Data Warehousing and Data Marts

What is a Data Mart?

Data Marts are created to capture, "clean", transform, store and align data to support Business Intelligence (BI) requirements.

They can be termed "staged" or additional databases in that they are distinct from the operational or line of business databases. Staged databases may hold 100MB of data or 100 Gig of data, but with the same objective - providing an architected and sustainable environment for data drawn from disparate data sources internal and external to the enterprise. A Data Mart typically covers a single subject or functional area whereas a Data Warehouse typically covers a complete enterprise.

A fashionable term? A re-invention of what has happened before?

Yes and no. Financial and Management Accountants store and maintain data in their own spreadsheets and prepare reporting packs from this. Marketing and Business Analysts do likewise using spreadsheets and personal databases. Why? For reasons of flexibility, control and empowerment. This is where the business rules are stored, often implicitly but these solutions become victims of their own success - more datasets, more users want to come on board, more and more changes required but the resources and methods cannot cope and the approach is not scalable.

So at Infocube we look for an architected solution that places these end user requirements and initiatives into a scaleable and sustainable IS/IT environment. Increasingly, we are meeting the enterprise need through incremental, distinct Data Marts that can span the enterprise through common (conforming) dimensions such as Fiscal Calendar and Product Hierarchy.

A BI implementation can be implemented without a Data Mart but typically there will be a real life cycle benefit from introducing a Data Mart. Our BI and Data Mart services include the assessment of this need and the services and methods are sufficiently modular to be able to handle the different options.

Cognos DecisionStream lets you rapidly build and deploy a series of linked, subject-area Data Marts that form an integrated Business Intelligence (BI) system. This ensures that all users have access to consistent data for more coordinated analysis, reporting, and decision making across the enterprise.

Click here for more detailed information on Cognos DecisionStream.

• For further information on all InfoCube data mart services, please contact us on 020 7953 0410 or email us at info@infocube.co.uk.