Palo is a memory resident multidimensional (OLAP

OLAP

In computing, online analytical processing, or OLAP , is an approach to swiftly answer multi-dimensional analytical queries. OLAP is part of the broader category of business intelligence, which also encompasses relational reporting and data mining...

 or MOLAP

MOLAP

MOLAP stands for Multidimensional Online Analytical Processing.MOLAP is an alternative to the ROLAP technology...

) database

Database

A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...

 server and typically used as a Business Intelligence

Business intelligence

Business intelligence mainly refers to computer-based techniques used in identifying, extracting, and analyzing business data, such as sales revenue by products and/or departments, or by associated costs and incomes....

 tool for Controlling and Budgeting purposes with Spreadsheet

Spreadsheet

A spreadsheet is a computer application that simulates a paper accounting worksheet. It displays multiple cells usually in a two-dimensional matrix or grid consisting of rows and columns. Each cell contains alphanumeric text, numeric values or formulas...

 software acting as the user interface. Beyond the multidimensional data concept, Palo enables multiple users to share one centralised data storage ("Single version of the truth

Single version of the truth

In computerized business management, svot, or Single Version of the Truth, is a technical concept describing the data warehousing ideal of having either a single centralised database, or at least a distributed synchronised database, which stores all of an organisation's data in a consistent and...

").

This type of database

Database

A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...

 is suitable to handle complex data models for business management and statistics. Apart from multidimensional queries, data can also be written back and consolidated real-time. In order to give rapid access to all data, Palo stores them in the memory during run time. The server is available as Open Source

Open source

The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...

 and Closed Source.

Jedox was founded by Kristian Raue in 2002 and developed by Jedox AG, a company based in Freiburg

Freiburg

Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In the extreme south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain...

, Germany. The company currently employs approximately 60 people.

Features

Palo for Excel is a Open Source Add-in for Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel is a proprietary commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications...

. There is also an Open Source Add-In for OpenOffice.org

OpenOffice.org

OpenOffice.org, commonly known as OOo or OpenOffice, is an open-source application suite whose main components are for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, and databases. OpenOffice is available for a number of different computer operating systems, is distributed as free software...

 named PalOOCa, with Java and web client also available from the JPalo project http://www.jpalo.com/en/. Palo can also be integrated into other systems via its Java

Java (programming language)

Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...

, PHP

PHP

PHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...

, C

C (programming language)

C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....

/C++, .NET

.NET Framework

The .NET Framework is a software framework that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It includes a large library and supports several programming languages which allows language interoperability...

 client libraries. It is fairly easy to communicate with Palo OLAP Server, since it uses REST

Rest

Rest may refer to:* Leisure* Human relaxation* SleepRest may also refer to:* Rest , a pause in a piece of music* Rest , the relation between two observers* Rest , a 2008 album by Gregor Samsa...

.

Starting in October 2008, Palo supports XML for Analysis

XML for Analysis

XML for Analysis is an industry standard for data access in analytical systems, such as OLAP and data mining. XMLA is based on other industry standards such as XML, SOAP and HTTP...

 and MDX

Multidimensional Expressions

Multidimensional Expressions is a query language for OLAP databases, much like SQL is a query language for relational databases. It is also a calculation language, with syntax similar to spreadsheet formulas.-Background:...

 APIs for connectivity, as well as OLE DB for OLAP interface which allows standard Excel Pivot Tables to serve as a client tool.

Architecture

Palo Suite is a tightly integrated framework consisting of: Palo MOLAP Server, Palo ETL Server, Palo Web (Palo Spreadsheet - Connection, User, ETL, File and Report Manager), Palo for Excel, Palo Supervision Server and the Palo Client Libraries.

The Data in Palo database is stored as a cube in the Palo MOLAP server. The Palo Excel Add-In component is used as a service to communicate between the Excel and the Palo MOLAP Server.
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Additional Sources

• Bernd Held, Hartmut Erb: Advanced Controlling mit Excel. Unternehmenssteuerung mit OLAP und PALO, m. CD-ROM., Franzis, Poing 2006, ISBN 978-3-7723-7585-9 (in German)
• Guides - Documentation to Palo (pdf) in the download section of the website
• Interview with Kristian Raue - CEO of Jedox about Palo
• Business Intelligence: One Version of the Truth ComputerWorld, Julia King, 2003-12-22
• Announcing Enterprise Excel Exceluser.com, Charley Kyd, Dec 2006
• b-eye network article - Open Source OLAP in the Retail Environment. John Hobson, Feb 2008
• Palo 3.0 Manual - Advanced Palo Manual (FREE Download), Palo Toolbox, Aug 2009, (German)
• Localised RUSSIAN PALOOCA - Russian localised client Palo Server

External links

• Palo - Open-Source MOLAP Server for Windows/Linux and Microsoft Excel interface, documentation, demos and forum
• Palo project on SourceForge.net - Palo project on SourceForge.net
• Palo project page on ohloh.net - Palo project page on ohloh.net
• JPalo - Java software for Palo
• Russian Forum - Forum Russian users