Daman Consulting Expands OLAP Services

AUSTIN, TX—March 6, 2001— Seeking to augment its suite of Business Intelligence (BI) services, Daman Consulting today announced the expansion of its On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) practice. The announcement comes on the heels of Daman's Enterprise Integration practice launch, which took place in February. Daman tapped Norman Comstock, a veteran of the insurance, energy and manufacturing industries, to lead its expanded OLAP operation

"While we have extensive experience in BI services, we realize that OLAP usage continues to grow across nearly every major industry," notes Gita Lal, President and CEO of Daman Consulting. "Modern OLAP technology allows end users much more direct and intuitive access to corporate data, which helps explain its increased usage. Norman brings in-depth, hands-on experience with advanced OLAP techniques, plus years of experience in several key markets."

Comstock comes to Daman from Ideon, Inc. in Naperville, IL, where he managed the development of a successful consulting practice which developed strong relations with IBM, and secured clients such as the Houston Casualty Company, Ford Motor Company and Campbell-Ewald. Prior to that, he worked at Compaq Computer Corporation and Texaco, Inc., both in Houston, TX. Comstock earned a Masters in International Business and an MBA in Marketing.

"You need a keen understanding of databases and data warehouses in order to fully harness the power of an OLAP solution," says Comstock. "That's why this new Daman practice is such a perfect fit. Daman has years of experience across a broad range of industries. Combine that with our new Enterprise Integration practice and this OLAP component, and you've got the full complement of advanced BI services."

OLAP is a category of software technology that enables analysts, managers and executives to synthesize and analyze large volumes of data through fast, consistent, interactive access to a wide variety of possible views of information. Typically, the information presented has been transformed from raw data to reflect the real dimensionality of the business as understood by the user.

One key indicator to the rise in OLAP solutions is the number of major players that have entered the fray. Both Microsoft and IBM have joined companies such as Hyperion in offering OLAP software. At this year's TDWI Conference in Palm Springs, CA, a solid half-dozen vendors displayed new or upgraded tools for online analytical processing.

OLAP functionality is characterized by dynamic, multi-dimensional analysis of consolidated business data. To effectively support end-user analytical and navigational activities, OLAP engines enable:

• calculations and modeling applied across dimensions, through hierarchies and/or across members;
• trend analysis over sequential time periods;
• slicing subsets for on-screen viewing;
• drill-down to deeper levels of consolidation;
• reach-through to underlying detail data;
• rotation to new dimensional comparisons in the viewing area.

While some of the functionality afforded by an OLAP solution can be accomplished with a traditional data mart, the real key is speed and efficiency. "OLAP gives decision-makers the information they need to make timely enterprise decisions," says Comstock. "Whereas two, three years ago such information-gathering might take days or even weeks, today's OLAP technology allows these executives to drill down to the data they need in a matter of minutes or even seconds. The competitive advantage here is substantial."

Daman Consulting provides advanced enterprise business intelligence solutions for a broad range of industries. Daman's offerings enable enterprises to fully leverage information assets across all channels of corporate operation and communication. The Daman approach combines traditional data analysis, data warehousing, data access and OLAP implementations with more holistic services which are geared towards integrating operational and analytical systems. These services include enterprise portal implementations, closed-loop analysis, intelligent enterprise integration, and adaptive information architectures. Greater profitability results through improved enterprise decision-making and responsiveness based on real-time business intelligence. Daman is one of 30 companies worldwide to participate in Microsoft's Business Intelligence Professional Advisory Council. For more information, visit Daman's Web site at http://www.damanconsulting.com.