SSAS Lessons Learned: 29% Better Compression and 11% Better Query Performance

This past week I taught the SSAS Masters class which is one of the virtual training classes offered by Pragmatic Works. One of the things we discuss in the class is the importance of sorting the fact data in your data warehouse in preparation for Analysis Services. Simply by sorting your fact data, you can see much improved compression which can also improve your query response time, as well. But how much improvement in compression and query response could you see? Well that's what I set out to discover by running a couple little tests.