Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
seeing any benefit. You will likely encounter a great deal of doubt and cynicism
about data warehousing, and there is often a pervasive attitude that it will
never work and is a waste of time.
To turn things around, get back to basics and the fundamentals for suc-
cessful data warehousing. Use what you learned from this topic. Tap into
the knowledge and experience of people who have been involved with the
organization's data warehousing efforts over the years. After several years of
valiant effort, sometime the best data warehouse resources get so frustrated
that they move on to contribute in other ways. Seek them out to get their ideas.
Some steps that can have a big impact include the following:
Get a visible, long-term commitment to data warehousing from senior
management.
Senior management must work with middle managers to set the data
warehouse as a priority. Middle managers must then allocate the neces-
sary business resources to work on data warehouse projects — and then
stick to this commitment. Do not steal their time back.
The project team can get input from external data warehousing resources
by reading and attending courses and conferences. Bring consultants on
board to design and build the data warehouse and/or BI applications.
Use external resources for reviews and mentoring.
Empower all participants to speak up! Create an environment in which
people are encouraged and rewarded for brining issues and concerns to
the attention of project managers and IT or business management.
The project team must be encouraged to take the time to address concerns
raised within the team or issues brought up elsewhere in the organization.
If something is not working, then stop spinning, figure out what needs to
be done, and then do it!
While these are important, the single most important thing that can be done
is to link any data warehouse initiatives to real business requirements.
NOTE
Even projects trying to adopt all the best practices can end up with a
stalled data warehouse. An honest assessment of the situation usually yields
several contributing factors. This entire topic is dedicated to helping executives
and business and IT managers understand what building a DW really entails. This
understanding can help all future DW initiatives to identify potential roadblocks
and take proactive steps to avoid them.
Aligning DW Objectives with Business Goals
The only way to align the data warehouse with business goals is to know
what those business goals are and to have an understanding of what a data
