What is a data warehouse?
A data warehouse is a repository of data from many sources. Unlike a typical “transactional” system used for day-to-day operations, a data warehouse is structured to maintain large amounts of related, historical data for analysis and reporting. A data warehouse provides for easy reconstruction of “snapshots” of historical data, as well as the ability to link such snapshots over time using certain criteria.
A data warehouse is a storage facility integrating sources of vital information about every student and staff member in the school system. Providing easy access to this data is a crucial element of a data warehousing solution. At the same time, much of the information is highly confidential. Finding the right balance between access and security, flexibility and control, is an ongoing challenge for K-12 IT departments.
