Data Warehouse Definition
Data warehouse is a digital data warehouse used to store detailed information for a business, creating and organizing reports by history which are then used by the business to help make important decisions based on the facts presented.
The data warehouse is used to collect information from a company so that it can better control a certain process, providing greater flexibility in the investigation and information they need.
In addition to maintaining a history of information, the Data Warehouse creates standards by improving the data analyzed from all systems, correcting errors and restructuring the data without affecting the operating system, presenting only a final and organized model for analysis.
Data warehouse and data mart
A data mart is a subdivision or subset of a data warehouse . Data marts are like little slices of data warehouses , storing subsets of data.
Typically, the data mart is targeted at one line of business or team, and its information often belongs to a single department.
Data Warehouse Advantages and Disadvantages
Some of the main advantages of data storage are:
- Inconsistencies are identified and resolved before the data is loaded, facilitating analysis and reporting;
- They contribute to the decision-making process through trending, exception reporting, and reports that reveal targets versus actual performance.
The data warehouse also has some disadvantages, among which are:
- They are not a suitable solution for unstructured data;
- They can be expensive and can become obsolete quite quickly.
Data warehouse and business intelligence
Business Intelligence ( business intelligence in Portuguese), is the process of collecting and processing information that supports the management of a business.
Typically, the various branches of business intelligence use information collected from a data warehouse. Despite this, not all data warehouses are used in the context of business intelligence because not all business intelligence applications require a data warehouse.
OLAP
OLAP ( Online Analytical Processing – Real Time Analytical Processing), is one of the most widely used tools for exploring a data warehouse . OLAP allows you to alter and analyze large amounts of data from many different perspectives.
The application of this tool can be used by managers of any area and level, providing information and helping in the final decision. The use of OLAP can be applied in very different functions, some of the most used vary from financial functions (analysis, cash flows, accounts, budgets, etc.) to marketing (price analysis, market volume) ending in sales ( forecasts, profit, customers).
