SQL Server Tops the OLAP Industry
Companies of all sizes and industries realize the value and importance of business intelligence (BI). Whether it's a small grocery store chain in the United States or an international electronics manufacturer based in Japan, companies are continually trying to build better solutions to monitor, analyze, and plan their businesses.
A robust online analytical processing (OLAP) platform enables users to build BI solutions that deliver everything from basic weekly status reports to complex analytics and business-forecasting applications. Since the release of SQL Server 7.0 in 1998, which included rich, integrated OLAP and BI functionality, the use of SQL Server as an OLAP solution has increased rapidly as more businesses realize the value of building BI applications using SQL Server.
From 1998 to 2002, IBM's revenue share remained relatively flat while Oracle's OLAP revenue share fell significantly from a high of 17 percent to less than 5 percent. Over the same period of time, SQL Server started at zero but outpaced both Oracle and IBM by 2002 with more than 24 percent. The table below illustrates the shift and growth trends as reported in The OLAP Report.
SQL Server offers customers great performance, rich functionality, and solid reliability for business intelligence requirements, and all at a low total cost of ownership. The rapid rise of SQL Server to become a leader in the OLAP market space is further evidence that SQL Server meets the business intelligence needs of customers.
For More Information
To learn more about using SQL Server for your business intelligence needs, check out the following resources:
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