You + DataWarehouse

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YOU + DATA WAREHOUS E

In this increasingly data-driven world, proactive

data management is no longer a luxury, it is a

necessity. Too much is at stake when data is not

maintained purposefully and fall into the state of

chaos. A business equipped with a Data

Warehouse can prevent that from happening --

also, stands to gain both in cost-cutting and

revenue-increasing fronts.

WHAT IS A DATA WAREHOUSE?

Let's start with what it is not. It is not

simply a Database. It goes beyond by

providing much needed data visibility,

correctibility, analysis, and alerts -- all

in an automated fashion.

A Data Warehouse brings data closer

to the side of the business that takes

care of Accounting and Forecasting

make it a crucial tool for making

important, strategic business decisions.

To put it simply, a Data Warehouse is an

implementation of tools and process that allows

businesses to harness their existing data, to

form a solid foundation to increase efficiency --

and a launchpad to grow.

HOW SERIOUS IS THIS?

Over the past two decades, large corporations

have spent billions of dollars on data marts and

warehouses. The body of knowledge that was

generated through these efforts is vast in

volume. There is a good reason for this:

Business data is valuable.

Not only it is valuable to

the owner, but it is also

useful for the data owner's

customers, vendors, and

other parties. For

example: A smart business

owner, using a Data

Warehouse, could offer

customized views that is

relevant and helpful to their customers; thus

creating a potential new source of revenue.

This revenue model was impractical to

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"Realizing thepotential ofyour existingdata is thefirst steptowardsproactive datamanagement"

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implement before Data Warehouse technology came into existence.

DO I NEED ANOTHER SYSTEM?

Most small to medium enterprises today already have a system that

records transaction data. This system could be anything from a set of

spreadsheets to a custom-built software. Unfortunately, understanding

-- let alone analyzing -- data in the format that is stored within those

systems is difficult and time-consuming. Why is that? Simply because

those are designed for computers to process, which is important for

the sake of data integrity, but as-is, it is not useful in helping us make

decisions.

Data Warehouse technology changes this. Now we are able to Extract,

Transform, and Load (ETL) those same data into the

format that is far more condusive for us to analyze, and

to produce meaningful reports, and dashboards.

Having a Data Warehouse give us the ability to not only

see our data better, but also to process it more efficiently

(cutting the cost of manual and error-prone data

transalation labor) and to bring more revenue into the

business.

HOW MUCH IS THE COST?

An Enterprise-level Data Warehouse used to cost

hundreds of thousands of dollars to implement and

maintain annually. Not anymore.

There are two forces that work together to make

affordable, high-quality Data Warehouse a reality in today's world:

1 . The increasing awareness of the value of existing business data

among small to medium enterprises

2 . The maturity of Open Source software tools that allows businesss to

implement and maintain a Data Warehouse without being saddled by

expensive license and support contracts

Questions that a DataWarehouse Answers:

1 . How is the business doing?

2 . How accurate is my forecasts?

3. How come the numbers do not

add up?

4. Why some of the figures do not

make sense?

5. How can I show my customers

that I am doing a good job for

them?

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The most important fact that every business

owners considering the cost of a Data Warehouse

is represented in the chart at the center of this

page: SEVENTY-PERCENT OF THE COST OF

IMPLEMENTING AND MAINTAINING A DATA WAREHOUSE

IS TO SUPPORT THE REQUIRED team of personnels.

Who are these personnels? BI Consultants,

database administrators, ETL developers, and

other positions that may be

required by specific industries.

The good news is that for the

majority of businesses, the Data

Warehouse will quickly pay for

itself once it is operational. And

when it matures, it will become

an indispensible part of the

business, not unlike a physical warehouse for a

business that distributes goods. Is there an

upkeep cost? Certainly. But to run that type of

business without one is simply unthinkable.

HOW TO GET STARTED?

A typical Data Warehouse implementation starts

with a review of the existing data. A competent

BI consultant -- especially the ones who have

experience across different industry domains --

should then be able to come up with the analytic

data model for your existing data without too

much difficulties.

Next comes the installation of the software tools

on a server. A cloud virtual server instance

which is easy to acquire nowadays is a good

candidate for hosting the Data Warehouse. Some

of these already come with the BI tools, which

helps in terms of software infrastructure but still

requires the right personnel to build the Data

Warehouse with.

With the tools in place, ETL scripts and reports

can start to be written. Again, the level of

experience and best practices that the BI

consultant should come into play here to speed

up the process. At this point, the

personnel who will maintain the

Data Warehouse should come

into the picture and start to be

familiar with the analytical data

model.

The next and final phase is the

installation of alerts and the

maturing of the Data Warehouse which brings

about the self-montoring and correcting aspects.

Usually, by this time the business already reaped

the benefit of increased visibility, error detection,

and automated reports and dashboards.

CONCLUSION

Without any doubt, one of the most useful

innovation in the field of enterprise systems is

the knowledge base of Data Warehouses design

and construction. The number of decisions that

are made by businesses running everyday is

getting more predictive and accurate. If you

have not yet considered a Data Warehouse as a

part of your system, maybe it is time to have a

second look.

WG