Data warehouse concepts refer to a database that allows us to collect, order, log and store information from an operational database that offers decision support in any business.

Data Warehouse concepts are totally part of the Business Intelligence environment. They are used to store current and historical data and are also used to create analytical reports for researchers inside the company.

Our Data Warehouse Concepts

Data warehouse concepts are oriented towards subjects, this means that the data collected must be “trade” oriented and therefore sorted by topic. We are talking about integrated data, that involves processes like rationalisation and standardisation. Data warehouse is non-volatile which means that a determined data in this storage is definitive and can not be removed. In the other hand, data warehouse must be historic and dated, it, usually, stores many years of data.

For instance, a report can be a comparison or analysis of annual trends, and also the analysis of daily sales. The data, stored in the warehouse, is downloaded from operating systems (such as marketing, sales…). This data will, actually, go through an operational data store and be used for other operations before it is used for reports. Data Warehouse is not a simple copy, it is organized and structured.

Difference between Data Mart and Data Warehouse concepts

A data mart is a simple form of a data warehouse that is only focused on one functional area. It has to do with storing data from limited sources, such as sales, marketing, HR, finance… Data marts is normally set up and controlled by one department in a company. The data sources could be internal or external.

Data marts envelop only a part of all the data contained in the data warehouse, so they are normally faster and easier to put in place. We could resume Data Marts in 4 points:

  • Wide data department
  • One functional area covered
  • Easy and less time to put in place
  • Limited memory

Benefits of Data Warehouse

Data warehouse keeps a copy of information from the transaction systems, however, could we identify the essential benefits of Data Warehouse :

  • Assembling data from various sources into a unique database as a unique query engine.
  • Keep a data history
  • Allowing a central view of the company’s organisation by integrating data from various sources
  • Optimising the data’s quality by giving consistent codes and descriptions
  • Regardless of the data’s source, the main objective has to do with furnishing a unique data model for the entire company’s data
  • Presenting consistent information for the organisation
  • Structuring data so that it makes sense to business users

Once your data warehouse and data marts are created, you have the ability to create dahsboards or reportings with your business intelligence platform, in order to deliver the right information to the right person at the right time.

Data is turned into high-quality information and into interactive content that can be delivered to anyone, such as customers, employees, managers, executives and also partners, at any time.