DATA WAREHOUSING BASICS

The final major component of the data warehouse environment is the data access tool(s). We use the term tool loosely to refer to the variety of capabilities that can be provided to business users to leverage the presentation area for analytic decision making. By definition, all data access tools query the data in the data warehouse’s presentation area. Querying, obviously, is the whole point of using the data warehouse.

A data access tool can be as simple as an ad hoc query tool or as complex as a sophisticated data mining or modeling application. Ad hoc query tools, as powerful as they are, can be understood and used effectively only by a small percentage of the potential data warehouse business user population.

The majority of the business user base likely will access the data via prebuilt parameter-driven analytic applications. Approximately 80 to 90 percent of the potential users will be served by these canned applications that are essentially finished templates that do not require users to construct relational queries directly.

Some of the more sophisticated data access tools, like modeling or forecasting tools, actually may upload their results back into operational source systems or the staging/presentation areas of the data warehouse.