Operational and analytical modeling scenarios

The relational database as we know it today emerged in the 1970s—allowing organizations to store their data in a centralized repository instead of on individual tapes. Later that decade, Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) emerged, enabling faster access to data and unlocking new uses for databases such as booking and bank teller systems. This was a paradigm shift for databases, which evolved from data archives to operational systems.

Due to limited resources, data analysis could not be performed on the same database that ran operational processes. The need to analyze operational data gave rise, in the 1980s, to Management Information Systems (MISs), or Decision Support Systems (DSSs) as they later became known. Data would be extracted from the operational database to the DSS, where it could be analyzed according to business needs. OLTP architecture is not best suited for the latter case, so Online Analytical Processing (OLAP...