Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
publications that describe these roles in great detail, and are not duplicated in
this topic.
CIO/IT Executive Sponsor
The data warehouse should have one executive sponsor from the IT organi-
zation that will partner closely with the executive business sponsor. This is
typically the CIO, but in large organizations this could be a senior manager
in the IT organization. This person should be ultimately responsible for the
technology side of the data warehouse and should have management respon-
sibility over the IT staff on the data warehouse. This person usually shares
the funding responsibility with the executive business sponsor and will own
control for the technical aspects of the data warehouse environment. It is very
important that the executive sponsors from the two organizations are seen as
equals and that they are on the same page in terms of goals and objectives for
the data warehouse.
Data Warehouse Manager
The data warehouse manager's role represents the driving force behind the
data warehouse environment from the IT organization. This individual is often
given direct responsibility for the funds for the data warehouse project. This is
the primary visionary for data warehousing in the organization, and the lead
systems professional who is responsible for building and sustaining the data
warehouse. The data warehouse manager continues to have responsibility
for the data warehouse after a project is complete and oversees support,
maintenance, and growth.
The data warehouse manager must set the overall direction of the data
warehouse. This is done in conjunction with key business management. This
includes making sure that a sound technical and data architecture is developed.
The data warehouse manager is the focal point for blending industry best
practices with internal best practices to develop an overall methodology and
techniques that will ensure the long-term success of data warehousing within
the organization. This includes adapting system development life cycle (SDLC)
practices and the definition of standard deliverables to meet the unique data
warehousing needs.
If there are many data warehousing projects underway, the data ware-
house manager would then be involved in coordinating and leveraging
resources across the projects. These resources could include people as well as
technology.
