TechRepublicResourceGuide

Datawarehousingandbusinessintelligence

Contents
EightstrategiesfordeliveringbusinessintelligenceontheWeb ........................................... 2 These strategies will help companies ensure they are distributing the kind of highquality, actionableBInecessarytomakerealtimebusinessdecisions. Useanalyticsforstrategicbusinessinformationimplementation ......................................... 4 Strategicbusinessinformationcanrevolutionizebusinessanalysisandperformancemonitoring. Findoutwhatyouneedtodotoimplementitinyourcompany. Makingtheoperationalcasefordatawarehousing............................................................... 6 Adatawarehousewillbeabargainandapowerfulstrategictoolthatwillgiveyourcompanya competitive edge... but first you need to convince your organization's decision makers. Here's howtomakeyourcase. 10waystobeginadatawarehouseproject .......................................................................... 8 ITdepartmentstypicallylaunchdatawarehouseprojectswithoutinputfrombusinesspartners, building the business case themselves. But what steps should you take once the project gets greenlighted?Thesepointerswillhelpyougetoffontherightfoot.

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TechRepublicResourceGuide:Datawarehousingandbusinessintelligence

EightstrategiesfordeliveringbusinessintelligenceontheWeb
Thesestrategieswillhelpcompaniesensuretheyaredistributingthekindofhighquality, actionableBInecessarytomakerealtimebusinessdecisions.
BusinesseshavemasteredusingtheWebasacommunicationtool,andwithgoodreason.TheInternet hasproventospeedconnectivitybetweendisparateorganizationsandenableamobileworkforce.Yet leadingorganizationsarerealizingthatusingtheWebchanneltocommunicatebusinessintelligence(BI) innearrealtimefashionsupersedesitsprevioususeasaninformationdisseminationandcollaboration tool. Notsolongago,paperreportingwasdistributedonamonthly,orlessfrequent,basis.Asbusinessusers becamemoreandmoretechnologysavvy,reportingbecamemore"downloadable"ondemand.Astepin therightdirectionintermsofflexibility,yetthishadeachuserslicinganddicingdataashesawfittofind hiddentreasureintheinformation.Mostindividualemployeeshaveneitherafullviewofcorporate objectives,northeexpertknowledgeorthetimetodigforcriticalinformationinraworevensummary data. WhenitcomestodeliveringBI,thegoalsshouldbeaccessibilityandclaritynotflexibility.Endusers shouldnothavetowonderhowtofindtheinformationthattheyarelookingfor,andwhatthe informationtheyarelookingatmeans.Thisfocusisfurtherheightenedwhennewandlesssophisticated deliveryplatformsareconsidered;forexample,mobiledevicesarenotequippedtohandlelargeamounts ofdatamanipulation,butareperfecttoreceivefrequentupdatesofsuccinctbusinessintelligence. Tosucceedintoday'scompetitive,fastpacedbusinessenvironment,itisimperativethattherightcontent isaggregatedanddeliveredtotherightpeopleatthecriticalmomentwhenadecisionmustbeexecuted. Thefollowingeightstrategieswillhelpcompaniesensuretheyaredistributingthekindofhighquality, actionableBInecessarytomakerealtimebusinessdecisions.

#1:Pickthebestdeliveryvehicleforyouraudienceandyourdata
Coremetricsthatusersneedtodevelopaquickandclearunderstandingoftheorganization'sstateof healthshouldnotexceedfivetoeightnumbers.Typically,suchinformationisnotintendedtobeprinted andtakentoameeting,andisthereforewellsuitedforplacementonadashboard,mobiledeviceorina pageletonaportalpage. Detailedreports,ontheotherhand,arebetterlookedatonpaperandshouldbeprovidedindocument format,suchasPDForExcel.Rendereddocumentsprovidemuchmorecontrolovertheappearanceofa printedreportversusHTMLWebpages.

#2:Integratethepresentationlayer
ABIsolutionisoftenbuiltasanaddoncomponenttothetransactionalsystemthatgeneratesmuchof thedata.Userswhoworkwiththetransactionalsystemwantaccesstoreportsfromwheretheyneedit fromwithintheapplicationandaremuchlesslikelytonavigatetoadifferentwebsitethatwould invariablycomewithadifferentuserexperience.Sincethevalueofthereportsdependsdirectlyupona usersabilitytolocate,analyzeandusetheinformationskillfullyandappropriately,werecommendthat thereportsbecomepartoftheapplicationsuserinterface.Furthermore,providingdirectlinksto importantreportsfromkeylocationsontheinterfacewillgiveyoutightercontroloverwherethereports appearandtowhom.

#3:Integratethesecuritylayer
Inordertoeffectivelyintegratethepresentationlayersofyourreportdeliveryapplicationandyour transactionalapplication,itisnecessarytointegratesecuritylayersaswell.Onewaytoaccomplishthisis atrueintegrationwithshareduseraccounts.However,thisapproachcanbecomplicatedifeitherside

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usesproprietarysecurity.Asimulatedintegrationwheretheapplicationauthenticateswiththereporting serverthroughaserviceaccountiscomparablysimpleandstraightforwardtoimplement.Inthisscenario, theapplicationproxiesallrequeststothereportserverandstreamstheresultsbacktotheclient.Thishas theaddedbenefitthatauserdoesnotneedtoaccessthereportserverdirectlysothatitcanbehidden behindafirewall.AreferenceimplementationofaJavaproxyforSQLServerReportingServicesis describedin[1].

#4:Customizethepresentationfortargetdevicesanduserroles
Thereisgreatappealtotheideaofmakingcriticalbusinessinformationavailabletodecisionmakers anywhereintheworld,usingcurrentdataandnotdependingonanyadditionalinfrastructureotherthan acellphoneorPDA.Yet,aspreviouslynoted,clarityandaccessibilitybecomeevenmoreimportantfor mobiledeviceaccess.FullscaleBIreportsaretooungainlytobedeliveredtothesmallscreensof handhelddevices,andcellphonesdon'tcomewithsophisticatedinputdevices.Therefore,BIreportsfor wirelessdevicesshouldbelimitedtoasetofkeyperformanceindicatorsoradashboard.Inaddition, navigationmustbecutdowntowhatisabsolutelynecessary.

#5:Targetreportstousers
Ifaccesstoreportsisintegratedintoatransactionalapplication,parameterscanbepassedtothereport serverthatreflecttheuser'sroleselection,currentnavigationalcontext,andothervaluesthatareport canusetocreateatargetedandcustomizedviewofthedata.Forinstance,iftheapplicationmaintains somesortoforganizationaltreeanduserscannavigatefromthecorporateleveltoregionalandbranch officelevels,thereportscanshowdataforthecurrentlyselectednodeintheorganization.Theuserdoes nothavetonavigatedowntothenodeagaininaseparatereportapplication.

#6:Useacombinedpush/pullmodel
InordertomaximizetheuseofaBIsolution,itcanbehelpfultopushinformationtotheusersinsteadof dependingontheirabilitytopulltheinformationwhenneeded.Ifyourpresentationlayerisalready integratedwithatransactionalapplicationthattheusersrelyononadailybasis,thisinformationpush canbedoneonWebpageswithticklers,"advertisements"andlinkstoreports.Alternatively,report updatescanbepushedviaemail.

#7:Keepinformationtimely
TheclosertorealtimeyourenterpriseBIdatais,themorecostlytheimplementation,especiallyinlarge scaleenterprises.Keepinmindthatinformationisonlyusefulifitpertainstodecisionsthatneedtobe made.Therefore,firmsshouldbejudiciousabouthattheirinformationrequirementstrulyareandplan accordingly.

#8:TakeadvantageofEnterpriseApplicationIntegration(EAI)
Thoughwerecommenddeliveringkeyperformanceindicators(KPIs)withinthepropercontextand application(i.e.,notforcingtheusertoaseparateapplication),calculatinganddeliveringKPIsoften requiresinformationintegratedfromotherapplications. ThisformofEAIcanbeaccomplishedinmanyways,fromthedatabaselevelonuptoWebServices,or withsimplefeedsfromthesystemofrecord.BeawareoftheEAIrequirements,especiallywhenyou consideroutsourcinganyportionofyourcriticaloperation(data). WhiletheWebisaveryeffectivedistributionchannelforbusinessintelligence,Webfeaturesshouldonly beusedwithaspecificgoalinmindortheywillsubtractvaluefromasolution.Evenadisciplined approachwillonlybesuccessfulifthepotentialpitfallsidentifiedabovearebeingmanagedproperly.BIis mosteffectivethroughthemergerofEAIinitiativeswithrelevantpositioningofbusinessintelligence.The powerofEAIandBItogetherallowsaconcisefocusoncreatingbusinessvalue:disseminatingeasily understoodinformationtoeachemployeesuniqueinformationrequirements,withoutrequiringslicing anddicingontheirownandinnearrealtime(NRT)fashion.

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Useanalyticsforstrategicbusinessinformationimplementation
Strategicbusinessinformationcanrevolutionizebusinessanalysisandperformancemonitoring. Findoutwhatyouneedtodotoimplementitinyourcompany.
Whenyoufirstbecameawareofthebusinessinformationwarehouseconcept,itwasprobablyputforth asatoolofexpediencewhichitcertainlyis.Andthenyouprobablycametoappreciateitasaradical repositioningoftheenduserintheinformationprocessingfoodchain. ButyoumaynothavegonesofarastoclassifyBIasastrategicinstrumentofparadigmshifting importance.Andthisitcanbe,ifyoucanbringyourcompany'smanagementaroundtoanewpointof view.BIoffersmanagementanewstrategicedge,ameansofimplementingbusinessperformance managementthedynamicmeasurementandpursuitofperformancegoalsfromnontraditional perspectives.Thenewbreedofmanagerspringingupinthecorporateworldtoutsthisapproachwith increasingfrequency.It'suptoyoutoprovidethetoolstomakeitareality. Howisthisachieved?Itisachievedwithtimely,attheirfingertipsactionableintelligence,information thatenablesyourmanagement'sdecisionsupportsystem.Thebusinessinformationwarehouseprovides this,intheformofproblemspecific,departmentspecificaggregationsofdatacalleddatamarts,along withaprocessingframeworkcalledanalytics.

Lifeinthefastlane
Theideabehindthebusinessinformationwarehouseistoteardownthetraditionalinformation processingbridgeandbuildanewone.Whereapplicationsusedtoconnectuserstodata,nowtheuseris theconnectionbetweenthedataandtheapplication.Theideaistocreateastorehouseofhighly accurateandusefuldatathatausercanaccessrapidly,flexibly,andeasily,inordertofacilitateamore responsivebusinessenvironmentbasedonevermoreaccurateforecasting. Suchawarehouseisobviouslytheculminationofdecadesofdreamingintherealmofbusinessreporting. Butwhydoweneedsuchreports?Weneedthemforanalysis,ofcourse,andformonitoringour business'sperformanceatthemoment.Anditisinthisareathatthewarehousebecomesatruestrategic advantageforyourcompany.Youmustcultivateanalytics,andyoumustmodelyoursystemto accommodatethem. Buteventhisisonlyahalfwaymeasure.Whatistheanalyticalgoalofacompanythatisdoing performancemanagement?Itistoevaluatetheperformanceofthecompanyasawholeasadynamic, producingsystemratherthanasanaggregationofindividualdepartments.Tothisend,weneedto reconsiderbothourdatawarehouseandourapproachtoanalytics. Manycompaniesimplementingadatawarehouseandanalyticapplicationsthatmakeuseofitdosowith noforethoughttocoordinationofthoseapplications.Thisisfineforanalyzingandmonitoringthe performanceofadepartment,butitdoesn'tdomuchforthecompanyasawhole.Byallmeans,have departmentspecificorbusinessareaspecificdatamartsandlocalanalytics,butoptimizeyourinvestment bycoordinatingyouranalyticsanddatamartsacrossyourentireoperation.Here'show.

Modelingforcompanywidecoordination
WhatyouneedfromyourBIinvestmentisanewparadigmfortheuseofinformation.Youwantto leveragethedatayourcompanyhasaccumulatedtooptimizeperformance,companywide.Whilethe departmentbydepartmentimprovementsrealizedbydatamart/localanalyticpointsolutionsmaybe thoughtofastacticalactivity,acompanywideeffortis,bydefinition,strategic:Youwanttouse informationinwaysthatchangesthemannerinwhichyoudobusiness.Let'scarrytheuseofmilitary termsastepfurtherandstopusingthewordinformation;instead,let'scallitintelligence. Inamilitaryoperation,intelligenceisuselessifitisn'tshared.Ifyou'reageneraltryingtotakethebeach, youmustcoordinatetheactivityofamphibioustroopcarriers,navalsupport,airsupport,anddeployed
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troops.Eachoftheseindividualunitshasinformationavailabletoitthatislocallyuseful.Butthat usefulnessisseverelycurtailedifitisnevershared(and,inparticular,ifitisneversharedwithyou). Ourfirstprincipleinstrategicoptimizationofdatawarehouseintelligence,then,is: Analyticalintelligencegleanedfromthedatawarehouseatthedepartmentallevelmustbe shared/availablethroughoutthecompany. What'sthehandsonstepthatmakesthishappen?Turnyourdatamartsandlocalanalyticsintoa businessknowledgenetwork.Therearemanyapproachestothis,andtheyallhingeonthesoftware you'veusedtoimplementBIandyourinhousenetworkinfrastructure.That'sdetailwork.Whereyou mustputrealplanningisinthelayerbetweenthestorage/communicationstechnologyandthedata warehouse. Whatexactlywillyoubepassingaround?Thisiswhereyourattentionwillgo.Theinformationthatshould bepassedbetweendepartments/businessunitsandmadeavailabletothehighestlevelsofmanagement isthatwhichmeetsanyorallofthesecriteria: Isit"active"information?(i.e.,isitcurrentandreliable,anddodecisionshingeuponit?) Doesitaffectperformanceatthedepartmentallevel,orisitinformationthatdescribesperformance insuchawayastoaffectdecisionstobemadeatanyotherlevelorforanyother department/businessunit? Doestheinformationcontributetotheperformancemeasureorrealtimemonitoringofthe company'shighlevelperformancegoals? Cantheinformationbeindicativeofcurrentorimpendinginterruptionsordegradationsineither departmentalorcompanyperformance? Doestheinformationaffectthetimelinessofperformanceortheresponsebyanydepartmentorthe companyingeneral?

Onceyou'vedetermined,departmentbydepartment,whatinformationfeedsdecisionmakinginthis manner,youhaveessentiallyclassifiedthecoreintelligenceknowledgeforyourcompany'sdecision supportsystem.Youmustnowformalizetheregularandtimelygenerationofthisinformation,usingdata martsandanalytics,atthedepartmentallevel.Thisyouwillleaveinthehandsofthepeoplewhoownthe data(that'swhyyouhaveadatawarehouse,sothattheycandoforthemselvesjustmakesuretheydo it). Yournextstepistosetupanotificationsystemthatwillpassintelligencefromdepartmenttodepartment, makingyourontheflyintelligencemetricsadefactodistributedsystem.Forexample,whensales determinesthatthere'sincreaseddemandforaproductinthemarketplace,thesystemwillpassively notifyproduction,warehousing,logistics,andseniormanagement.Thesenotificationswillalmostalways betomultiplerecipients,becausemostbusinessactivity,viewedfromahighlevel,isdefinednotby departmentalactivitybutbyinteractionsbetweendepartments. Yoursecondmajorinitiative,then,is: Makedepartmentalperformancemetricspartofadistributed,companywidesystembybuildinginmeans ofnotificationtootherdepartmentswhendataindicatesanincreaseordecreaseinperformance.

Talktotheboss
Next,you'llneedasetofhighlevelanalyticsforintelligencepassingfromthedepartmentleveltosenior management.Thesewillgeneratecomparativedataforperformancemetricsdefinedbythecompany's performanceasanintegratedwhole.Inaddition,youneedtoconfigureprojectedvs.actualmetrics monitors,datadisplayseasilyunderstoodbydecisionmakersathighlevels,tobefedbytheseintegrated metrics.

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Thesehighlevelanalyticsarekeytoyoursuccess.Thereareseveralimportantprinciplestokeepinmind whiletheyarebeinggenerated: Theyarenotdefinedbyseniormanagement.Rather,seniormanagementtellsyouwhatmustbe measuredinorderforcompanywideperformancetobeeffectivelyoptimized,andyouwillseekout thefunctionalparametersatthedepartmentallevel;tothisend,youneedanexpertfromeacharea helpingtodefinethesehighlevelanalyticsateverystep. Noonepersoncantellyoueveryfactorthatpositivelyornegativelyimpactscompanyperformance, yetthat'swhattheseanalyticsproposetocapture;youmusteffectivelybringtogetheryourmidlevel andlowlevelexpertsandlettheminteractextensivelyinordertomeaningfullydefinetheseanalytics. Theymustbeextensivelytested;sincetheyarepartofasystemintendedforhighlyspecific forecasting,itwillbeimportanttodefineperformanceevaluationforcomparativepurposesatthe departmentalandseniormanagementlevelsandtoassigntheappropriatepartiestooverseethis,for theperiodduringwhichtheefficacyofthesehighlevelanalyticsisbeingdetermined.

Yourfinalobjective,then,is: Createhighlevelanalyticsthatwillpresentseniormanagement(oranyonewhocarestokeeptrack)with accurate,timelymetricsforevaluatingoverallbusinessperformance. Ofcourse,thisisallmucheasiersaidthandone.You'llprobablyputinasmuchmeetingtimeandhaggling overdetailsasyouwouldforamajorconversionorimplementation.Thegoodnewsisthatthisisn'ta majorconversionorimplementation;you'reputtinginlotsofpeopletime,tobesure,butit'stimethat you'llrecoverinbusinessperformanceandyou'llrealizethoseperformancegainsrapidly.Thehappy endingtothestoryisthatit'snotgoingtocostyoumillionsinnewsoftwareoranoverhaulofoldsystems: Youcanbuildsuchastructureontopofwhatyoualreadyhave,usingtoolsyoualreadypossess. Youdon'tneedtoreinventthewheelorrebuildwhatyou'vealreadybuilt.Everythingdescribedaboveis anaddontowhatyoualreadyhaveinplace,ifyou'vedesignedanoncentralized,highlygranulardata warehouse(asmostdatawarehousesshouldbe).Ifyou'vealreadyinvestedinthedatawarehouse,you're morethanhalfwayhome.Andifyouhaven'tconsideredtakingthatinvestmentuptothisnewlevel, considerhowyou'llappeartoseniormanagementwhenyouofferamagicwandlikethis,andtellthem they'vealreadypaidforit;it'sjustamatterofputtingittouse.

Makingtheoperationalcasefordatawarehousing
Adatawarehousewillbeabargainandapowerfulstrategictoolthatwillgiveyourcompanya competitiveedge...butfirstyouneedtoconvinceyourorganization'sdecisionmakers.Here's howtomakeyourcase.
Youknowyouneedadatawarehouse.Theresnodoubtinyourmind.Yourcompetitionisoutforecasting youinanticipatingmarkettrends.Othercompaniesarefastertorespondthanyoursinanincreasingly Webdrivenmarketplace,andyouarentgettingtheefficiencygainsyouneedtocatchup.Yourvarious departmentsarepingingyourproductionsystemtodeathwithqueriesandreportrequests.Youneeda datawarehouse. Asyoumarchdownthehalltomeetwithyourfellowdecisionmakers,doyouknowwhatyouregoingto say?Howdoyousellthisidea?Howdoyouconvincethemtospringforthisshapeless,facelessthingthat hasnoexplicitpricetagandnoexplicitbenefit?Herearesomepointers.

Returnoninvestment?Forgetit...
TheexecutivemindsetofROIasdecisiondriverisntgoingtoworkwhenyoupresenttheplanfor implementingadatawarehouse.Whynot?Becausetheproductionefficiencyandtheincreasedmarket savvythatadatawarehousedeliversarenotthingsyouveevermeasured.YoucantofferaprojectedROI.
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Youcantquantifythebenefitsbecauseyouveneverexperiencedtheminsuchacontext.Indeed,the veryreasonyouwantadatawarehouseinthefirstplaceistodevelopthemetricstocreateabusiness intelligencecapacitythatwouldteachyouhowtoexplicitlymeasureincreasedmarketsavvy.Youre askingforthetimeandmoneytodevelopaninstrumentthatwillmeasureitself. Youcantevendescribewhatyoureultimatelygoingtomeasure,onceyouvedevelopedtheanalytics andperformancemonitoringcapabilityyoureseeking.Whyisthis?Becauseyourhighlevelbusiness performancemetricscanbebasedonfinelydetailed,lowerlevelmetrics,andthesearetheprovinceof analystsyouregoingtogrowinhouse,atthedepartmentallevel.Onlytheyknowwhattheirdriverswill be,andeventheywontreallyknowwhatthemagicnumbersareuntiltheycreatethem. Thisallsoundsverymysticalatfacevalue,anditis,butitsmagicthatworks.Hereswhatyoucansay withconfidence,andhowtosayit.Whiletherearenonumbersattached,itisalogicalcasethathasno reasonablerefutation.

Manyforone,amongothers
Hereswhatyougetforyourmoney,whateverthecostturnsouttobe: Multileveltrendanalysis.Yourfinancialpeopleandsalesandmarketingforceswillacquirethe capacitytodefineandanalyzetrendsateverylevel,fromtheentiremarketdowntoagegroupsby regionoranyotherfinelevelthatmatters.Andtheywillultimatelycontrolthelevelofprecisionof theirforecasting,becausetheywillcontrolthequalityofthedatagoinginandtheresolutionofthe measurements. Companywideperformancemonitoring.Thissamestyleofanalysiscanbeappliedatthe departmentlevel,businessunitlevel,andcompanywide.Youcandevelop,andcontinuallyrefine, metricsthatwillallowyoutocontinuouslyevaluateyourcompanysperformance. Userdefined,usercontrolledreporting.Thisoneishighlightedtomakesureyoudontjumpoverit, becauseitsoundsmundane.Butthereisnooverstatingtheincrediblevalueofthiscapabilityand, moreover,itsthejustificationyouvebeenlookingfor.

Makingyourcase
Considertheoperationalreportingsystemsyouhaveinplace.YouneedlooknofurtherthanOrdersfor anexample.Amassofreportsissuefromthissystem,goingtomanydifferentindividualsinanumberof departments.It'softenthecasethatanyoneoftheseusersisgrabbingtransactionalorders,datafrom OrderHistory,aswellasdatafromdifferentdatabasesaltogether(Customertables,etc.)inorderto assembletheinformationrequired.Whatswrongwiththis?Well,inthefirstplace,sincethereportsare largelystatic,andsincetheinformationisoftenindifferentdatabasesrequiringmultiplequeries,its expensivetooperatethisway.Andthisisbeforeweevenfactorinthecostofdevelopingnewreports. Yourchoice,then,isoneforoneapplicationinvestmentvs.manyforone.Thatis,youneedtomakeclear toyourexecutivedecisionmakersthattheultimatetakehomepointofdatawarehouseimplementation isthatyou'regivingyourusercommunityasingleapplicationthatyieldstheresultsofmanyapplications. Themoneyyoudspendimplementingonemajornewapplicationcanbespentonadatawarehouse,and agreatmanypowerfulapplicationswillspringup.Isntthisthekindofbargainweallshopfor? This,incidentally,leadsyoutoafourthbenefit,tailormadeforyourpeers:Adatawarehouseenablesan ExecutiveInformationSystem.AnEISisanapplicationthatdelivers,indigestform,anyinformationan executiveneedsfordecisionsupport.Thephilosophybehindsuchsystemsisthattypicalexecutivesdo notfallamongtheusersdescribedabove:There'snowaytheyregoingtogotofourorfivesourcesto cobbletogetherthedatatheyneedtodotheirjobs.Theywantwhatevertheycanget,informationwise, bygoingtoaslittletroubleaspossibletogetit.Forsuchusers,adatawarehouseisadreamcometrue.

Whogetsthebill?
Ifyoucantsellthis,thentheyjustarentbuying.Adatawarehouseisgoingtoultimatelybeabargainand apowerfulstrategictoolthatwillgiveyourcompanyacompetitiveedge.Andwhileyoucantofferavery
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solidcostfigure,youcansafelysayitsgoingtobemorethan$100,000andthatitisunlikelytoreach sevenfigures. Whatareyoubuying?IfyoureonanERPplatform(SAPR/3,Oracle,PeopleSoft),youcanbuya developmentkitthatwillgiveyouthetoolsyouneedtoextractandloaddata,andtodevelopdatamining andanalyticapplications.Ifyourenot,theprinciplesremainthesame.Yourebuyingstorage(youalready knowaboutthis),extracttransformload(ETL)softwareforputtingdataintothewarehouse,and softwarefordatamining,andforanalytics(OnlineAnalyticalProcessing,orOLAP).Beyondthis,itsa peopleprocess:Youregoingtopayfortheonthejobtrainingoflocalusersofthisanalyticalfunction, andforthetrialanderrordevelopmentofreportsbymanyuserswhocanmakeuseofthisnewanalytical vs.transactionalmindset. Youllneedtobottomlineit,andthebottomlineisjustwhateveryonewantstohear:withdata warehousing,yourusercommunitywillbeabletodomorewithless.

10waystobeginadatawarehouseproject
ITdepartmentstypicallylaunchdatawarehouseprojectswithoutinputfrombusinesspartners, buildingthebusinesscasethemselves.Butwhatstepsshouldyoutakeoncetheprojectgets greenlighted?Thesepointerswillhelpyougetoffontherightfoot.
HighfunctioningvalueaddedITdepartmentsoperateinaconsultativemode,usingtheenterprise businessmodelandstrategicplantoworkeffectivelywithbusinesspartnerstoidentifytechnologybased solutionsinresponsetorequirementsasarticulatedbythebusiness.Projectsarelaunchedbasedon collaborativelydecidingwhat'sneeded. Adatawarehouse,however,isoneofthefewexamplesofaprojectthat'stypicallyinitiated independentlybyITwithoutinputfromthebusiness.IThastobuildtheinitialbusinesscaseforthedata warehouse,sincefewpeopleoutsidethetechnologydisciplineunderstandwhatadatawarehousereally isorwhatkindofvalueitcanprovide.What'sthebestwaytogetstarted?Herearesomesuggestions.

#1:Determineyourorganization'sappetiteforchange
Whatmakesadatawarehousedifferentfromothertraditionalapplications?Oneobviousansweristhe ratherprofounddifferencebetweentransactional(OLTP)andanalytic(OLAP)processing.Anotheristhe factthatdatawarehousesareadditiveinnature,whichmeanstheydon'tconformtostandardaccounting rulesforfinancialdataandaretolerantofredundancy,aconstructnormalrelationaldatabasesavoidat allcosts. Legacyapplicationstypicallyhavestandardinterfacesandproscribedreportingpackages,butdata warehousesaremostlyaccessedviaadhocsingleusequeries.Dimensionalcubesdon'tlookanythinglike relationaltables.Allinall,theuseofadatawarehouserequiresacompletelydifferentusermindset.Is yourorganizationreadyforthat?Ifnot,youhavetwochoices:Saveyourselfalotofgriefanddon'tstart theprojecttobeginwithorfigureouthowtouseyourITprofessionalchangeagentskillstomovethe enterprisecultureintoonethatembraceshighlevelanalyticsandtheassociatedsetofadvanced technologytools.

#2:Identifythemostlikelybusinessunittobenefitfromadatawarehouseand approachitproactively
EverytimeI'vegonetomybusinesscustomersandsaid,"I'mbuildingadatawarehouse...whatwouldyou liketodowithit?",theresponseI'vegottenis,"What'sadatawarehouse?"Wellbeguniswelldone,soa keyinitialactivityistodeterminewhichofyourbusinesscustomershasthegreatestpotentialneedfor analyticaldataandtools,alongwiththecapacityandinteresttoputthosetoolstoeffectiveuse. Ifyouworkforasmallorganization,you'llprobablywanttogostraighttothetop.Atthispoint,you're justtryingtogenerateinterestandexcitement(andfunding),sobuildashortbuteffectivebusinesscase

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beforeyouhaveanymeetings.Coverthehighlevelbasicsofdatawarehousefunctionalityinbusiness valueterms.Bescrupulouslycarefultoavoidanythingremotelyresemblinggeekspeak.Donotmakethe fatalmistakeofattemptingtoquantifydatawarehouseROI.Manypeoplehaveheardthatdata warehousesare"sinkholesofmoney."Don'tdenythis,becauseit'susuallytrue,andtheworstthingyou candonowiskillyourcredibility.Theinitialsaleyou'retryingtomakeisbasedonimproveddecision makingthroughadvancedanalytics.Financialbenefitswillbelongertermanddifficulttomeasure,sobe honestaboutthat.Onceyougetapprovaltoproceed,you'llwanttoquicklygetbusinessmanagement sponsorship.ITshouldbetheprojectownersonlyfortheshortesttimepossible.

#3:Determinedataaccesscontrols
Yourproposalhasbeengreenlightednowwhatdoyoudo?Allkindsofquestionsneedtobeanswered, andonegoodplacetostartisbydetermininginclusionparametersandsecurityrequirements.Youhave twomainareastothinkabout,sourcesandtargets.Yourinstinctwillbetouseeverypieceofdatayou cangetyourhandson,butnoteverysystem,database,legacyapplication,orinformationenrichmentfile isapotentialsourceforyourdatawarehouse.Alotofdataderivedfromthosesourcesprobablyisn't relevanttoyouridentifiedcustomergroupandmaycontainqualitativedatathatdoesn'tlenditselfto analysis. Youalsohavetoconsiderwhetheryourdownstreamdatawarehousecustomersareevenallowedto processrawdata.Userswhoareauthorizedattheapplicationlevelshouldn'tnecessarilybegranted accesstogranularinformation.Likewise,thetargetdatawarehousewillneedsomesecuritycontrols imposedonit.Oneofthegreatdangersofdatawarehousesisthatinthehandsofunskilledpractitioners, theycanbeusedtomakeandjustifyspectacularlybadbusinessdecisions.Sometimesusershavetobe protectedfromthemselves.

#4:Assembletheteam
Whoshouldworkonthedatawarehouseeffort?Thisisaproject,soyou'llneedaprojectmanager, someonecomfortablewithnontraditionalprojectmanagementmethods(highlyiterativeprocess, multipleshortdurationinterimdeliverables,tolerationforchangeanduncertainty,etc.).You'llalsoneed adatabasedesignerandadedicatedDBA,peoplewhoarewellversedinthedifferencesbetween relationaltablesandmultidimensionalcubeconstructs. YourDBAneedstobededicatedbecauseagooddatawarehouseprojectinvolvesconstantrevisionand tuning,andinadditiontouniquearchitecturalskills,yourDBAcan'tbedistractedbyconflictswithother responsibilities.AdevelopmentteamwillbenecessarytobuildthevariousEAI(enterpriseapplication interface)andETL(extract/transform/load)interfaces,andyou'llneeddedicatedreportandquery specialists.You'llwanttomakesureyourquerydevelopershavegreatcustomerfocusskills,because they'llalsobetheoneswho'llsupportthedatawarehousetothecustomercommunitywhenitgoeslive. Don'tforgetthemostimportantmembersofyourteamacustomercouncil.

#5:Decideontheimplementationapproach
Howshouldyoubuildyourdatawarehouse?Therearetwotraditionalapproaches:thegalacticdata warehouseandthearchitecteddatamart.Classicdatawarehousetopologyconsistsofasourcelayer, whichfeedsintoanODS(operationaldatastore),fromthereintotheenterprisedatawarehouse,and fromthereintoaseriesofdatamarts.Alldataflowsunidirectionallydownstream,andthereportinglayer atthebottomconnectstothedatamartsandthedatawarehouse.Theentireenvironmentisconnected toametadatarepository. Inthegalacticdatawarehouseapproach,youbuildthecompletebackendinfrastructurefromsourceto datawarehouse,encompassingasmuchofthesourcedataasyoumightpossiblysomedaywant,and implementdatamartsfedfromthedatawarehouseasneeded.Thearchitecteddatamartapproach bypassesthecentraldatawarehousealtogether,sendingfocusedsubsetsofdatadirectlyfromthe sourcestothedatamarts.Bothapproacheshavemerit,buttypicallyyoucangettoaninterimdeliverable farfasterwitharchitecteddatamarts.Thedangeristhatyou'llneverhave,ortake,theopportunitytogo

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TechRepublicResourceGuide:Datawarehousingandbusinessintelligence

backandinsertthemiddle,thedatawarehouseitself.Yourdecisionastowhichapproachtousedepends onyourowntechnologyandbusinessenvironmentandshouldbebasedonastrategicriskassessment.

#6:Identifytheprojectscope
Howbroadshouldyoumakeyourdatawarehouseenvironment?Asisthecasewithanyproject,before youstartyouneedtodefinethethreemostfundamentalcomponentsoftheeffort:whataretheinputs, whatkindofprocessingwillbeperformedonthem,andwhatcomesouttheotherside? Oneofthekeydifferencesbetweenadatawarehouseprojectandnearlyeveryothertechnologyproject isthatit'salmostalwaysimpossibletodefinewhatthedatawarehouseandallitsvariouscomponents willlooklikebythetimeyou'redone,soyouactuallywanttoavoidtoomuchscopedefinitionupfrontor you'lllockyourselfintoarigiddesignandendupspendingevenmoremoneytoovercomelimitations. You'rebasicallytryingtoputupabuildingwithoutworkingfromablueprint.Nevertheless,youmust cometosomeagreementwithyourcustomersastoatleastthefirstfewdeliverables.Thisiswhythe projectmanagerhastobecomfortablewithuncertainty.You'llbegoingtoyourcustomerintiallywitha veryrawproductandsaying,"Trythis,letmeknowhowyoulikeit,"andthenmovingforwarditeratively fromthere.Definitionwillbecomeclearerthemoreyoumoveintoimplementation.

#7:Establishthesuccesscriteria
What'syourcustomertryingtoachieve?Ifyouaskyourcustomeratthestartoftheproject,you'llgeta blankstareandashouldershrug,sohere'swhereyourconsultativeandbusinessskillsgetexercised. There'snowaytomakeadefinitivestatementaboutthefinancialvalueofthedatawarehouseupfront sometimesnotevenafterit'sfinished.Youmustunderstandenoughaboutyourcustomer'sbusinessthat youcanhelpdefine,inqualitativeandnotquantitativeterms,howtheprojectwillbejudgedsuccessful. Whatresultswillbetterdecisionmakinggenerate?Howwillhavingadvancedanalyticshelptounderstand thebusiness?Whatwillsomeofthenewtechniques,likesegmentationanalysis,provideintermsof businessintelligence?Howwillthedatawarehousehelpdrivestrategyattheenterpriseand departmentallevel?

#8:Conductthe"25question"analysis
Nowthatyouhavethebeginningofanoverallstrategy,wheredoyougofromhere?I'vefoundthemost effectivewaytoproceedistoassembleagroupof15usersandaskthemtowritedownthe25questions aboutthebusinessforwhichthey'dmostliketoknowtheanswers.Don'tallowthemtocollaborate.It's criticallyimportantforeachonetodevelopaquestionlistindependently.Makesuretheydon'tviewthis asatechnicalassignmentbutphraseeachquestioninEnglishbusinesstermsasiftheywereaddressing theirbossortheCEO(orasifthosefolkswereaddressingthem). Collecteveryone'slists,whichwillgiveyou375totalquestions.Nownormalizethelist.Eliminateallthe redundanciesandcombineallthesimilarquestions.You'llfindyou'llendupwithsomewherearound50 discretequestions.Conveneall15usersandreviewthelistwiththem,gettingthemtoputthequestions inpriorityorder.Knowwhatyouhaveinyourhand?Yourspecdocument,notonlyforthedata warehousebutalsoforthefirstiterationofyourstandardqueryrepository.Ifyoucanbuildadata warehouseandthequeriesthatanswerthosequestionsintheordertheusersspecified,you'llbeahero.

#9:Assesscurrentdataqualityandprecleansingefforts
What'sthesurestwaytodoomadatawarehouseproject?Forgetaboutquality.Nomatterhowgood yourorganizationthinksthedatainyoursourcesystemsreallyis,youknowbetter.It'shighlysuspect. Sinceadatawarehouseisadditiveinnature,you'llneverdoanyupdatetransactionstoit.Thatmeans garbageinisnotjustgarbageout,it'spermanentgarbage.Buildtheeffortandcostofdatacleansinginto yourdatawarehouseproject.Notonlywillyouhaveadatawarehousethatproducescredibleresults, you'lldriveanoverallpushthat'sprobablylongoverduetoimprovethequalityofthedatainthebackend systemsthemselves.Atthesametime,you'llprobablyuncoverahostoferrorsinthelegacysystemsthat shouldhavelongsincebeencorrected.

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TechRepublicResourceGuide:Datawarehousingandbusinessintelligence

#10:Don'tforgetthemetadata
RememberlastChristmaswhenyoutriedtoputtogetheryourdaughter'sbicyclewithouttheinstructions? That'swhatusingadatawarehousewithoutmetadataislike.Metadata,ordataaboutyourdata,isthe glossarythatdocumentsalltheimportantinformationusersneedsotheycanunderstandhowto correctlyutilizethedata.Themetadatarepositoryisgenerallysetupasaseparatedatabase,connected passivelytoallcomponentsofthedatawarehousethesources,theODS,thewarehouse,andthe datamarts.Italsodrivestheinterfaces,providingtechnicalinformationthatdocumentstheprocessesand transformationsthatoperateoneachdataentity.Whetheryouconstructityourselforpurchasea product,remembertobuildthiscriticalcomponentintoyourprojectplanandexpectthemaintenanceof ittobeasiterativeasthedatawarehouseitself.Asonechanges,sodoestheother.

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