MI 0027

Business Intelligence and Tools

Contents
Unit 1
Introduction to Business Intelligence (BI) Systems 1
Unit 2
Basics of a Data Warehouse 25
Unit 3
Architecting the Data 50
Unit 4
Data Modeling 80
Unit 5
Implementing and Maintaining a Data
Warehouse Environment 107
Unit 6
Data Extraction 130
Unit 7
Data Transformation and Loading 154
Edition: Fall 2007
BKID B0801 8
th
Nov. 2007
Unit 8
Enterprise Information Systems 178
Unit 9
Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) 201
Unit 10
Data Mining and Data Visualization 218
Appendices
Appendix I Glossary 243
Appendix II Bibliography 264
Brig. (Dr). R. S. Grewal VSM (Retd.)
Pro Vice Chancellor
Sikkim Manipal University of Health, Medical & Technological Sciences
Board of Studies
Mr.Rajen Padukone
Member Academic Senate, Sikkim Manipal University
Ms. Vimala Parthasarathy Prof. K. V. Varambally
HOD Director
Convener Manipal Institute of Management
Department of Management & Commerce Manipal
Directorate of Distance Education
Sikkim Manipal University Mr. Jagadeesh
Assistant Professor
Prof. Raj Dorai Department of Management and
Industry Consultant and Commerce, Directorate of Distance
Visiting Faculty, IBA, IFIM and BIM Education, Sikkim Manipal University
Bangalore
Mr. Umesh Maiya Mr. R Ravindra Rao
Assistant Professor Senior Faculty
Department of Management & Commerce Manipal Institute of Management
Directorate of Distance Education Manipal
Sikkim Manipal University
Content preparation Team
Content Writing and Compilation
Veerendra Prasad Emani
Senior Software Engineer,
Satyam Computers Services Ltd., Hyderabad
Format Editing Language Editing
Mr. Yogesh Dixit Ms. Pushpalatha Santhiar
Manager (Academics), Professor, Department of English,
Manipal Universal Learning Private Limited MGM College, Udupi 576 102
Edition: Fall 2007
This book is a distance education module comprising of written and compiled
learning material for our students.
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form by any
means without permission in writing from Sikkim Manipal University of Health,
Medical and Technological Sciences, Gangtok, Sikkim.
Printed and Published on behalf of Sikkim Manipal University of Health, Medical and
Technological Sciences, Gangtok, Sikkim by Mr. Rajkumar Mascreen, GM, Manipal
Universal Learning Pvt. Ltd., Manipal 576 104. Printed at Manipal Press Limited,
Manipal.
PREFACE
Business intelligence (BI) refers to a variety of software applications used to
analyze an organizations raw data for making improved decisions. The BI
tools provide an organization with an open-heart snapshot of the essential
data and so companies use BI tools to improve decision-making abilities of
its senior managers and identify new business opportunities. BI as a
discipline is made up of several related activities that include querying and
reporting, online analytical processing (OLAP), and data mining. At a
strategic level, senior managers of an organization can combine BI with
budgeting and planning activities to provide an improved business insight.
This high-level view can then be used to guide the operational processes of
the organization. At a tactical level, there are several examples of how BI
has delivered benefits to organizations across various industries in
improving the performance of their operations viz., a better understanding of
a patients current condition, analyzing demographical data to understand
the buyer behavior, improving the quality of a clinical process, designing an
appropriate promotion method by attracting the customers to maximize the
sales. Although BI holds great promise, the implementation can be dogged
by technical and cultural challenges. Therefore commitment from all the key
stakeholders; senior management and implementing executives is highly
essential to derive the full benefit of the BI tools.
In UNIT-1, you will understand what the business intelligence tools are and
how they help the senior executives of the organization in making improved
decisions. Also, you will learn various stages involved in implementing a BI
project.
In UNIT-2, you will learn the significance and the characteristics of a data
warehouse. Also, you will learn various types of data warehouse
architectures and the costs incurred in establishing a data warehouse.
In UNIT-3, you will understand various types of data and the Enterprise Data
Model (EDM) approach to develop a data warehouse data model. You will
also be exposed to the concepts viz., granularity of the data, data
partitioning, and metadata.
In UNIT-4, you will understand the concept of data modeling and the two
data modeling techniques; Entity-Relationship (E-R) Modeling and
Dimensional modeling. You will also understand the Database design
methodology and the common mistakes in data modeling.
In UNIT-5, you will be exposed to the approaches in implementing a data
warehouse. Also, you will be exposed to measuring the data warehouse
results and various data warehouse tools in practice.
In UNIT-6, you will understand the overview of ETL and various important
aspects involved in the data extraction phase. Also, you will be exposed to
data extraction techniques and evaluation of these techniques.
In UNIT-7, you will understand the data transformation and data loading
phases of the ETL process. Also, you will be exposed to the concept of data
integration and consolidation.
In UNIT-8, you will learn the information needs of the senior managers in an
organization and how the Executive Information Systems (EIS) help them in
making strategic decisions.
In UNIT-9, you will understand the overview of online analytical processing
(OLAP) systems and their features and functions. Also, you will understand
the OLAP models viz., MOLAP and ROLAP.
In UNIT-10, you will understand the concept of data mining and its
applications in the real business environment. You will be exposed to the
data mining techniques like classification, linkage analysis, sequential
discovery, cluster analysis, statistical analysis. Also, you will learn the
concept of data visualization.