Skytide Components
The Skytide Analytical Platform is delivered as two principal components — the Skytide Server for data modeling and analysis, and the Skytide Designer for deploying and managing analysis projects — plus the Skytide software developer kit (SDK).
Figure 1. The Skytide Analytical Platform consists of three primary components, the Skytide Server, Skytide Designer, and Skytide SDK, which are uniquely capable of taking in all types of data and delivering insight through spreadsheet-based analytic tools, reports, and Web-based dashboards.
Skytide Server
The Skytide Server provides automatic data modeling and unique analytical capabilities. It is an open, standards-based analytical server that manages analytical cubes and delivers multi-dimensional query results to users. At the heart of the Skytide Server is an innovative XML architecture that transparently transforms and integrates disparate data sources into a common multidimensional model.
This patent-pending technology dramatically simplifies the analysis of complex data such as XML, HTML, HTTP and e-mail, by compressing the current multi-step analytical modeling process into a single step process while providing the optimum blend of scalability and flexibility.
Skytide Designer
The Skytide Designer is a graphical tool that allows analysts and power users to rapidly design, deploy, and manage on-going or ad-hoc business analysis projects. The Designer provides a guided modeling environment through the XML virtual schemas representing complex data sources in the Skytide Server, allowing analytical models to be "discovered" directly from the data.
The intuitive and easy-to-use interface allows analytical models to be defined through a combination of source data browsing and point-and-click operations. The Designer also offers a data navigation tool to explore data through analytical models, define views, and build reusable queries.
Skytide SDK
The Skytide SDK is a combination of the Skytide API, a programmatic interface to the Skytide Server, and a set of sample applications that enables developers to extend and integrate the Skytide Analytical Platform in various operational environments.
The Skytide API allows companies to customize and extend the power of the Skytide Server to read new data sources and formats, integrate custom clients, or add custom calculations. The API also can be used to script custom administrative utilities to manage server operations.
The sample applications demonstrate how to use the API in various scenarios reflecting different operational environments.