Corporate Information Factory

CHAPTER 17

Multiple Data Warehouses across a Large Enterprise

When people set out to build a data warehouse and a corporate information factory, they usually have a limited scope in mind. What happens when more than one data warehouse and more than one corporate information factory are built across the enterprise? Integrating data cross an entire enterprise makes problems even more complex. Large, complex, and diverse enterprises that contain multiple data warehouses and corporate information factories are found in many places, including

   State and national governments

   Multinational organizations

   Organizations with multiple vertical lines of business

Multiple data warehouses and data marts can grow up in large complex enterprise environments in which multiple corporate information factories coexist. Trying to apply the principles of data warehousing across such a grand vista is a challenging task. Although it appears to offer the promise of true enterprise integration, integrating data warehousing and the corporate information factories across the enterprise is difficult to implement given the complexity of these environments. This chapter will address these difficulties and ...