Build an Extensible Data Warehouse Foundation
Establish a well-architected core model with just enough oversight and governance.
RETIRED CONTENT
Please note that the content on this page is retired. This content is not maintained and may contain information or links that are out of date.Data warehouse implementation that focuses too heavily on technology results in:
- A mismatch between business needs and platform services.
- Greater business-user frustration due to information needs not being met.
- A lack of enterprise-adoption and greater distrust of IT.
- An inability to produce efficient, repeatable, and reliable reporting that can be shared cross-functionally to create collective wisdom.
An initial project that places emphasis on governance and data modeling:
- Helps subsequent iterations on the foundation stay in line with the overall data warehouse vision.
- Provides a clearer understanding of the business needs and processes that will simplify technology selection.
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Module 1: Prepare for the Data Warehouse Foundation Project
The Purpose
- Identify the members of the foundation project team.
- Define overarching statements and define success factors/risks.
- Outline basic project governance.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Defined membership, roles, and responsibilities involved in the foundation project.
- Establishment of a steering committee as a starting point for the data warehouse program.
| Activities: | Outputs: | |
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| 1.1 | Identify foundation project team and create a RACI chart. |
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| 1.2 | Understand what a data warehouse can and cannot enable. |
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| 1.3 | Define critical success factors, key performance metrics, and project risks. |
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| 1.4 | Develop rough timelines for foundation project completion. |
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| 1.5 | Define the current and future states for key data management practices. |
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Module 2: Establish the Business Drivers and Data Warehouse Strategy
The Purpose
- Define the information needs of the business and its key processes.
- Create the components that will inform an appropriate data model.
- Design a data warehouse architecture model.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Clear definition of business needs that will directly inform the data and architecture models.
| Activities: | Outputs: | |
|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | Understand the most fundamental needs of the business. |
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| 2.2 | Define the data warehouse vision, mission, purpose, and goals. |
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| 2.3 | Detail the most important operational, tactical, and ad hoc activities the data warehouse should support. |
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| 2.4 | Link the processes that will be central to the data warehouse foundation. |
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| 2.5 | Walk through the four-column model and business entity modeling as a starting point for data modeling. |
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| 2.6 | Create data models using the business data glossary and data classification. |
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| 2.7 | Identify master data elements to define dimensions. |
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| 2.8 | Design lookup tables based on reference data. |
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| 2.9 | Create a fit-for-purpose data warehousing model. |
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Module 3: Plan for Data Warehouse Governance
The Purpose
- Create a plan for governing your data warehouse efficiently and effectively.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Documentation of current standard operating procedures.
- Identified members of a data warehouse center of excellence.
| Activities: | Outputs: | |
|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | Develop a technology capability map to visualize your desired state. |
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| 3.2 | Establish a data warehouse center of excellence. |
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| 3.3 | Create a data warehouse foundation roadmap. |
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| 3.4 | Define data warehouse service level agreements. |
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| 3.5 | Create standard operating procedures. |
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