Excel 2013 - Implications for PowerPivot and Excel Data Import Users-Part I

By now, most readers are aware of the new Data Model object in Excel 2013. But what is the Data Model, and how is it created? What can we do with the Model after it is created? Where does PowerPivot fit in? We will address these, and other questions in this two-part post.

The Data Model is a new Excel object that you use to create PivotTables, PivotCharts, and Power View reports. The Data Model uses a built-in version of xVelocity, which is an in-memory, column-based version of engine that powers Analysis Services. xVelocity stores data that you import in-memory (compressed), and calculates implicit measures (created by dragging a a table field to the values area of a PivotTable) and explicit measures (created using DAX functions). We can create the Data Model using one or more tables. Generally, we create relationships between tables in the Data Model, but there is no absolute requirement to do so. Another key characteristic of the Data Model is it's ability to consume large amounts of data.