Increasing volumes of data and the need to move closer and closer to real-time analysis means that analytical exercises can no longer be done on an ad-hoc basis. They need to become an in-time capability.
This is according to Werner Swanepoel, senior manager at Deloitte Consulting and a speaker at the upcoming ITWeb Data Warehousing Conference.
Swanepoel says: “While the business context is ever-evolving, and needs constantly change as businesses and markets are maturing, the fundamental role of the data warehouse as an aggregator of disparate data and an enabler of business insight remains fairly intact.
“Having said that, the role that data warehouses and associated analytical capabilities play within the business context has come a long way over the last two decades and so has the need for new approaches and technologies.”
He says, traditionally, data warehouses served the purpose of historical reporting and basic management information. However, their focus is shifting to finding unique patterns and predictive analysis.
“We have seen an exponential increase in the rate of change. Product innovations are fuelling customer demand, which, in turn, drives shorter and shorter product lifecycles. It's an almost vicious circle, he states. “The only competitive frontier seems to be that of analytics.
“Staying on the forefront requires deeper understanding of customer needs, faster fulfilment through more efficient processes, better risk management. All of these analytical capabilities are enabled through the ability to aggregate data in a consistent and structured manner, and usually very large volumes thereof.”
Swanepoel says not all data warehouses are up to the new challenges.
“Time to value remains a major challenge. With ever increasing volumes of data and an increasing rate of change in business, data warehouse teams struggle to find the balance between traditional software development approaches with rigorous governance and more agile approaches without compromising architectural and structural integrity.”
He adds that data warehouse initiatives often completely neglect to define their value in the first instance. “No resources should be put into building a data warehouse (or mart) unless the business value can be clearly articulated and measured. The idea that the benefits are intangible is the leading cause for data warehouse demise.”
He says: “The data warehouse plays a critical role... What physical or virtual form the data warehouse will take on in future remains to be seen, but whether it has a critical role to play remains undisputable.”
Don't miss the Data Warehousing 2010 Conference at Gallagher Estate, Midrand, on 30 November. Click here for more information.
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