MicroStrategy is a premier business intelligence tool that delivers profound insights into data trends through an extensive array of analytical features. It provides users with sophisticated analytics, data discovery, and visualization capabilities, along with Embedded BI for seamless integration into applications. Additionally, it generates comprehensive reports and statements. This software seamlessly interfaces with a vast array of data sources including databases, data warehouses, web services, and relational systems, facilitating a robust data analysis platform. Acquiring skills in MicroStrategy can unlock numerous career opportunities in the tech industry, catering to the growing demand for data-driven decision-making.
Define MicroStrategy
Features
- Data Discovery: MicroStrategy excels in connecting to a variety of data sources, including flat files, relational databases, big data sources, and cloud systems, to compile and analyze data for comprehensive reporting.
- Data Wrangling: This feature enables users to transform raw data into actionable insights, allowing for customization and manipulation to meet specific analytical needs, beneficial to both data scientists and business users.
- Data Mining and Predictive Analytics: The tool integrates effectively with third-party data mining and modeling applications, facilitating the creation of predictive and accessible reports for a broad user base.
- Analytical Functions: With an extensive library of nearly 300 functions covering OLAP, data mining, mathematical, and financial analyses, MicroStrategy supports the creation of dynamic and insightful reports.
- Real-time Dashboards and Mobile Accessibility: It provides capabilities to develop dashboards for real-time data monitoring, which are accessible on mobile devices, enhancing decision-making on the go.
- Embedded BI: MicroStrategy's integration with other applications such as IBM WebSphere, SharePoint, and WebLogic offers ready-to-use development portals, allowing for smooth interaction and user access within various applications.
Important terminologies
- Facts: Fundamental data elements used as the basis for metrics, stored within the data warehouse.
- Attributes: Descriptors that provide context to facts, enriching the data with additional detail.
- Attribute Elements: The specific data values that appear on a report, representing the attributes.
- Metrics: Calculations applied to data to produce insightful reports for aiding decision-making processes.
- Prompts: Tools for dynamically altering the content of a report based on user interaction.
- Reports: Tailored datasets refined according to user needs and business objectives for analysis.
Key differences between Tableau and MicroStrategy
|
Factor |
Tableau |
MicroStrategy |
|
Tool description |
A data visualization tool known for creating
interactive and shareable dashboards. |
A comprehensive BI platform that provides analytics,
mobile apps, and security. |
|
Usage |
Primarily used for data exploration and
visualization. Offers a user-friendly interface with drag-and-drop
capabilities. |
Used for in-depth analytics, including data
discovery, advanced analytics, and reporting. It often requires a more
structured approach to data analysis. |
|
Features |
·
Robust data visualization
capabilities ·
Real-time data analysis ·
Strong community and support ·
Extensive data connectivity
options |
·
Wide array of BI tools ·
Scalable and extensive mobile
capabilities ·
Advanced and predictive
analytics ·
Strong governance and
security features |
|
Pre-requisites |
·
No need for extensive
training ·
Knowledge of data analysis
and visualization concepts |
·
May require training for
advanced features ·
Understanding of data
warehousing and BI concepts |
|
User group |
·
Data analysts ·
Business users ·
Individuals with less
technical expertise |
·
Data scientists ·
IT professionals ·
Business users with a need
for complex analytics |
What is the Architecture of MicroStrategy
The MicroStrategy platform is built on a
meta-driven architecture with metadata serving as the core repository that
supports all MicroStrategy products, allowing for object reusability across the
suite.
Here's an outline of the MicroStrategy
architecture:
- Object Layer
- Administration Objects: Focuses on
security, performance tuning, and managing user groups.
- Report Objects: Handles the
assembly of building blocks for textual and graphical data analysis.
- Analysis Objects: Provides
fundamental building blocks derived from the schema layer.
- Schema Objects: Offers a tailored
logical view of the database schema, aligning with various business
models.
- ROLAP Architecture
- Dynamic MDX Engine: Generates
Multidimensional Expressions for interfacing with OLAP databases like SAP
BW, Microsoft Analysis Services, and Hyperion Essbase.
- Dynamic SQL Engine: Produces
optimized SQL for data retrieval.
- Freeform SQL Engine: Grants direct
access to a variety of data sources, such as spreadsheets, databases, and
text files, through manual SQL input or a graphical query interface.
- Unified Metadata
- This component consolidates various data sources, treating
them as a single cohesive entity for streamlined data processing and
analysis.
