Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
... It [the DW] is the central point of data integration for business intelligence
and is the source of data for the data marts, delivering a common view of enterprise
data.
This second viewpoint is incomplete without also including their definition
of a data mart. Again, expanding on Bill Inmon's definition, Claudia states in
Mastering Data Warehouse Design
:
A
data mart
is a departmentalized structure of data feeding from the data
warehouse where data is denormalized [organized] based on the department's
need for information. It utilizes a common enterprise view of strategic data and
provides business units with more flexibility, control, and responsibility. The
data mart may or may not be on the same server or location as the data warehouse.
To bring this second viewpoint into the proper context,
Mastering Data
Warehouse Design
further defines business intelligence:
Business intelligence
is the set of processes and data structures used to analyze
data and information used in strategic decision support. The components of
Business Intelligences are the data warehouse, data marts, the DSS (decision
support system) interface and the processes to 'get data in' to the data warehouse
and to 'get information out'.
The single definition provided by Ralph Kimball is comprehensive. You
must look at the full set of definitions set forth by Bill Inmon and Claudia
Imhoff to fully understand their perspective. There is much more common
ground between these differing philosophies than perceived at first glance.
While there are distinct differences, the common theme is that data ware-
housing must provide the method to prepare and deliver data to the business
community to support reporting and analysis. Chapter 9 provides a compre-
hensive discussion about these different approaches to data warehousing.
The key point here is that there are multiple ways these terms can be
interpreted. Understanding which definition is being used is critical to being
able to understand what is being discussed and worked on. An organization
can avoid confusion by selecting one set of definitions to be used, which
enables everyone to use a common language.
Regardless of labels and terminology, all data warehouse initiatives are
trying to accomplish the same thing. Now that the basic parts of the data ware-
house have been defined, it is time to look at the order in which they are created.
Design and Development Sequence
Earlier in this chapter, you looked at how data flows through the data ware-
house environment. While this correctly illustrates how data flows in the
