DATA WAREHOUSING FUNDAMENTALS: A Comprehensive Guide for IT Professionals

1.6. DATA WAREHOUSE DEFINED

We have reached the strong conclusion that data warehousing is the only viable solution for providing strategic information. We arrived at this conclusion based on the functions of the new system environment called the data warehouse. So, let us try to come up with a functional definition of the data warehouse.

The data warehouse is an informational environment that

• Provides an integrated and total view of the enterprise

• Makes the enterprise's current and historical information easily available for decision making

• Makes decision-support transactions possible without hindering operational systems

• Renders the organization's information consistent

• Presents a flexible and interactive source of strategic information

1.6.1. A Simple Concept for Information Delivery

In the final analysis, data warehousing is a simple concept. It is born out of the need for strategic information and is the result of the search for a new way to provide such information. The methods of the last two decades using the operational computing environment, were unsatisfactory. The new concept is not to generate fresh data, but to make use of the large volumes of existing data and to transform it into forms suitable for providing strategic information.

The data warehouse exists to answer questions users have about the business, the performance of the various operations, the business trends, and about what can be done to improve the business. The data warehouse exists to provide business ...