O

Object

A person, place, thing, or concept that has characteristics of interest to an environment. In terms of an object-oriented system, an object is an entity that combines descriptions of data and behavior.

On-line Analytical Processing (OLAP)

OLAP is software for manipulating multidimensional data from a variety of sources that has been stored in a data warehouse. The software can create various views and representations of the data. OLAP software provides fast, consistent, interactive access to shared, multidimensional data. Check the Guide to OLAP Terminology from the OLAP Council.

Operational or Transaction Database

The database-of-record for a transaction-update system. The operational database is the source of data for the data warehouse. It contains detailed data used to run the day-to-day operations of the business. The data continually changes as updates are made, and reflect the current value of the last transaction.

Optimize

The decision strategy of choosing the alternative that gives the best or optimal overall value.

Organizational DSS

A Multi-Participant DSS designed to support a decision maker in a setting that has a more elaborate infrastructure than a group (i.e., involving specialized roles, restricted communication patterns, differing authority levels). See enterprise-wide DSS.