Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
Over the years there have been many different labels used for this func-
tion, including analytical reporting, decision support, and now business
intelligence. The term business intelligence has even been broadened to
encompass processes, technologies, techniques, and tools that support action-
able decision-making. Some also include the data warehouse itself within
the scope of BI. For the purposes of this text, the term BI is used to refer to the
actual use of the data warehouse to support decision making. The rest of this
chapter explores this perspective in more depth. What does this mean to you?
Simply that you need to clarify the use of the term BI within your organization
to ensure effective communication and productive discussions.
WHAT IS A QUERY?
The mechanism to get data out of a database is called a
query
. A query is
comprised of several parts. First, what to include in the returned results is
listed, such as customer name, product code, and number of units purchased.
Second, a query must specify which database tables contain the information
needed, such as the customer sales table. The query also includes a list of
constraints that limit the results that are returned. For example, a query can be
constrained to return only customers who live in Chicago, and only include pet
food products, for sales in the last four weeks. A query can also include
calculations (sales units * price) and define how the results should be grouped
or sorted. For example, the sales results could be grouped by customer gender
and brand of the product.
The most common query language is SQL (structured query language), which
is used to access many relational databases. Thankfully, there are many tools
that provide user-friendly interfaces to help set up queries and generate the
actual code that is sent to the database. These tools also provide a wide variety
of presentation options, making the results much easier to understand and
interpret. Queries are how the data is accessed in the data warehouse.
Business Intelligence without a DW
Some organizations have developed business intelligence solutions that are
completely independent of the data warehouse environment. This can limit
the long-term value of the business intelligence solution. These point solutions
are usually focused on a single area of the business with a limited set of data
geared toward supporting a specific set of reports. The data is often structured
specifically to produce these reports. It can be difficult and costly to add more
data and expand this type of application over time, as needs change.
The best business intelligence solutions are those that are built on top of a
sound data warehouse foundation. This foundation enables the environment
to flexibly grow and change over time. New data can be gracefully added to
