What is an Enterprise Data Warehouse?
Great question. There is a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation out there about what data warehouses really are. Some think that if you just make a copy of your operational systems’ data so that you can run reports without impacting the production of your CRM, then you have a data warehouse. Not so. Others think that if your data is running on a beefy enough server/appliance to allow you to run relatively fast queries which combine multiple data sources, then you’re set. Not really. Still others think that an installation of SharePoint or two will magically get you OLAP, or at least data “cubes” you can use to build it, so you’re done. That’s dangerous thinking. Lastly, some assume that a data warehouse, by definition, is so monolithic or idealistic that it’s unachievable and unreasonably expensive. It doesn’t have to be that way! A data warehouse is a very specialized data repository. In order to reach your organization’s potential and fulfill your (likely very lofty) goals, it
