SQL Server Analysis Services

SQL Server Analysis Services, or SSAS for short, is an essential part of the business intelligence stack on the SQL Server used for online analytical processing (OLAP). Microsoft's first entrance to the OLAP world began in 1996 when Microsoft purchased a company called Panorama Software and implemented the solution into SQL Server 7.0, known as SQL Server OLAP Services 7.0, which was released 2 years after the purchase. Since SQL Server 2000, this component has been known as SQL Server Analysis Services. This was mainly due to the addition of data mining services into OLAP, which enhanced the feature set in a great way.

When we're working with Analysis Services these days, we can choose three types of installations. The oldest model was Multidimensional, then Microsoft added PowerPivot around the release of SQL Server 2008 R2, and the latest addition is the Tabular Mode introduced with SQL Server 2012: