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hi,
I am interested in building a DW for my company. As usual, we have 4
different systems which holds different applications. I would like to know
what is the first step of buidling the DW? Retrieve the columns / data that
we need? Any good link to view?

Thanks so much

Ed

On Nov 5, 10:26 pm, Ed <E...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> hi,
> I am interested in building a DW for my company. As usual, we have 4
> different systems which holds different applications. I would like to know
> what is the first step of buidling the DW? Retrieve the columns / data that
> we need? Any good link to view?
>
> Thanks so much
>
> Ed

The first step is to close your eyes, take a deep breath, and prepare
for a long and exciting journey.

I am _very_ new to the DW/BI scene so bear that in mind when reading
this post.

I have found these websites helpful:

http://www.dwinfocenter.org/
http://www.kimballgroup.com/

However, what works best for me is the old-fashioned approach: book
learning combined with trail-and-error. You might want to stop by a
bookstore (or use Amazon's "Search Inside" feature) and flip through
some of these titles: http://www.kimballgroup.com/html/books.html

I all but stopped buying technical books several years ago because the
information is often outdated by the time the book goes to press.
Having said that, for a subject that is deep, wide, and unfamiliar,
trying to get up to speed using only internet searches can be
frustrating and counterproductive.

Best wishes on your project!

You can hire my team!

"happy camper" <keenan@p2sol.com> wrote in message
news:1194471643.414378.82940@57g2000hsv.googlegrou ps.com...
> On Nov 5, 10:26 pm, Ed <E...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>> hi,
>> I am interested in building a DW for my company. As usual, we have 4
>> different systems which holds different applications. I would like to
>> know
>> what is the first step of buidling the DW? Retrieve the columns / data
>> that
>> we need? Any good link to view?
>>
>> Thanks so much
>>
>> Ed
>
> The first step is to close your eyes, take a deep breath, and prepare
> for a long and exciting journey.
>
> I am _very_ new to the DW/BI scene so bear that in mind when reading
> this post.
>
> I have found these websites helpful:
>
> http://www.dwinfocenter.org/
> http://www.kimballgroup.com/
>
> However, what works best for me is the old-fashioned approach: book
> learning combined with trail-and-error. You might want to stop by a
> bookstore (or use Amazon's "Search Inside" feature) and flip through
> some of these titles: http://www.kimballgroup.com/html/books.html
>
> I all but stopped buying technical books several years ago because the
> information is often outdated by the time the book goes to press.
> Having said that, for a subject that is deep, wide, and unfamiliar,
> trying to get up to speed using only internet searches can be
> frustrating and counterproductive.
>
> Best wishes on your project!
>

"Ed" <Ed@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:CD21EB5F-6FA2-422B-A115-CDCC5D5910AD@microsoft.com...
> hi,
> I am interested in building a DW for my company. As usual, we have 4
> different systems which holds different applications. I would like to
> know
> what is the first step of buidling the DW? Retrieve the columns / data
> that
> we need? Any good link to view?
>
> Thanks so much
>
> Ed

If you don't have BI experience then get some experienced assistance on
site. A DW is only one part of a BI solution. To be successful and deliver
value to your business customers you should first consider the whole
end-to-end picture.

--
David Portas

Gartner claimed a short time ago that DW efforts were the near 50% failure
rate.

Maybe start with just a data mart on a specific subject area on just one of
your 4 applications. Get the ETL working with SSIS, develop a cube in SSAS
and use Excel 2007 to browse cubes or just use SSMS.

Once you are succesful on a specific subject area then you can start pulling
in your other hetrogenous sources.

Without help you will flail about some - so if at all possible; hire some
assistance.

"David Portas" <REMOVE_BEFORE_REPLYING_dportas@acm.org> wrote in message
news:eS3A$SdIIHA.4196@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> "Ed" <Ed@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:CD21EB5F-6FA2-422B-A115-CDCC5D5910AD@microsoft.com...
>> hi,
>> I am interested in building a DW for my company. As usual, we have 4
>> different systems which holds different applications. I would like to
>> know
>> what is the first step of buidling the DW? Retrieve the columns / data
>> that
>> we need? Any good link to view?
>>
>> Thanks so much
>>
>> Ed
>
> If you don't have BI experience then get some experienced assistance on
> site. A DW is only one part of a BI solution. To be successful and deliver
> value to your business customers you should first consider the whole
> end-to-end picture.
>
> --
> David Portas
>
>

To name just a few items: Create small wins for yourself by Implementing
incrementally, always working on those sections that will have the biggest
positive businss impact and can released in the shortest amount of time. If
you don't already know how to data model, learn. Read Ralph Kimball's books
on OLAP design and implementation

--
Sincerely,

John K
President
Knowledgy Consulting, LLC
1024 Spalding Forest Ct.
Atlanta, GA 30328
---------------------------------------
Knowledgy.org
---------------------------------------
Contact: Knowledgy$knowledgy.org
Replace $ with @ for emails
---------------------------------------

This web site can give you a jump start on that:

http://www.microsoft.com/bi/about/data-warehousing.aspx

Especially:
http://download.microsoft.com/downlo.../RelDWPerf.doc

Shin

"Ed" <Ed@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:CD21EB5F-6FA2-422B-A115-CDCC5D5910AD@microsoft.com...
> hi,
> I am interested in building a DW for my company. As usual, we have 4
> different systems which holds different applications. I would like to
> know
> what is the first step of buidling the DW? Retrieve the columns / data
> that
> we need? Any good link to view?
>
> Thanks so much
>
> Ed

You may want to start by conforming facts. Basically, documenting your 4
databases and researching what columns and data are the same in all of the
databases

--
Sincerely,
John K
Knowledgy Consulting
www.knowledgy.org

Atlanta's Business Intelligence and Data Warehouse Experts


"Ed" <Ed@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:CD21EB5F-6FA2-422B-A115-CDCC5D5910AD@microsoft.com...
> hi,
> I am interested in building a DW for my company. As usual, we have 4
> different systems which holds different applications. I would like to
> know
> what is the first step of buidling the DW? Retrieve the columns / data
> that
> we need? Any good link to view?
>
> Thanks so much
>
> Ed