When a new dimension must be added, consultants do not have to get involved

Description

Ability for the system administrator or finance manager to add a dimension to the model, like Product, Department, Channel and so on without having to be an expert in system architecture. This should be in an understandable interface that does not require any coding or developer support.

Example Use Case

Scenario: An eCommerce company sells exclusively through their own website. They decide to expand their business through Amazon and Walmart. This requires them to add a dimension called “Channel”.

Solution: After logging into the administrative interface of their planning platform, they navigate to an interface with various dimension hierarchies. They're able to add the dimension and associate it with the necessary parts of the model. It shows the user any impacted formulas and reports.

Considerations

It is important to know your dimensions before embarking on an implementation, even if you decide to add more in the future. Dimensions are the backbone of analytics databases and as such can be a bit rigid when looking to make changes. This rigidity can be very frustrating when, in a few years, the business changes and you need to change with it - and the system blocks you from doing so.

Products that sit exclusively on top of an OLAP / cube database generally struggle here, as most formulas and rules are based on a known set of dimensions. These are usually things like version, time, subsidiary, department, location, product, project and so on. When something is added to that list after the fact those formulas can be broken and sheets will stop rendering, or will calculate incorrectly due to the new dimension being missing in their formulas.

Other products that sit on a relational database don't have those problems, at least as bad. And to make it more confusing, some products just don't seem to have dimensions at all.

In summary, if you are a growing business, it is likely that some sort of major structural change will come your way in the near future. Being able to modify the structure of the model is incredibly important if you need to be nimble.

Questions to Ask a Vendor

• Ease of Use: How can we add a dimension if the need arises? What type of training will we require to do this without damaging the model?
• Scalability: How well can your system handle potentially rapid and regular additions of new dimensions as our business evolves?
• Dimension Integration: How seamlessly can the new dimensions be integrated with our existing reports and analytics features?