Data Warehouse Health Check and RevitalisationWhat is revitalization?In the same way as it is sometimes necessary to send a motor vehicle in for a major service, so it is necessary to have a data warehouse properly overhauled. The first step of such a project is a thorough a data warehouse health check. This involves careful attention being paid to the current status of the data warehouse – what it currently looks like, which will determine what needs to be done. The next step is a gap analysis and a roadmap for the way forward, through which the data warehouse can be brought back on track in line with the organisation’s most important and pressing business needs. When to revitalize?While this sounds great, it is important to understand when this should take place. The most appropriate time to do this is when the organisation moves up the information maturity chain - when it starts to view data as an organisational asset. This can also be implemented when the data warehouse infrastructure becomes too costly or problematic, for example when it suffers from performance or throughput problems. Lastly, this should be done when the existing data warehouse’s ROI becomes questionable - when its usage seems to dwindle, or when the business does not get the information it requires to make decisions and manage its performance. What to revitalize?Part of this health check and data warehouse assessment includes an analysis of the underlying business drivers and objectives and overall context of business needs that have been established for the data warehouse. These include:
The aim of the usage assessment is to determine the users of the data warehouse – who accesses the data warehouse, to what extent their information needs are addressed, their usage patterns, their use of additional information sources and in general, their satisfaction with using the data warehouse and the information it provides them with. This is also used to determine the potential usage of the data warehouse. The information architecture assessment includes an analysis of the logical and physical data structures that are in place, their feasibility, completeness, correctness, documentation and fit to the business requirements. The technical architecture assessment looks at the current hardware, software and network infrastructure of the warehouse and examines the implementation aspects of the physical database designs. The technical architecture assessment seeks to identify any technical risks or constraints that may exist with regards to performance, maintenance, scalability, data distribution, disaster recovery and sizing. The organisational assessment includes an examination of the existing organisational structure and then the identification of the roles and responsibilities of both the technology and the business community that need to be addressed. The project planning and methodology assessment is performed to review the entire data warehouse program and the various project plans, including the tasks, estimated timing and allocated resources. During the data quality assessment, aspects such as completeness, accuracy, timeliness, delivery and cost are quantified, to determine the overall degree of data quality of the data warehouse. The rationale for RevitalisationTechnology changes every day and as a result, the need to upgrade technology is vital. As data warehousing is a key business enabler, its benefits and value-add are continuously scrutinised and challenged as technology evolves and should therefore be re-evaluated accordingly. A successful heath check and revitalisation provides a roadmap towards a new and more successful data warehouse, while maintaining the existing programs. The PBT approach to revitalisationAs we are dedicated to offering only the best services, the PBT approach to this is a carefully thought through process that starts with a health check, aimed at providing a thorough review of the current status of the organisation’s data warehouse. This is then followed by a recommended revitalisation roadmap which is set to the needs identified, to take this process forward, based on the business’ goals and objectives to ensure success is achieved. Our revitalisation program will take your data warehouse and its utilisation in the business to its optimum level.
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