Data Warehousing For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Chapter 13. Data Warehousing and Other IT Projects: The Same but Different

In This Chapter

• Comparing data warehousing projects to other application development efforts

• Looking into some issues that come with secondhand data

• Getting someone at the top to support your data warehousing project

• Keeping a large data warehousing project on track

Psst! Yes, you. Do you want to know a secret? No, this isn't the Beatles song; this secret is about data warehousing projects and how you can almost guarantee success.

I thought that would get your attention! Listen closely because I sum up this secret in three sentences:

• Data warehousing projects are remarkably (about 95 percent) similar to any other application development project.

• The 5 percent that's different is because of two key items: an unclear method for identifying requirements and scope, and the reliance on data from other applications' databases and files (as discussed in Chapter 1).

• By applying your organization's application development "best practices" to the 95-percent similar portion (as though this project is just like any other) and by following a few guidelines to handle the other 5 percent, you can almost certainly develop your data warehouse successfully.

Why a Data Warehousing Project Is (Almost) Like Any Other Development Project

Note

Way back in the mid- and late 1970s, when disco reigned supreme, IT professionals realized that certain things made sense and other things didn't in developing computer applications and systems. One ...