 DATA
WAREHOUSING |
An introduction to data warehousing
Data warehousing and business intelligence are
key enablers in the drive to harness management information
and improve decision-making. They underpin the recent wave
of interest in data mining and customer relationship management,
and create opportunities for performance improvements based
on quantitative analysis at every level in an organisation.
As
both major users of data, and providers of value added information, operational
researchers, statisticians and other business analysts need to understand how
to make the most of these technologies – and why they sometimes
fail to live up to expectations.
This article was written specifically as a web-based
resource to help members of the OR community, and potential
clients, gain a good basic understanding of data warehousing,
and to provide links to other useful sources of information.
It is divided into five sections, with hyperlinks between related
topics:
- Overview – introduces
the key concepts, outlines the principal benefits, and gives
an overview of applications and current industry trends;
- Relationship
with OR – considers what OR can contribute
to data warehousing and how a data warehouse can help
OR;
- Building
a data warehouse – explains the main components,
highlights key design issues and outlines available techniques;
- Managing
a data warehouse – offers tips on planning
a data warehouse and how to avoid the most common pitfalls;
- Resources – contains
a glossary, references and links to commercial services,
vendors and other useful information sites.
The material provided here draws
on the author’s
personal experience, accepted best practise and the ideas of
leading thinkers within the industry. It was written on behalf
of the OR Society by Colin Elwood of Dweomer Consultants Ltd,
an independent management consultant specialising in data warehousing
and decision support systems. He can be contacted on 44 (0)
1372 450022 or by email to crelwood@dweomer.co.uk
Use the section
map or the links at the bottom of each page to help you
navigate.
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