Lost In The Warehouse 1

[Nuffsaid]

Hi Everyone,

First off, I think an introduction is appropriate.

I’m the finance guy who feeds off what you make available.

I use Crystal to develop, and deliver reports over the web, via Enterprise and Seagate Info.

Our goal is to create a data warehouse, which will store all relevant info from three companies into a central location. But, I’m not quite sure “What They’re Doing Back There” … is OK!

From what I’ve seen, They Need Help!!

I don’t know what “Process” they’re using to “collect the data” is, all I know is, “It’s Not Consistent”.

Any ideas, comments, magical solutions would be appreciated….

Nuffsaid.

 

[schold]

Hi!

The magical solution is not available, yet. But let them (and you) read the 'bible' written by Ralph Kimball: 'The Data Warehouse Lifecycle Toolkit'. All those 'processes' (and more) are in there. Check Mr. Kimball at

http://www.ralphkimball.com.

There are more books advertised ...

 

[Nuffsaid]

Thanks for the tip, I'll be checking it out for sure.

Nuffsaid.

 

[DWguy]

Nuffsaid,
Great questions... glad to see a business person willing to question IT. I recommend picking up the book "Secrets of the Best Data Warehouses in the World" by Tom Coffing. Also, this web site has some general info on data warehousing that you might find useful

http://www.teradata.com/business/default.asp

The key to successful DW is not limiting the business users. Don't let IT build siloed data marts. A good DW enables cross-functional enterprise analysis. Detail data is good. And always remember that answers to today's questions will drive additional questions and so on (ad hoc queries). Business users should be able to get at the data they need with little to know IT intervention. Hope this helps! Good luck and don't be shy about questioning IT's methods.