Data Warehousing in the Real World

Book excerpt: Data Warehouses are the primary means by which businesses can gain competitive advantage through analysing and using the information stored in their computerised systems. However, the Data Warehousing market is inundated with confusing, often contradictory, technical information from suppliers of hardware, databases and tools. Data Warehousing in the Real World provides comprehensive guidelines and techniques for the delivery of decision support solutions using open-systems Data Warehouses.Written by practitioners for practitioners Data Warehousing in the Real World describes each stage of the implementation process in detail: from project planning and requirements analysis, through architecture and design to administrative issues such as user access, security, back-up and recovery.Read this book to: - Learn the fundamentals of designing large-scale Data Warehouses using relational technology- Take advantage of product-independent comprehensive guidelines which cover all the issues you need to take into account when planning and building a Data Warehouse- Benefit from the authors' experience distilled into helpful hints and tips- Apply to your own situation with examples of real-life solutions taken from a variety of different business sectors- Make use of the templates for project-plans, system architectures and database designs provided in the appendixAbout the Authors: Sam Anahory is Director for Systems Integration at SHL Systemhouse (UK) where he runs their Data Warehousing practice, delivering Data Warehousing solutions to clients and managing the systems integration required. Prior to this, he built up and ran the Data Warehousing Practice for Oracle Corporation (UK).DennisMurray is a Principal consultant with Oracle Corporation (UK). While through being the Technical Architect for many Data Warehousing solutions, he has accumulated a vast amount of experience on a wide range of hardware platforms.Together they have collaborated on developing and giving training courses, workshops and presentations on the business and technical issues associated with delivering a Data Warehouse.