Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Moving On
In this chapter, we have seen how to come up with a basic plan to implement a BI solution. We reviewed the basic
workflow that outlines the various tasks involved in deciding whether the BI solution would be a viable project.
The workflow incorporated items such as interviewing the customer, defining what would be included in the
solution, reviewing the available data, determining which roles each team member would play, and creating
simple documentation for tracking and planning the project.
In the next chapter, we create the data warehouse for the BI solution based on our plan. We tend to think that
creating the data warehouse is a lot more fun than all this planning. But good planning can make the difference
between a profitable, effective BI solution and a chaotic expensive mess. Hence, Winston Churchill's wise words
on planning, once again, come to mind.
LEARN BY DoING
In this “learn by Doing” exercise, you perform the process defined in this chapter using the northwind
database. We have included an outline of the steps you performed in this chapter and an example of
how the authors handled them in two Word documents. These documents are found in the folder
C:\_BISolutionsBookFiles\_LearnByDoing\Chapter03Files
. Please see the
ReadMe.doc
file for more
instructions.
What's Next?
Entire books are written about solution planning, and one chapter in this topic is insufcient to make anyone an
expert on the subject. By the same token, reading all the books ever written about the subject will not necessarily
make you proficient at performing it, either. Becoming proficient involves a combination of practical experience
and researched knowledge.
For further instruction on solution planning, we recommend these books:
The Kimball Group Reader:
Relentlessly Practical Tools for Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence
by Ralph Kimball and Margy Ross
(Wiley), and
Lessons in Project Management
by Jeff Mochal (Apress).
