Cube Design Choices within an Application

There are a few choices for the use of Cubes within an application, driven by the relationships between data.

1. Single or “Monolithic” Cube is the simplest Application design. These typically have one Workflow Profile structure, though that can vary by Scenario Type.

2. “Linked Cubes” is possible via relationships between multiple Entity dimensions into one superset Entity dimension. The “Top” or “Parent” Cube is configured with Cube References to others. Typically, Extensible Dimensionality is deployed with other dimensions, such as Accounts, allowing the Business Unit Cubes to satisfy their management reporting requirements. There is typically one Workflow Profile structure for all Linked Cubes, though that can vary by Scenario Type. 

3. “Exclusive Cubes” are separate Business Unit Cubes that move their data from a Business Unit to a “Parent” Cube typically via Business Rules or the use of Data Management instead of through configured Cube References. Each separate Cube requires its own Workflow Profile structure, though that can vary by Scenario Type.

4. “Specialty Cubes” refers to special data collections outside of the typical Trial Balance or Planning data loads and is typically encompassed with no parent/child relationships between Cubes. Examples are for headcount or budget drivers. These figures might be referenced by other Cubes via Business Rules or Data Management. Each Specialty Cube would have separate Workflow Profile structures.