
A CRM analytics solution is a powerful tool for exploring Extraction, Transformation, and Loading (ETL): Refers
and navigating data by dimensions to provide a “big- to the methods involved in accessing and manipulating
picture view” of a business situation. Analysis of customer source data and loading it into a data warehouse. The
data makes it possible to view, investigate, and act upon order in which these processes are performed varies.
potentially unknown anomalies and trends, leading to
smarter, more informed decision-making. Multi-Dimensional Analysis: A process of analyzing data
in which the data is grouped into two basic categories: data
However, most enterprises do not have the resources, dimensions and measurements. Multi-dimensional analysis
tolerance for risk, or willingness to wait years before supports the ability to execute queries that summarize data
seeing a return on their investment in an analytics solution. across one or more nested, logical groups.
These organizations need software better suited to their
project timelines and financial resources—software that Multi-Dimensional Database: A database that captures
delivers on its promises, is easy to use, and demonstrates and presents data as arrays that can be arranged
measurable results quickly. in multiple dimensions. These arrays of values
(usually numeric) are “dimensioned” by the database.
Pivotal CRM Analytics solutions are designed for practical Multi-dimensional views of data are especially powerful
businesses that want insightful decision support, for analytical OLAP applications.
without committing to major expenditures and years of
implementation, and customization. Built around the Online Analytical Processing (OLAP): Software for
criteria of quick results, modular design, predictable manipulating multi-dimensional data stored in a data
and tolerable costs, capitalizing on available resources warehouse. OLAP software can create various views
and familiar tools, flexibility and interoperability, and and representations of the data; data analysis may
industry-specific functionality, the Pivotal CRM team include pre-defined descriptive statistics, user-defined
delivers practical CRM analytics solutions for today’s queries executed against the data, or customized,
agile enterprise. data-driven models.
OLAP Cube: A multi-dimensional set of data created from
operational data. The number of possible aggregations
Analytics Glossary in an OLAP cube is determined by every possible way
that the original data can be linked hierarchically. Due to
Analytics: Application software designed to measure, the potential number of aggregations to be calculated,
predict, and optimize business performance. Analytics a pre-determined number are fully calculated while the
applications structure and automate groups of tasks remainder are solved when demanded.
related to optimizing business operations or discovering
business opportunities. They function independently of Report and Query Tools: Software tools that
core transactional systems, integrate data from multiple produce tabular lists of information from data stored
sources, and support a time-based dimension for in a relational database.
analyzing trends.
Business Intelligence (BI): An umbrella term introduced
by Howard Dresner of the Gartner Group in 1989 to
describe a set of concepts and methods to improve
business decision-making by using fact-based decision-
support systems.
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