Global Data Warehouse Project Planning

StarSoft Solutions develops critical data warehouse and decision support implementation plans which are at the heart of all successful projects. Depending on data warehouse experience and status of existing infrastructure, Global Data Warehouse Project Planning services are tailored to meet each organization's needs. Global Data Warehouse Project Planning is a comprehensive and practical implementation plan which encompasses the following areas:

• Project cost justification
• Project scoping & change control
• Team roles & responsibilities
• Data warehouse infrastructures
• End user business requirements
• Business dimensional modeling
• Designing logical & physical DB's
• Complete data staging process
• Metadata development
• OLAP application configuration
• End user & IT education programs
• Deployment, maintenance and growth

Business Requirements Definition

The key to any successful project is to clearly identify and document end user's business requirements and expectations. StarSoft Solutions conducts comprehensive business studies uncovering key requirements that ultimately drive the design of data warehouse and decision support systems. These in-depth business studies address the following issues:

• Key business goals
• Analytical requirements
• Data requirements
• Availability of data
• Growth paths for business functions
• Future data sources

Business Dimensional Model™

The Business Dimensional Model™ is a vehicle to document conformed dimensions with business attributes and their relationships in end user terms. This conceptual multi-dimensional model easily translates into both logical and physical database designs. The Business Dimensional Model™ identifies:

• Dimensionality of the business
• Business attributes within each dimension
• Attribute relationships within each dimension
• Hierarchical structures (drill paths)
• Required business measures or facts
• OLAP requirements
• Potential pre-stored aggregates

Data Warehouse Database Design

StarSoft Solutions uses the principals of star schema design as the basis for all Data Warehouse Database Designs. Star Schemas, are now the defacto industry standard for data warehousing and are required by the high end OLAP DSS tools. Using a blend of consolidated star and full snowflake schemas allows StarSoft Solutions to develop the most appropriate structure to fit your business needs and data access tool requirements. Primary components of Data Warehouse Database Design both logical and physical include:

• Star or snowflake schema designs
• Tables & columns
• Primary & foreign keys
• Partitioning strategy
• Indexing strategy
• Data clustering / organization

Data Access Tool Selection

Significant investments are being made in the development of data warehouses. Unfortunately, end users' sole perception of the warehouse is based on the data access tool(s) selected. Therefore it is critical to match tool capabilities to business and technical requirements. The tool selection process can be very difficult and confusing given the explosion of technology in this arena. StarSoft Solutions unravels the mysteries surrounding these tools and assists organizations in appropriate tool(s) selection. Key elements of Data Access Tool Selection include:

• OLAP requirements
• Multi-dimensional requirements
• Understanding classes of tools and their purposes
• Mapping user requirements to data access tool functionality
• and limitations
• Request for Proposals (RFP) preparation and evaluation
• Developing and conducting on-site data access tool evaluations
• Mapping existing IS infrastructure to data access tool architectures

Enterprise Data Warehouse Planning

Many corporations find themselves faced with multiple stove pipe data marts. The data from these standalone data marts can't be integrated and the overall value to the organization is limited. StarSoft Solutions offers Enterprise Data Warehouse Planning services to help you understand the different data marts, their complexities and how they might fit together in a conformed manner. These same services can be applied to a new situation to develop an overall strategy before stovepipes are developed. These services include:

• Conduct a survey of all data warehouse, data mart,
• decision support initiatives
• Review status of individual projects
• Review project architectures
• Identify duplication and gaps in technology
• Determine opportunities to leverage resources
• Identify current and future data marts and their dimensions
• Develop a Data Mart Matrix showing intersection between
• data marts and dimensions across the enterprise
• Recommend strategy to move forward

Data Warehouse Design Review

Most data warehouses don't fail due to lack of effort. The complexity and inter-relationships between all aspects of a data warehouse project are difficult to understand without hands on experience. An independent perspective on how your data warehouse project is progressing, as well as understanding potential problem areas, could save a significant amount of time and money over the life of your data warehouse. StarSoft Solutions offers a Data Warehouse Design Review that will provide you with a written report outlining StarSoft Solutions' assessment of the current project and recommendations for moving forward. Primary components of the Data Warehouse Design Review include:

• 3-4 day on site review of the entire data warehouse project
• Written report outlining findings and recommendations

Return to the Business Dimensional Lifecycle™