The following are the typical steps involved in the datawarehousing project cycle.
- Requirement Gathering
- Physical Environment Setup
- Data Modeling
- Task Description
- the logical data model is built based on user requirements, and then it is translated into the physical data model. The detailed steps can be found in the Conceptual, Logical, and Physical Data Modeling section.
- Time Requirement
- 2 - 6 weeks.
Deliverables
- Identification of data sources.
- Logical data model.
- Physical data model.
- ETL
- Task Description
- The ETL (Extraction, Transformation, Loading) process typically takes the longest to develop, and this can easily take up to 50% of the data warehouse implementation cycle or longer. The reason for this is that it takes time to get the source data, understand the necessary columns, understand the business rules, and understand the logical and physical data models.
- Time Requirement
- 1 - 6 weeks.
- Deliverables
- Data Mapping Document
- ETL Script / ETL Package in the ETL tool
- OLAP Cube Design
- Task Description
- Usually the design of the olap cube can be derived from theRequirement Gathering phase.Usually the design of the olap cube can be derived from theRequirement Gathering phase.
- Time Requirement
1 - 2 weeks.
Deliverables - Documentation specifying the OLAP cube dimensions and measures.
- Actual OLAP cube / report.
- Front End Development
- Task DescriptionRegardless of the strength of the OLAP engine and the integrity of the data, if the users cannot visualize the reports, the data warehouse brings zero value to them. Hence front end development is an important part of a data warehousing initiative. he most important thing is that the reports should need to be delivered over the web, so the only thing that the user needs is the standard browser.
- Time Requirement
1 - 4 weeks.
Deliverables
Front End Deployment Documentation - Report Development
- Task Description
- Report specification typically comes directly from the requirements phase. To the end user, the only direct touchpoint he or she has with the data warehousing system is the reports they see. So, report development, although not as time consuming as some of the other steps such as ETL and data modeling, nevertheless plays a very important role in determining the success of the data warehousing project.
- Time Requirement1 - 2 weeks.
Deliverables - Report Specification Documentation.
- Reports set up in the front end / reports delivered to user's preferred channel.