Busin= ess Intelligence and Data Warehousing Newsletter

January 24, 2007

Volume 1, Num= ber 1 - Page 1

“….. that is what the learning is. You suddenly understand something you’ve understood all your life, but in a new way”…….Doris Lessing

Dear,

Welcome to our first Business Intelligence and Data Wareho= using newsletter! You may ask, why do I need one more of this? There are hundre= ds of books, articles, white papers, and newsletters dedicated to business i= ntelligence and data warehousing. You are right! And, in fact, some of those publicat= ions are results of sheer brilliance! However, they represent very specific se= ctors of business intelligence and data warehousing, and they do not provide the big picture. For example, did you know Master Data Management, Business P= erformance Management, and Executive Dashboards are nothing but spin-offs of the sam= e corporate Key Performance Indicators? And, the Key Performance Indicators you create for analyzing your customers’ buying patterns can also be used for creati= ng conformed dimensions, Master Data Management and Executive Dashboards?

In this series of newsletters, I am trying to resolve that disconnection and portray an integrated picture of the complete architect= ure. In our first ever publication, I want to lay down the basic fundamentals = of business intelligence and data warehousing. In the next few newsletters, I will sh= ow you the roadmap for creating your Operational Data Stores (ODS), data mar= ts, OLAP cubes, and Executive Dashboards.

If you have any specific topic that you would like us to address in our newsletters, please send your feedback to us at feedback@cubeintelligence.c= om.

Hemant Verma

Founder/CEO

Cube Intelligence Corporation

In this issue….

What is a data warehouse?

A data warehouse is a corporate data repository created for the reporting purposes and business intelligence. The data is extracted f= rom legacy systems and then it is cleansed, scrubbed, and…..read more….

What is busin= ess intelligence?

Business inte= lligence with data warehousing

Business intelligence is a term commonly associated with t= he data warehousing and both are used interchangeably. Business intelligence refers to the information, and data warehouse refers to data. Business intelligence is transferring information into knowledge; data warehouse is converting data into information. Read more….

Benefits of a= data warehouse and business intelligence

There are many benefits of creating and efficiently using a data warehouse. One of the major benefits is an integrated view of the da= ta collected from multiple platforms and source systems into a single report= . Ream more….

In the next series, we will explain the Big Picture, ODS, Data Ma= rts, OLAP Cubes and more….

What is a data warehouse? = = Go Back…<= /span>

A data warehouse is a corporate data repository created for reporting purposes and Business Intelligence. The data is extracted from legacy systems and then it is cleansed, scrubbed, and integrated to form = the repository. For example, a customer’s records from multiple departments a= nd legacy systems are unified to form a single record. Similarly, information regarding other entities such as product, service and supplier is extract= ed and integrated to form a single version of the truth to provide a consist= ent view of the corporate data.

This is data warehouse explained in its simplicity. A data warehouse is not a tool or syntax, but an architecture which is driven by= the reporting requirements, and not by the legacy system. It is built incrementally and in an iterative manner. It stores data for operational = as well as analytical reporting and provides a platform for business intelligence.

What is business intelligence? = Go Back…<= /span>

Business intelligence is a process of making business decisions based on the data from the data warehouse. In the simplest form, business intelligence is efficiently using your data warehouse for achiev= ing your business goals. It’s a comprehensive knowledge of all of the factors that affect your business, and a process of identifying sales trends, new business opportunities and corporate weaknesses.

With business intelligence, you make timely decisions base= d on a single version of the truth. It is used in the areas of customer profil= ing, customer support, market research, market segmentation, product profitability, statistical analysis, inventory and distribution analysis = and many more.

Business intelligence with data warehousing Go Back= …

Business intelligence is a term commonly associated with d= ata warehousing and both have been used interchangeably. Business intelligenc= e refers to data analysis and data warehousing refers to data integration.

Business intelligence is transferring information into knowledge; data warehouse is converting data into information. Business intelligence empowers corporate executives to make better business decisi= ons based on the data from the data warehouse.

Putting it into perspective, the repository of the corpora= te data is the data warehouse and usage of that repository is business intelligence. The data warehouse is the source of business intelligence reports. Business intelligence is merely the presentation layer of the da= ta warehouse.

Benefi= ts of a data warehouse = Go Back…<= /span>

The data ware= house provides a single version of the truth. This means that no matter how the data is accessed, who is accessing the data, and whatever the report form= at may be - the result is always consistent.

The data warehouse enhances end-users access to a wide var= iety of corporate data. Overall, it increases productivity and decreases compu= ting and report development cost. With a denormalized data warehouse, a query = can be written from a single dimension table instead of joining result sets f= rom multiple tables.

The data warehouse allows capturing data history and creat= ing snapshots. The data can be stored for a significant period of time to pro= vide trends, patterns, periodic reports and other analyses. =

Benefi= ts of business intelligence = Go Back…<= /span>

Business Intelligence eliminates a lot of guesswork within= the organization. It enhances communication among departments and enables corporate executives to respond quickly to the changes in the market, financial conditions, customer preferences, and dropping sales revenues. =

Business intelligence provides a platform for exploring da= ta correlation. For example, leading retail stores periodically analyze their sales data = to find items that are often bought together and then place them next to each other for consumers’ shopping convenience.

Business intelligence enables the users with ‘What-if’ scenario types of reporting. This kind of reporting is extremely helpful = for budgeting and planning. For example, the sales manager can analyze the relationship between the training budget and its direct effect on the ove= rall sales.

Business intelligence enables the corporate managers to automatically search large volumes of data for hidden patterns. It also provides sales trend reports,= time series analysis, and forecasting.

The Big Picture = <= /span>Go Back…<= /span>

The following picture shows how business intelligence and dat= a warehousing components fit together. In our next newsletter, we will explain each of these components in greater details.

Cube Intelligence is a business intelligence and data warehousing consulting company that specializes in project management, da= ta warehousing architecture, overall business intelligence strategy and staf= fing services. We recruit and place candidates with Oracle, Business Objects, Informatica, Microsoft Analysis Services, data warehousing architecture, = and dimensional data modeling experience.

16 Brady Way<= o:p>

Marlborough, = MA 01752

Voice: 617-27= 5-8254

www.cubeintelligence.com

info@cubeintelligence.com

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