An EDW enables strategic capabilities for organizations; resolving issues that plague complex technology environments, while creating a solid foundation on which to build new opportunities.
Here are 7 key benefits of a well-implemented EDW:
1. Provide an environment with suitable governance/controls to ensure integrity
Consolidating the data from multiple systems requires active governance by the business in cooperation with technology; and ultimately leads to more valuable information driving business decisions. The EDW provides the process to either make the changes to the data as it enters the system, or expose the issues so they can be resolved at their source.
2. Consolidate information from disparate source systems
Reporting within the context of a given source system can lead to stovepipes of information, without the perspective of the rest of the enterprise. By bringing the information from across the systems into a centralized repository, multiple perspectives can be gained – and with them, new insights.
3. Accumulate historical records over time – for trend analysis, forecasting and “as was” reporting
Frequently, source systems are limited to current views of products, customers and vendors, and may contain a limited set of transactions. This restricts the ability to report on trends over time, variances between current and historical periods and historical views, such as sales against previous versions of the organization’s hierarchy.
4. Perform queries/reports on a dedicated environment, rather than on operational systems
Some organizations make do with drawing business intelligence from the operational systems themselves. The problem is that those systems may contain data integrity issues that go either unresolved or unknown. Also, the operations being performed need those resources; much better to have an environment dedicated to analytics, isolated from other business processes.
5. Provide a dedicated environment tuned to performance of business intelligence
Each sector of the reference architecture provides a specific set of capabilities and is designed to optimize the efficiency of the overall system. The Information Provisioning sector is devoted to delivering information to end users and applications with clarity, ease of use, and speed.
6. Provide a reporting environment that is easy to navigate and use
Simplicity can be an obstacle to user adoption of any business intelligence solution. That simplicity starts with the design of the data structures in the Information Provisioning sector. The reference architecture is uncompromising in ensuring data integrity upstream; which allows for users to be presented with recognizable business objects and intuitive links between them.
7. To have a secure environment, without risking operational system access
The ability to secure sensitive and private information for discreet sets of users remains a widely shared concern. In many cases, securing operational systems is not an option or is problematic. A centralized EDW provides the ability to enact a comprehensive security policy against a single system.
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