Readers:

Today, I am adding the second post in my MicroStrategy Report Optimization series. This will be a multi-part series (I will leave it open-ended so I can continue to add to it).

Today, we will look at the components that comprise performance.

Best Regards,

Michael

Source: MicroStrategy University, Deploying MicroStrategy High Performance BI, V9.3.1, MicroStrategy, Inc. September, 2013.

Components of Performance

There are five key layers or components that a typical BI query must go through. They are:

• Caching Options
• Data Transfer
• System Architecture and Configuration
• Client rendering or Data Presentation
• Data Warehouse Access

The components above are not listed in any specific order of access during the execution of a query. The image below illustrates the five components.

Caching and Intelligent Cubes

MicroStrategy’s memory technology is engineered to meet the increased demand for higher BI performance, which is driven by the rapid expansion of both data volumes and the number of BI users in organizations across industries. MicroStrategy accelerates performance by pre-calculating computations and placing the results into its memory acceleration engine to dramatically improve real-time query performance.

Data Transfer

Data transfer over one or more networks are a very important component of a BI implementation. A slow or poorly tuned network performance in any of those transfers will translate into poor performance from a report or a dashboard execution perspective.

System Architecture and Configuration

Successful BI applications accelerate user adoption and enhance productivity, resulting in demand for more users, data, and reports. MicroStrategy provides the ability to adapt quickly to constant changes and evolve along with business requirements. MicroStrategy Intelligence Server hs been proven in real-world scenarios to deliver the highest performance at scale with the fewest servers and minimum IT overhead.

Data Presentation

Dashboards provide graphical, executive views into KPIs, enabling quick business insights. MicroStrategy enables higher performing dashboards, averaging 30-45% faster execution and interactivity. Using new compression methods, MicroStrategy dashboards have a smaller footprint than ever before – up to to 55% smaller – resulting in faster delivery using less network bandwidth. Dashboards deliver ever more analysis and data for end-users.

Data Warehouse Access

High performance BI starts with optimizing SQL queries to retrieve results from the database as quickly as possible. BI performance is dependent largely on the time that the queries take to execute in the database. An average reporting request usually takes 40 seconds to complete, out of which 34 seconds, or 85% of the query time, is spent executing in the database.

Therefore, it is critical to optimize report queries to reduce database execution time.