Username:CentennialCollegeLibraryBook:TheDataWarehouseToolkit:TheDefinitiveGuidetoDimensionalModeling,3rdEdition.

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GoalsofDataWarehousingandBusinessIntelligence
Beforewedelveintothedetailsofdimensionalmodeling,itishelpfultofocusonthefundamentalgoalsofdatawarehousingandbusinessintelligence.Thegoalscanbereadilydevelopedby
walkingthroughthehallsofanyorganizationandlisteningtobusinessmanagement.Theserecurringthemeshaveexistedformorethanthreedecades:

Wecollecttonsofdata,butwecan'taccessit.
Weneedtosliceanddicethedataeverywhichway.
Businesspeopleneedtogetatthedataeasily.
Justshowmewhatisimportant.
Wespendentiremeetingsarguingaboutwhohastherightnumbersratherthanmakingdecisions.
Wewantpeopletouseinformationtosupportmorefactbaseddecisionmaking.
Based on our experience, these concerns are still so universal that they drive the bedrock requirements for the DW/BI system. Now turn these business management quotations into
requirements.

TheDW/BIsystemmustmakeinformationeasilyaccessible.ThecontentsoftheDW/BIsystemmustbeunderstandable.Thedatamust
beintuitiveandobvioustothebusinessuser,notmerelythedeveloper.Thedata'sstructuresandlabelsshouldmimicthebusinessusers'
thoughtprocessesandvocabulary.Businessuserswanttoseparateandcombineanalyticdatainendlesscombinations.Thebusiness
intelligencetoolsandapplicationsthataccessthedatamustbesimpleandeasytouse.Theyalsomustreturnqueryresultstotheuserwith
minimalwaittimes.Wecansummarizethisrequirementbysimplysayingsimpleandfast.
TheDW/BIsystemmustpresentinformationconsistently.ThedataintheDW/BIsystemmustbecredible.Datamustbecarefully
assembledfromavarietyofsources,cleansed,qualityassured,andreleasedonlywhenitisfitforuserconsumption.Consistencyalsoimplies
commonlabelsanddefinitionsfortheDW/BIsystem'scontentsareusedacrossdatasources.Iftwoperformancemeasureshavethesame
name,theymustmeanthesamething.Conversely,iftwomeasuresdon'tmeanthesamething,theyshouldbelabeleddifferently.
TheDW/BIsystemmustadapttochange.Userneeds,businessconditions,data,andtechnologyareallsubjecttochange.TheDW/BI
systemmustbedesignedtohandlethisinevitablechangegracefullysothatitdoesn'tinvalidateexistingdataorapplications.Existingdataand
applicationsshouldnotbechangedordisruptedwhenthebusinesscommunityasksnewquestionsornewdataisaddedtothewarehouse.
Finally,ifdescriptivedataintheDW/BIsystemmustbemodified,youmustappropriatelyaccountforthechangesandmakethesechanges
transparenttotheusers.
TheDW/BIsystemmustpresentinformationinatimelyway.AstheDW/BIsystemisusedmoreintensivelyforoperationaldecisions,raw
datamayneedtobeconvertedintoactionableinformationwithinhours,minutes,orevenseconds.TheDW/BIteamandbusinessusersneed
tohaverealisticexpectationsforwhatitmeanstodeliverdatawhenthereislittletimetocleanorvalidateit.
TheDW/BIsystemmustbeasecurebastionthatprotectstheinformationassets.Anorganization'sinformationalcrownjewelsarestored
inthedatawarehouse.Ataminimum,thewarehouselikelycontainsinformationaboutwhatyou'resellingtowhomatwhatpricepotentially
harmfuldetailsinthehandsofthewrongpeople.TheDW/BIsystemmusteffectivelycontrolaccesstotheorganization'sconfidential
information.
TheDW/BIsystemmustserveastheauthoritativeandtrustworthyfoundationforimproveddecisionmaking.Thedatawarehouse
musthavetherightdatatosupportdecisionmaking.ThemostimportantoutputsfromaDW/BIsystemarethedecisionsthataremadebased
ontheanalyticevidencepresentedthesedecisionsdeliverthebusinessimpactandvalueattributabletotheDW/BIsystem.Theoriginallabel
thatpredatesDW/BIisstillthebestdescriptionofwhatyouaredesigning:adecisionsupportsystem.
ThebusinesscommunitymustaccepttheDW/BIsystemtodeemitsuccessful.Itdoesn'tmatterthatyoubuiltanelegantsolutionusing
bestofbreedproductsandplatforms.IfthebusinesscommunitydoesnotembracetheDW/BIenvironmentandactivelyuseit,youhavefailed
theacceptancetest.Unlikeanoperationalsystemimplementationwherebusinessusershavenochoicebuttousethenewsystem,DW/BI
usageissometimesoptional.BusinessuserswillembracetheDW/BIsystemifitisthesimpleandfastsourceforactionableinformation.
Althougheachrequirementonthislistisimportant,thefinaltwoarethemostcritical,andunfortunately,oftenthemostoverlooked.Successfuldatawarehousingandbusinessintelligence
demandsmorethanbeingastellararchitect,technician,modeler,ordatabaseadministrator.WithaDW/BIinitiative,youhaveonefootinyourinformationtechnology(IT)comfortzonewhileyour
otherfootisontheunfamiliarturfofbusinessusers.Youmuststraddlethetwo,modifyingsometriedandtrueskillstoadapttotheuniquedemandsofDW/BI.Clearly,youneedtobringaspectrum
ofskillstothepartytobehavelikeyou'reahybridDBA/MBA.

PublishingMetaphorforDW/BIManagers
WiththegoalsofDW/BIasabackdrop,let'scomparetheresponsibilitiesofDW/BImanagerswiththoseofapublishingeditorinchief.Astheeditorofahighqualitymagazine,youwouldhave
broadlatitudetomanagethemagazine'scontent,style,anddelivery.Anyonewiththisjobtitlewouldlikelytacklethefollowingactivities:

Understandthereaders:
Identifytheirdemographiccharacteristics.
Findoutwhatreaderswantinthiskindofmagazine.
Identifythebestreaderswhowillrenewtheirsubscriptionsandbuyproductsfromthemagazine'sadvertisers.
Findpotentialnewreadersandmakethemawareofthemagazine.
Ensurethemagazineappealstothereaders:
Chooseinterestingandcompellingmagazinecontent.
Makelayoutandrenderingdecisionsthatmaximizethereaders'pleasure.
Upholdhighqualitywritingandeditingstandardswhileadoptingaconsistentpresentationstyle.
Continuouslymonitortheaccuracyofthearticlesandadvertisers'claims.
Adapttochangingreaderprofilesandtheavailabilityofnewinputfromanetworkofwritersandcontributors.
Sustainthepublication:
Attractadvertisersandrunthemagazineprofitably.
Publishthemagazineonaregularbasis.
Maintainthereaders'trust.
Keepthebusinessownershappy.
You also can identify items that should be nongoals for the magazine's editorinchief, such as building the magazine around a particular printing technology or exclusively putting
management'senergyintooperationalefficiencies,suchasimposingatechnicalwritingstylethatreadersdon'teasilyunderstand,orcreatinganintricateandcrowdedlayoutthatisdifficulttoread.
Bybuildingthepublishingbusinessonafoundationofservingthereaderseffectively,themagazineislikelytobesuccessful.Conversely,gothroughthelistandimaginewhathappensifyou
omitanysingleitemultimately,themagazinewouldhaveseriousproblems.
TherearestrongparallelsthatcanbedrawnbetweenbeingaconventionalpublisherandbeingaDW/BImanager.Drivenbytheneedsofthebusiness,DW/BImanagersmustpublishdatathat
hasbeencollectedfromavarietyofsourcesandeditedforqualityandconsistency.Themainresponsibilityistoservethereaders,otherwiseknownasbusinessusers.Thepublishingmetaphor
underscorestheneedtofocusoutwardonyourcustomersratherthanmerelyfocusinginwardonproductsandprocesses.AlthoughyouusetechnologytodelivertheDW/BIsystem,thetechnology
isatbestameanstoanend.Assuch,thetechnologyandtechniquesusedtobuildthesystemshouldnotappeardirectlyinyourtopjobresponsibilities.
Nowrecastthemagazinepublisher'sresponsibilitiesasDW/BImanagerresponsibilities:

Understandthebusinessusers:
Understandtheirjobresponsibilities,goals,andobjectives.
DeterminethedecisionsthatthebusinessuserswanttomakewiththehelpoftheDW/BIsystem.
Identifythebestuserswhomakeeffective,highimpactdecisions.
FindpotentialnewusersandmakethemawareoftheDW/BIsystem'scapabilities.
Deliverhighquality,relevant,andaccessibleinformationandanalyticstothebusinessusers:
Choosethemostrobust,actionabledatatopresentintheDW/BIsystem,carefullyselectedfromthevastuniverseofpossibledata
sourcesinyourorganization.
Maketheuserinterfacesandapplicationssimpleandtemplatedriven,explicitlymatchedtotheusers'cognitiveprocessingprofiles.
Makesurethedataisaccurateandcanbetrusted,labelingitconsistentlyacrosstheenterprise.
Continuouslymonitortheaccuracyofthedataandanalyses.
Adapttochanginguserprofiles,requirements,andbusinesspriorities,alongwiththeavailabilityofnewdatasources.
SustaintheDW/BIenvironment:
TakeaportionofthecreditforthebusinessdecisionsmadeusingtheDW/BIsystem,andusethesesuccessestojustifystaffingand
ongoingexpenditures.

UpdatetheDW/BIsystemonaregularbasis.
Maintainthebusinessusers'trust.
Keepthebusinessusers,executivesponsors,andITmanagementhappy.
Ifyoudoagoodjobwithalltheseresponsibilities,youwillbeagreatDW/BImanager!Conversely,gothroughthelistandimaginewhathappensifyouomitanysingleitem.Ultimately,the
environmentwouldhaveseriousproblems.NowcontrastthisviewofaDW/BImanager'sjobwithyourownjobdescription.Chancesaretheprecedinglistismoreorientedtowarduserandbusiness
issuesandmaynotevensoundlikeajobinIT.Inouropinion,thisiswhatmakesdatawarehousingandbusinessintelligenceinteresting.