Microsoft: XML for Analysis Specs

Microsoft today released the first beta of XML for Analysis specifications, a new protocol to combine the Redmond Giants business intelligence strategy with the Visual Studio .Net vision of Web services. The new specs have been collaborated on by 50 of the industry's biggest players, and is built on XML, HTTP, and SOAP.

Many cross-platform data analysis developers praise the protocol as the "first cross-platform solution designed to address the unique challenges of analytical data access and manipulation."

XML for Analysis acts as an extension for OLE DB for OLAP and OLE DB for Data Mining to enable developers to create "better Web services for analytic data."

According to the press release at Microsoft, Hurwitz Group research director of business intelligence Philip Russom believes XML for Analysis "addresses this need [for accesses analytic databases] with a protocol that's based on Internet standards and optimized for interaction with Web services. Unlike newer attempts at a standard protocol, XML for Analysis is based on OLE DB for OLAP, which has seen almost three years of industry review, IT implementation and support by third-party analytic software. And it's not just for OLAP; XML for Analysis also supports Web-based data mining."

For more information read the press release over at Microsoft.