The Microsoft® Data Warehouse Toolkit: With SQL Server™ 2005 and the Microsoft® Business Intelligence Toolset

16.1. Lifecycle Iteration: Growing the DW/BI System

Building a DW/BI system is an iterative process, so adding the next business process dimensional model is just like starting over, only easier. You still need to go through all the boxes on the Lifecycle, but you don't need to reinvent the wheel: you need to consider only the new stuff. For example, you already have your initial data architecture in the form of the bus matrix from your initial requirements gathering process described way back in Chapter 1. You also have the relative business value of each row in the bus matrix from the prioritization process also described in Chapter 1. (Remember the meeting where you worked with senior management to choose the highest value, easiest row on the bus matrix to implement first?) Now, go back and pick up the next business process on the prioritized list and move it through the Lifecycle. It's always a good idea to verify that business priorities haven't changed with your business steering committee.

16.1.1. Business Requirements and Project Management

Business requirements definition is the cornerstone of the Lifecycle, but after the first round, it is usually limited to project-level requirements related to the new business process dimensional model. You will need more detail about this next business process: how do people use this information, what kind of analyses do they create or need, how does it tie in to existing data in the warehouse, what kinds of system or architectural ...