 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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