A Parents Guide to Raising Your
Data Warehouse
Rob Armstrong
Teradata, Director of Data Warehouse Support
(and Kyle and Amy’s Dad)

With special thanks to…

All data warehouses
are different

Have flexible guidelines
Best practices work because the companies
make them work
– What works for one may not work for you
Practices have to also fit into your financing
and organizational philosophies
– Is it your goal or your practice that is wrong?
Take what works and build on it
– Motivation, organization, funding

Believe!
Have a plan and
commit to it.

Can’t run to second while you are still
standing on first
Have a set of guiding principles
– General processes that set the path
– May be fine tuned within parameters
Align and direct resources
– ETL, Modeling, and Applications should all
consider the total picture
Put funding where it matters
– What project funds integration?
– What project funds data quality?

Play date or Play
mate?

Need to have cooperation and integration
Consolidated data
– Still inconsistent and unrelated
– Each group has little interest in other groups
Integrated data
– Consistent, relationships remain intact, reusable
– Shared service levels and prioritization
Shared outlook creates Friendship
– Are your metrics shared across IT and Business
– Do your business users take ownership of the
data in the warehouse?

It is almost always easier
to quit…
but rarely is it right thing to
do

Every obstacle is an opportunity
Performance Challenges?
– Value of action
– Service level agreements
Data Modeling?
– Business definition consistency
– Determining Ownership
Funding
– Business case development
– Prioritization of development

Unintended does not
mean unexpected

Mom always said “don’t play ball in the
house”
Understanding the consequences are
critical
Plan for the known, even if not immediate
– “Baby-proof” your data warehouse
– Look for where time and cost accumulate
Growth always happens, are you ready?
– Capacity, performance, expectations

Have rules and enforce them,
Sometimes you have to say NO

You get the behavior that you tolerate
Workload Management
– Implies workload
– Implies management
System Migrations
– What is missing?
– Why is the old system still used.
Where is the right place for work
– Extracts are a red flag
– ETL vs. ELT, Analytics heavy lifting

A failure to learn is a
failure to teach

ElHi and beyond
Fundamentals
– Teradata works differently
– Define and forget
Relevance
– Is your training being enforced with efforts
– Lunch and learns, workshops, and others
Breadth
– Need business education as well
– Understanding the data

Expect better and
you will get better

Metrics, Measure, Modify
Metrics
– Do your metrics reflect your priorities?
– Do your metrics align across functions?
Measure
– Are your metrics visible by all?
– Do the measurements reflect timeliness
Modify
– What behavior do you want to see?
– What rewards and communications are in use?

If you want responsibility,
you also must have
accountability

Ownership changes everything
Data Definitions and quality
– Not just consistent but also accurate
– If it is wrong, what happens to your actions
Value of performance
– When do you know, when can you know?
– What actions change with time?
Where to put your next dollar
– What data enhances your decisions?
– How can you get others to join in?

Have a plan for
when they grow up

What do you want to be?
Data Warehouse Roadmap
– What comes next
– What can be leveraged elsewhere?
Application, Data, and Systems
– Plan is not just about data
– What goal are you trying to reach?
Priorities lead decisions, and actions
– Governance, not regulation
– How to get self service

Realize that you
have to let go…
but you never stop
being a parent