Page 99 - DCAP606_BUSINESS_INTELLIGENCE

Business Intelligence

Notes
Managing data warehouse input sources includes a number of steps organized into two
phases. In the first phase the following activities are undertaken:
Manage the Data Source Identification Process
Identify Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)

Identify Dimension Data Sources
Identify Fact Data Sources
When the major data sources have been identified it is time to quickly gain detailed
understanding of each one:

Obtain Existing Documentation
Model and Define the Input
Profile the Input

Improve Data Quality
Save Results for Further Reuse
Manage the Data Warehousing Data Source Identification Process
The source identification process is critical to the success of data warehousing and business
intelligence projects. It is important to move through this effort quickly, obtaining enough
information about the data sources without being bogged down in excess detail while still
obtaining the needed information.
Start out with a list of the entities planned for the data warehouse / data mart. This can be
managed with a spreadsheet containing these columns:

Entity name
Data mart role (Fact, Dimension, Bridge, etc.)
Subject Area

Data Source(s)
Analyst Name(s)
Subject Matter Expert(s)
Status

Complete the entity name, data mart role and subject area entries. Assign an analyst to
each entity who will find data sources and subject matter experts for each entity.

Contd....

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