Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
Question: Will the data warehouse replace our old
systems?
The short answer is no, a data warehouse does not take the place of any oper-
ational application systems. The systems that run the business will continue
to function. The data created and captured by those application systems will
be used for business analysis and therefore become the input to the data ware-
house environment. There is a possibility that existing reporting systems (used
to manage the business) may be retired, as the data warehouse can support the
reporting and analysis currently done with that system. Often, these reporting
systems are not meeting the needs of the business, creating the impetus for
building a data warehouse. These older reporting systems may not have all the
data needed to support the business today, and they were likely built using
outdated technology. When the appropriate data is available through the data
warehouse, newer tools can be used to recreate critical reports and analyses
needed to provide continuous support to the business.
Some reporting and analysis systems have a great deal of sophisticated logic
already built and are meeting a specific business need. In order to maintain
consistency across the organization, the data warehouse may be used to feed
data into this specialized system.
Question: Who needs to be involved?
Broad organizational involvement and active participation is needed for a
successful data warehouse project. The exact level of involvement varies by
group within an organization, but active participation and commitment to
the success of the data warehouse is necessary from both the business and
IT groups. Executive sponsorship and active ongoing support is critical. This
support can be a significant factor in the success of the data warehouse.
There is also a need for assistance from representatives from the target audi-
ence of the data warehouse. Most of these business participants will provide
input, review and critique the design, and assist the team in understanding and
properly handling data-related issues. This does not usually require a large
time commitment, but their involvement is important to ensure that what is
designed and built will indeed be helpful. These participants should represent
more than just the initial target audience. Other closely related functions or
groups that will benefit from using the data should also provide input. This
enables the project team to take these additional needs into account early in
the process in order to avoid or minimize future changes needed to support
these other groups.
