SA corporates are still struggling with the same data warehousing implementation and performances issues as their overseas counterparts.
This is according to Lawrence Corr, in Johannesburg today to present a three-day Ralph Kimball University workshop in advanced dimensional data warehousing. However, it`s not all gloom and doom. Corr says the level of interest in solving the problems faced in implementing successful data warehouses is much higher here than abroad.
"Last year we had about 100 students attending the course. There`s usually a high drop-off rate when we get to the advanced course, which usually only attracts about 10% of the original numbers. Yet, we`re expecting a similar number of people to attend this year," he states.
He believes the data warehousing sector is experiencing a resurgence in the wake of a plethora of big enterprise resource planning installations. In addition, corporates have moved beyond regarding the Web as "sexy" and are now focusing on transforming the data received through Web-based interactions with customers and suppliers into useful information aimed at building stronger business relationships.
"For me, a data warehouse is where data can be published from, not something to store data in. The common problems faced in building successful data warehouses still have to be cracked by companies."
Corr points out that monolithic data warehouses that attempt to store all of a given enterprise`s data in one location are bound to fail. Users frustrated by the developers` inability to deliver the information they need, when and where they need it, inevitably break away and begin constructing their own resources.
"Packaged solutions have been extremely successful in this regard," he says. "However, while delivering vital information to the commissioning department, they represent a duplication of effort and fail to deliver value to the enterprise as a whole."
Corr is advocating the implementation of virtual distributed data warehouses that can be accessed across enterprises. His `back to basics` initial approach involves establishing user requirements, finding common requirements with each department, using these to build the framework for the project and then bringing departments on stream one by one. The trick here, he says, is to recognise that changes within companies will impact on this process and remain adaptable in this regard.
He stresses that the most impressive failures in data warehousing remain those that have been IT-led. "These are generally the ones that result in massive amounts of data being captured that then can`t be adequately published."
Corr, a Ralph Kimball associate who has worked extensively in decision support and data warehousing since 1984, will present the workshop in Cape Town on 10,11 and 12 September.
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