If you consider building an OLAP / Data Warehousing system for your company, don’t forget to weight its pros and cons.
Traditional Data Warehouse – Concerns:
- Costly, complicated development
Might be a problem for: small companies, start-ups - Takes long time to develop
Might be a problem for: a company expecting immediate implementation may look for a packaged software - Takes additional space on disk for staging data
Might be a problem for: those who do not see other benefits in DW
Possible workaround: Old staging data can be ‘aged’ – archived and moved out to an external location. - Delayed data updates, usually after nightly data updates
Might be a problem for: a company interested in real-time data only
Possible workaround: Although not common and can limit analytical capabilities, data warehouse processing can be optimized to be scheduled for near real-time intervals - Hard to change once deployed – requires changes in all processes
Might be a problem for: a company that do not see other benefits - Requires additional BI software license
Might be a problem for: a company not willing to buy new software:
- using other databases (a little additional cost may not be a problem, but does not decrease TOO)
- using unstructured data
Possible workaround: Utilizing for data warehouse the same database software that is used for transactional database, such as all-in-one Microsoft SQL Server package. Hosting by a vendor is another option.
Overall, Data Warehousing is not right solution for companies which business:
- is not yet complicated enough,
- is focused on current processes only,
- hasn’t yet have needs for sophisticated information analysis,
- not looking for new business opportunities,
- not requiring complicated analysis of customers’ needs.
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I would add strong Business Sponsor/ Executive support to the list of Concerns.
You’re right, Slava, and thank you for mentioning it. I’ve only covered here technical concerns, which, based on my experience, arise when a sponsor organization already actively seeks for a solution. But, of course, from an organizational perspective, a business analyst have to work as a liaison among stakeholders, including executives that help with high level requirements definitions and business subject matter experts with detailed guidance, and technical team to recommend solutions that enable an organization achieve its goals, and to take those solutions through all the necessary organizational changes.