April 12, 2010

Is the enterprise data warehouse a myth?

An enterprise data warehouse should:

Pick ONE.

There’s little to dislike in the enterprise data warehouse dream, as represented (for example) in this 2004 Teradata Magazine article. But in a world where ever more data comes in from ever more sources – and is needed ever faster – it simply isn’t realistic to expect that all an enterprise’s data will be vetted, organized, and managed to the highest of standards.

This is a core premise of Greenplum’s Enterprise Data Cloud (EDC)/Chorus marketing initiative, and in that respect Greenplum is correct.

If the EDW is a great idea that can never be 100% implemented, what should you do? At conventional enterprises, the answer is pretty obvious: Manage some of your data to enterprise data warehouse standards, but not all of it. Specifically, your highest-value data should be in something that looks like a classic enterprise data warehouse, and your lower-value data shouldn’t.

Of course, if you’re a data mart outsourcer or other analytic service provider, whose data is about your customers’ businesses rather than your own, and whose business is managing your customers’ data, this may not apply to you. But otherwise it’s a position with many supporting arguments, including:

Related links

Comments

8 Responses to “Is the enterprise data warehouse a myth?”

  1. Mark Aukeman on April 19th, 2010 7:27 am

    The EDW challenge in that “high-value” data is transformed from big “low value” data. Granted, ETL is an growing bottleneck that needs to be solved, but let’s not through the baby out with the bath water. We need disruptive breakthroughs in streaming data through the transformation process. Streaming analytics is a start, but why not stream the ELT to increase the value of all EDW data.

  2. Mark Aukeman on April 19th, 2010 7:27 am

    The EDW challenge in that “high-value” data is transformed from big “low value” data. Granted, ETL is an growing bottleneck that needs to be solved, but let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. We need disruptive breakthroughs in streaming data through the transformation process. Streaming analytics is a start, but why not stream the ELT to increase the value of all EDW data.

  3. SQLUSA.com ETL for Data Warehouse Population – Microsoft SQL Server 2008 on April 29th, 2010 12:56 am

    […] Is the enterprise data warehouse a myth? | DBMS2 — DataBase Management System Services […]

  4. SAP believes in database proliferation | DBMS2 -- DataBase Management System Services on May 13th, 2010 12:31 am

    […] For as long as we’ve had the concept of database management, there’s been a debate as to whether it is realistic for large enterprises to have a single Grand Unified Enterprise Storehouse Of All Information, or whether database proliferation actually makes sense. This argument has been particularly intense in the area of data warehouse/data marts. I’m generally on the side of data mart proliferation. […]

  5. Do we still need EDWs? | DBMS 2 : DataBase Management System Services on January 24th, 2011 5:10 pm

    […] pro-EDW arguments, in more detail than I ever have. So this feels like a good time to revisit my answer to the question of the EDW’s role, whose money quote was: At conventional enterprises … Manage some of your data to enterprise […]

  6. It’s official — the grand central EDW will never happen | DBMS 2 : DataBase Management System Services on June 21st, 2011 8:54 pm

    […] pointed out last year that the grand central enterprise data warehouse couldn’t happen; the post started: An enterprise data warehouse […]

  7. Evolving definitions and technology categories for 2011 : DBMS 2 : DataBase Management System Services on November 6th, 2011 5:42 am

    […] All that plugs into a larger project I was working on before my family issues came crashing in. The enterprise data warehouse is a myth, and that’s just the first reason that the old EDW vs. data mart bifurcation is grossly […]

  8. The Tallest Skyscraper in "Data City" | Appfluent on July 29th, 2013 8:24 pm

    […] As far back as 2010, industry analyst Curt Monash put it succinctly as “At conventional enter-prises, the answer is pretty obvious: Manage some of your data to enterpris…” […]

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