Some organizations have adopted a data warehouse architecture that includes an atomic third normal form (3NF) relational data warehouse. This architecture, often called the hub-and-spoke or Corporate Information Factory (CIF), includes a data acquisition ETL process to gather, clean and integrate data from various sources. Atomic data is loaded into third normal form data structures, […]

If you subscribe to the Kimball Design Tips, you’re likely already well aware of Ralph Kimball’s contributions to the field of data warehousing and business intelligence. However, many of you may not know about Ralph’s contributions and accomplishments prior to turning his attention to our industry. Ralph’s not someone who seeks the limelight or frequently […]

Most organizations implementing a new data warehouse/business intelligence (DW/BI) environment are replacing or “sunsetting” a legacy analytic/reporting system. This environment may be an older data warehouse, a single or series of departmental data marts, or a collection of analytic/reporting environments cobbled together using tools such as Access and Excel. Some may be officially sanctioned platforms; […]