SSAS: Synchronize

As SSAS databases get larger and larger, deployment becomes a bigger and bigger problem. How can we ensure that databases are easily and quickly deployed across from development to production with minimal downtime? For some environments, SLA's dictate that analysis services database must be available for querying 24×7, with seconds for downtime, especially for global companies. When it comes to deployment, there are 4 options to deploy: backup and restore the development database across, using the ssas deployment wizard, scripting the database using an alter xmla command, or using synchronize. backup and restore is slow and cumbersome, using the wizard is, well, using the wizard, and scripting the database with an xmla command is a decent strategy for deployment, although once you've run your script, the database needs to be completely re-processed before it can be queried again. In comes synchronize to the rescue!