Choosing the Right Business Intelligence Semantic Model

This chapter focuses on Business Intelligence Semantic Models (BISMs), comparing and contrasting the three different types of models, namely, SSAS multidimensional models, Power Pivot models, and tabular models. It then provides a brief overview of where each type fits appropriately, and offers some background as to when one should use one over another. When and how to use a specific model depends on several factors. Often it depends heavily on the amount and type of data, the complexity of the business logic, and the level of security that you must implement. Most organizations, whether large or small, private or public, profit or non‐profit, are organized into three categories: department; teams that span departments; and the entire organization. Similar to the data‐access methods, each model type has a corresponding query language. Multidimensional models use Multidimensional Expressions (MDX); tabular models and Power Pivot use Data analytic expressions (DAX).