Data Warehouse Dining Experience
Managing a data warehouse is similar to running a restaurant.
by Margy Ross & Ralph Kimball
January 1, 2004
Measure Twice, Cut Once
As with construction, you must plan before building the ETL.
by Warren Thornthwaite, Edited by Margy Ross
December 10, 2003
Beyond Paving the Cow Paths
Use the five-stage analytic framework to deliver more from the data warehouse
by Bill Schmarzo, Edited By Margy Ross
November 18, 2003
No Detail Too Small
Although there's no substitute for atomic details, look into complementary consolidations
by Margy Ross & Ralph Kimball
October 30, 2003
Fistful of Flaws
Use this checklist to review your dimensional models
by Margy Ross & Ralph Kimball
October 10, 2003
The Bottom-Up Misnomer
Our data-warehousing approach is sometimes referred to as bottom-up, but it's far from it
by Margy Ross & Ralph Kimball
September 17, 2003
Habits of Effective Sponsors
Business sponsors can make or break a data warehouse program. What habits make or break a business sponsor?
by Margy Ross edited by Ralph Kimball
September 1, 2003
Better Storytelling
Dimensional design techniques bind events into stories
by Jim Stagnitto edited by Ralph Kimball
August 10, 2003
RFID Tags and Smart Dust
RFID tagging will create not just a tidal wave of data, but lifetime employment for data warehouse designers
by Ralph Kimball
July 18, 2003
Real Time: Get Real, Part II
Start by discarding your current concepts of ETL
by Neil Raden edited by Ralph Kimball
June 30, 2003
Real Time: Get Real
Take the idea of a real-time data warehouse with a grain of salt, then realize the possibilities
by Neil Raden edited by Ralph Kimball
June 17, 2003
Is Hand-Coded ETL the Way to Go?
Absolutely yes, or absolutely no, depending...
by Gary Nissen edited by Ralph Kimball
May 31, 2003
TCO Starts With the End User
The conventional view of data warehouse total cost of ownership is myopic and wrong
by Ralph Kimball
May 13, 2003
The Soul of the Data Warehouse, Part 3: Handling Time
The data warehouse takes a pledge to preserve history
by Ralph Kimball
April 22, 2003
The Soul of the Data Warehouse, Part Two: Drilling Across
Drilling across means asking for the same row headers from another fact table
by Ralph Kimball
April 5, 2003
The Soul of the Data Warehouse, Part One: Drilling Down
Drilling down just means 'show me more detail'
by Ralph Kimball
March 20, 2003
Declaring the Grain
It's the most important dimensional design step after identifying data sources
by Ralph Kimball
March 1, 2003
To Be or Not To Be Centralized
Contrary to conventional data warehouse wisdom, physical centralization is not the question
by Margy Ross
February 1, 2003
Fact Tables and Dimension Tables
The logical foundation of dimensional modeling
by Ralph Kimball
January 1, 2003
The Promise of Decision Support
Analytic applications return to the original reason for the data warehouse
by Bill Schmarzo
December 5, 2002
Designing the Financial Data Warehouse
Now that the finance function has knocked on your door, what's next?
by Dan Hughes
November 15, 2002
Divide and Conquer
Build your data warehouse one piece at a time
by Ralph Kimball
October 30, 2002
Relating to OLAP
OLAP and ROLAP are a continuum, not competitors
by Joy Mundy
October 8, 2002
Two Powerful Ideas
The foundations for modern data warehousing
by Ralph Kimball
September 17, 2002
Design Constraints and Unavoidable Realities
No design problem in school was this hard
by Ralph Kimball
September 3, 2002
What Changed?
Use a multivalued outrigger table to add expressive power to your dimensions
by Joe Caserta
August 12, 2002
An Engineer's View
It's worthwhile to remind ourselves why we build data warehouses the way we do
by Ralph Kimball
July 26, 2002
The Finance Function Knocks at Your Door
Are you ready to take on the analytic needs of your finance people?
by Ken Jones
June 28, 2002
Tricky Time Spans
The time dimension isn't nearly as simple as it looks
by Ralph Kimball
June 13, 2002
Prime Time for XML
Open up new application types with XML embedded in your relational databases
by Steve Tracy
May 28, 2002
The Unity Dimension
A saner solution for when differing entites share a role
by Nick Galemmo, Edited By Ralph Kimball
June 13, 2001
Joint Effort
Administer the distributed data warehouse correctly or lose it!
by Ralph Kimball
May 24, 2001
Getting Started and Finishing Well
A well-defined process for data warehouse projects brings business value and project success
by Peter Nolan, Edited by Ralph Kimball
May 07, 2001
XML Will Make It Easier
Data integration and reuse possibilities are wide open but not yet very well realized
by Ralph Kimball
April 16, 2001
Close the Loop
Integrate your warehouse with your operational systems before you are overrun
by Steve Tracy
March 27, 2001
Adjust Your Thinking for SANs
Storage area networks offer interesting advantages to the data warehouse
by Ralph Kimball
March 08, 2001
Smarter Data Warehouses
We need a better analytic language than SQL
by Joy Mundy
February 16, 2001
Address Space
Turn your data warehouse into a geographic information system
by Ralph Kimball
January 30, 2001
Spatial Enabling Your Data Warehouse
Ralph goes to MapObjects basic training
by Ralph Kimball
January 01, 2001
Is Your Data Correct?
Simple statistical techniques can help you ensure that users have accurate information at their fingertips
by Ralph Kimball
December 05, 2000
Fact Tables for Text Document Searching
Using a similarity metric as a measured fact
by Ralph Kimball
November 10, 2000
The Keyword Dimension
Using keywords in a data warehouse of historical letters
by Ralph Kimball
October 20, 2000
Backward in Time
Stitching late-arriving records into an existing data warehouse
by Ralph Kimball
September 29, 2000
The Software Developer in Us
Data warehouse designers have a lot to learn from good, old-fashioned software developers
by Ralph Kimball
September 8, 2000
Enforcing the Rules
Most data warehouses do a poor job of supporting all business rules: We can do better
by Ralph Kimball
August 18, 2000
There Are No Guarantees
Entity-relation modeling is far from being a universal solution for data warehouse business rules
by Ralph Kimball
August 1, 2000
Watching the Watchers
It's time we added the term 'privacy architecture' to our vocabularies
by Ralph Kimball
July 17, 2000
ERP Vendors: Bring Down Those Walls
ERP vendors need a more open, dynamic approach if they are to join the e-business paradigm
by Ralph Kimball
June 26, 2000
Welcoming the Packaged App
Make sure your packaged application is part of your data Webhouse
by Ralph Kimball
June 5, 2000
Is Your Dimensional Data Warehouse Expressive?
Completing the 20 criteria for rating your dimensional data warehouse
by Ralph Kimball
May 15, 2000
Rating Your Dimensional Data Warehouse
Twenty Criteria for Comparing Systems
by Ralph Kimball
April 28, 2000
Indicators of Quality
Use your standard query tools to track data quality and lineage
by Ralph Kimball
April 10, 2000
Mystery Dimensions
Making sense of rogue fields in your fact table
by Ralph Kimball
March 20, 2000
Digital Preservation
Keeping our warehouses for 50 years
by Ralph Kimball
March 1, 2000
Many Alternate Realities
Describing the Past Accurately: Data Warehouse Designers' Unique Challenge
by Ralph Kimball
February 9, 2000
The Special Dimensions Of the Clickstream
These Key Dimensions Make Customer “Gesture” Behavior Comprehensible
by Ralph Kimball
January 20, 2000
Millennium Ahead
Predictions for a Webhousing Revolution
by Ralph Kimball
January 1, 2000
