Fast access to relevant data
Today, the most successful companies are those that can respond quickly and flexibly to market changes and opportunities. The effective and efficient use of data and information by analysts and managers is of essential importance.
A data warehouse is a type of data management system that stores data from various source systems in a centralised a consolidated manner.
A data warehouse is designed to analyse information from different angles and at high speed. These analytical capabilities enable organisations to extract valuable business insights from their data to improve decision-making.
Data warehouse versus operational database
The main difference between an operational database and a data warehouse is the fact that a database is an organised collection of related data that is stored tables, whereas a data warehouse is a central location that stores consolidated data from multiple databases.
Operational databases often store process-oriented data for use by an application. A data warehouse, on the other hand, focuses on the subject-oriented collection of data for reporting and data analysis, and as such is an important part of Business Intelligence.
The benefits of a data warehouse
Using a well-designed data warehouse offers many benefits including:
- Consolidated data from various sources
- Well-informed decision making
- Analysis of historical data
- Data quality, consistency and accuracy
- Data analyse has zero impact on source systems
These benefits are especially relevant for reporting tools and business intelligence initiatives.
