Data Warehouse: From Architecture to Implementation - Softcover

Devlin, Barry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0201964252 ISBN 13: 9780201964257

Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional, 1996

Synopsis

most comprehensive, practical guide to designing, building, and implementing a data warehouse on the market today. Barry Devlin--one of the worlds leading experts on data warehousing--is also one of the first practitioners in this area. In this book, he distills the insights and experiences gained over 10 years of designing and building data warehouses. Included are: *An explanation of the optimal three-tiered architecture for the data warehouse, with a clear division between data and information *A full description of the functions needed to implement such an architecture, including reconciling existing, diverse data and deriving consistent, valuable business information *A detailed methodology for building a data warehouse in a way that provides business value and strategic infrastructure at each stage *A high-level approach to justifying the effort involved *A view of the organizational aspects of building and maintaining a warehouse This book will become the key reference for any team undertaking the construction of a data warehouse. It is aimed primarily at the IS managers, architects, and designers involved in this process, as well as the end users having a key role in the ev

About this title

About the Author

About Barry Devlin

Dr. Barry Devlin is a leading authority in Europe on data warehousing. He defined the Data Warehouse Architecture within IBM Europe in 1985 and contributed to its practical implementation over a number of years. This gives him a unique insight into user demands for information, and the development consequences. Barry has a total of 14 years in the IS business, the last 10 of which have been spent with IBM's International Software Development Laboratory in Dublin. He currently works as a consultant in the IBM Consulting Group in Dublin and is a member of the IBM Academy of Technology.

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From the Back Cover

Data warehousing is one of the hottest topics in the computing industry today. For business executives, it promises significant competitive advantage for their companies, while information systems managers see it as the way to overcome the traditional roadblocks to providing business information for managers and other end users. With the publication of this book comes the most comprehensive, practical guide to designing, building, and implementing a data warehouse on the market today.

Barry Devlin--one of the world's leading experts on data warehousing--is also one of the first practitioners in this area. In this book, he distills the insights and experiences gained over 10 years of designing and building data warehouses. Included are:

• An explanation of the optimal three-tiered architecture for the data warehouse, with a clear division between data and information
• A full description of the functions needed to implement such an architecture, including reconciling existing, diverse data and deriving consistent, valuable business information
• A detailed methodology for building a data warehouse in a way that provides business value and strategic infrastructure at each stage
• A high-level approach to justifying the effort involved
• A view of the organizational aspects of building and maintaining a warehouse

This book will become the key reference for any team undertaking the construction of a data warehouse. It is aimed primarily at the IS managers, architects, and designers involved in this process, as well as the end users having a key role in the evolving implementation of the data warehouse.

0201964252B04062001

From the Inside Flap

I first conceived of the idea of writing a book on data warehousing during a series of 2-day seminars known as the "Information Warehouse MasterClass" that I and a number of IBM colleagues had developed and presented around the world from 1992 to 1994. From the many companies that attended these seminars, one principal requirement was clear: they needed a common definition or architecture for a data warehouse, detailed enough to drive a consistent implementation within their organizations, yet concise enough to allow the whole company to understand and accept it. It was from the MasterClasses and the needs of these companies that I developed the representation and terminology of the data warehouse architecture used in this book.

In 1992, only a few real data warehouse implementations existed, each one hand-crafted and custom-built. Today, the vast majority of companies are planning to build or are actually building a data warehouse. While working with these companies over the years, I and other consultants saw the need to develop methodologies that cover the entire implementation process. This process continues to present major difficulties for many data warehouse implementations. I am convinced that companies today need a generalized and rational implementation approach to this complex process. The methodology described in this book is the result of crafting and proving the implementation approach over the years in real warehouse implementation projects.

Clearly, I have distilled the material covered here from interactions with many colleagues within IBM, with other consultants working in the field, and most especially from many hours of work with clients. Without their contributions, this book could not have been written. On the other hand, responsibility for any errors or misinterpretations is, of course, mine. It would be impossible to acknowledge by name everybody who has contributed to this book. To name anybody is to run the risk of omitting some valuable contributions; to those people I apologize in advance. However, I would like to especially thank a number of people either individually or collectively, whose support, knowledge, or time made this book possible:

the companies I've worked with over the years, especially those who have agreed to be directly referenced here: Martijn Bossenbroek (ABN AMRO), Børre Lunde and Solveig Oien Berg (Gjensidige), and Laura Sager (Whirlpool)

the colleagues who have contributed to or reviewed the material: John Bair, Peter Cabena, Ciarán Ennis, Keith Holmes, Edwin Humphreys, Jim McGovern, Paul Murphy, Barry O'Brien, Pat O'Sullivan, Phil Teale, Michael Storey, and Feargal Supple

the external reviewers who have added significantly to the book: David Christian, John Kneiling, Eric Rawlins, Richard Rist and Terry Moriarty

John Holland and Dónal O'Shea, who introduced the book to Addison Wesley Longman

the team at Addison Wesley Longman: Lynne Doran Cote, Katherine Harutunian, Patty Mahtani and especially my editor Susan Middleton

Last, but not least, a special word of thanks to my family, Lil, Katherine, Alan and Emma, who have become convinced over the past year that I can exist only in symbiosis with my PC.1

Barry Devlin
August, 1996
Dublin

1 The text of this book was produced entirely in Microsoft Word and the graphics were developed using Lotus Freelance Graphics.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0201964252
• ISBN 13: 9780201964257
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 448