Datasheet

Part I: The Data Warehouse: Home for Your Data Assets

accessing data directly from the files and databases didn’t work, the 1990s

philosophy involved going back to the 1970s method, in which data from

those places was copied to another location — only doing it right this time.

And data warehousing was born.

In 1993, Bill Inmon wrote Building the Data Warehouse (Wiley). Many people

recognize Bill as the Father of Data Warehousing. Additional publications

emerged, including the 1996 book by Ralph Kimball, The Data Warehouse

Toolkit (Wiley), which discussed general-purpose dimensional design tech-

niques to improve the data architecture for query-centered decision support

systems.

With hardware and software for data warehousing becoming common

place, writings began to emerge complementing those of Inmon and

Kimball. Specifically, techniques appeared that enabled those employed

by Information Systems departments to better understand the trend that

involved not going after data from just one place, such as a single applica-

tion, but rather going after all the data you need, regardless of how many

different applications and computers are used in the organization. Client/

server technology can be used to put the data on servers and give users

new and improved analysis tools on their PCs.

The 2000s — the adult

In the more modern era (the 2000s, the era of reality television shows and

mobile communication devices), people are more connected than ever

before. Information is everywhere. New languages are being created because

of texting and instant messaging. Acronyms such as TTYL (talk to you

later), LOL (laughing out loud), and BRB (be right back) are commonplace.

And a huge number of people provide feedback to vote people off of competi-

tions on shows such as American Idol — bringing new meaning to market

research and understanding what will sell. For example, in 2006, viewers

cast 63 million votes for the contestants in the American Idol finale — which

exceeded the most votes obtained by a United States president (Ronald

Reagan, with 54.5 million votes). So, the world is definitely now connected!

In the world of data warehousing, the amount of data continues to grow.

But, while it does, the vendor community and options have begun to consoli-

date. The selection pool is rapidly diminishing. In 2006, Microsoft acquired

ProClarity, jumping into the data warehousing market. In 2007, Oracle

purchased Hyperion, SAP acquired Business Objects, and IBM merged with

Cognos. The data warehousing leaders of the 1990s have been gobbled up by

some of the largest providers of information system solutions in the world.

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