Operational Data Warehousing

f o u r t h q u a r t e r 2 010

T DW I besT pr ac T Ices repor T

oper ational data warehousing
The Integration of Operational Applications and Data Warehouses
By Philip Russom

Co-sponsored by

tdwi.org

fourth QuArtEr 2010

TDWI besT pracTIces reporT

oper ational data warehousing
By Philip Russom

The Integration of Operational Applications and Data Warehouses

Table ofContents
Introduction to Operational Data Warehousing (OpDW) . . . . 4
Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Defining Operational Data Warehousing. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Related Terms and Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Why Care About OpDW Now? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

The State of Operational Data Warehousing . . . . . . . . . . 9Status of OpDW Implementations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Benefits of OpDW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Barriers to OpDW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Use Cases for OpDW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
The Four-Step OpDW Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 The Time-Value Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 15 Business Applications of OpDW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Analytic Applications of OpDW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Technical Best Practices for OpDW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Data Load Frequency and Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Operational Data Warehouse Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Operational Data Warehouse Workloads . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Operational Data Warehouse Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Available OpDW Features and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Cumulative Use versus Potential Growth for OpDW Options . . . 26 Trends Among OpDW Features and Techniques . . . . . . . . . 28

Vendor Products for OpDW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 32

© 2010 by TDWI (The Data Warehousing InstituteTM), a division of 1105 Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproductions in whole or in part are prohibited except by written permission. E-mail requests or feedback to info@tdwi.org. Product and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

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OPER AT ION A L DATAWAREHOUSING

About the Author
PHILIP RUSSOM is a well-known figure in data warehousing and business intelligence, having published hundreds of research reports, magazine articles, opinion columns, speeches, Webinars, and more. Today, he’s the senior manager of TDWI Research at The Data Warehousing Institute (TDWI), where he oversees many of TDWI’s research-oriented publications, services, andevents. Before joining TDWI in 2005, Russom was an industry analyst covering BI at Forrester Research, Giga Information Group, and Hurwitz Group. He also ran his own business as an independent industry analyst and BI consultant and was contributing editor for several well-known IT magazines. Before that, Russom worked in technical and marketing positions for various database vendors. You can reachhim at prussom@tdwi.org.

About TDWI
The Data Warehousing Institute, a division of 1105 Media, Inc., is the premier provider of indepth, high-quality education and training in the business intelligence and data warehousing industry. TDWI is dedicated to educating business and information technology professionals about the strategies, techniques, and tools required to successfully design,build, and maintain data warehouses. It also fosters the advancement of data warehousing research and contributes to knowledge transfer and the professional development of its Members. TDWI sponsors and promotes a worldwide Membership program, quarterly educational conferences, regional educational seminars, onsite courses, solution provider partnerships, awards programs for best practices and...