Simplicity and Transparency

Simplicity and Transparency How to do Effective Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence David Holcomb, Ph.D.

Goals of this Presentation
Challenge the way you think
Words versus Actions
Principles to drive action
Offer some simple thoughts on DW & BI
Have some FUN!

“ Simplicity” Defined
Most people say “Simplicity” is . . .
Making things easier!
For this discussion, let’s use this definition of “Simplicity” . . .
Don’t make it harder than it has to be!

“ Transparency” Defined
Fewer common definitions of “Transparency” exist. From a data warehousing/business intelligence perspective, the one I use is:
The ability to take any number and break it down to the elementary or organic detail.

Simple DW/BI Model

The Model – Simply Stated

Principles
Get Data In
Data is an Asset – optimize your assets
Get Data Out
Information is Power . . . If available where and when needed, comprehensive, and transparent
Underlying Processes
Be an easy place to do business!

Data is _____
Data is Dumb!
It doesn’t know where it came from
It doesn’t know what it allowed to do
It doesn’t know what it can be used for
Data is the artifact of a process
It doesn’t spontaneously generate
It doesn’t spontaneously combust
I know sometimes it does not feel that way!
So, Data is an Asset - Optimize those Assets

Data is an Asset
If we treat Data as an “Asset” – what does that mean?
Well, with other “Assets” we . . .
Acquire the asset
Determine you need it then go get it
Prepare the asset
Get it ready for action
Deploy the asset
Put it to work
Manage the asset
Maintain, improve, optimize, maybe even “sunset” the asset

Chair, Table, and Mabel All of the assets are treated basically the same way. How about data? Acquire the asset
Determine type and quantity
Buy chairs
Have them delivered
Determine type and size
Buy table
Have it delivered
Determine the skills desired
Interview
Hire
Prepare the asset
Take it out of box
Clean it
Take it out of box
Clean it
Get office, PC Train on systems
Deploy the asset Put in office or conference room Put in office or conference room Put in front of customers Manage the asset
Clean periodically
Fix or toss
Clean periodically
Fix or dispose
Review performance
Offer more training
Give helpful hint
If not working well, dismiss

Data Treated as an Asset Interestingly if we use these principles, we actually know the requirements. Why do we keep asking? Acquire the asset
Get it all
Data has Content and Context
It all has value, get it all
Prepare the asset
May need some additional structures
Some ETL may be necessary; additional dimensional, aggregation, or temporal models may be needed
Deploy the asset
Point tools at it
Give people direct access
Manage the asset
Purge the data that is not of value
Add disk space to hold it all as it grows
Add more structures

Dilbert Break Does this sound familiar? Careful of Taking Orders!

Dilbert Break #2 A little knowledge – watch out! Requirements?

Why is this Important?
Every time, I talk to people regarding the main problem with their data warehouse, I always get the same answer:
It does not have the information I need
Why is this:
The DW doesn’t have all of the information
The people don’t know the information is there
Let’s assume you were the owner and these were your assets, what would you do?

Acting Like an Owner
You would . . .
Get all of the assets
Make sure:
It’s comprehensive with some sizzle (Product)
Everyone knew about it (Promotion)
It was accessible (Place)
It was at a good price (Price)
Ok, so let’s do some Data Warehousing! Time for Action!

Action – Data Warehouse Native Formats Dimensional Model Aggregated / Temporal Models Acquisition Abstraction Enterprise Data Warehouse Model CRM/OLTP Budgeting Compensation Web Logs Get the data in its native formats Audit Capability Full Transparency Benefits

Get Data Out
Do you have problems with Dueling Numbers?
The Secret: “He who is transparent first, WINS!”

Getting Transparency
Leverage the infrastructure from GDI
Utilize drill techniques (based on the business)
Organizational Design
Organizational Behavior
Understanding how organizations design themselves and how they behave, will enhance your transparency and adoption

Organizational Design
Organizations design themselves to get work done
Work Definition: Someone will do something at some time.
They design themselves basically 3 ways
Hierarchically
Functionally
Geographically
Other designs:
Teams: basically a microcosm of the macro organization
Matrix: Please note, everyone reports to someone and often the reporting with follow the hierarchy
So if we know this information, should not all reporting follow these designs?

Organizational Behavior
Rule #1: “The discussion will skip a level”
When the CEO looks a report, the discussion will not be about the results of their directs, but how their skip-levels affect the numbers
Rule #2: “If you can’t be first, don’t be last”
Competition between similar organizations is implied by reporting
Rule #3: “My kingdom, my tundra view”
Leaders want to be pointed to where they should look
You’re job is not to put out fires, your job is to point out the smoke

Putting it Together A Report (could be a dashboard)
Levels drill to next level
Action plans
Questions
Real People, Real Numbers
When you get to the bottom level, the user can reference the transactional system and verify numbers.

Underlying Processes
Metadata & Data Lineage
Meanings, data values, etc. for the fields and the path back to the data origins
The Get the Data In strategy gives you full lineage and maximizes the opportunity to have meta data and full transparency
Governance
Explicit Authority, Access Control, Standards & Policies.
Good governance should “Make the right thing the easy thing”
Interaction Models
The processes for maintaining the relationships between the data warehouse organization and two groups (end users and the data providers)
Make it easy for end users and data providers to work with the data warehouse – “Be an easy place to do business”
Organization
Often, no one owns the data warehouse. This lack of ownership leads to a lack of strategy and a disjointed warehouse environment. I propose that someone must own the data warehouse AND must realize they are working on behalf of the entire organization.

A Quick Re-cap

QUESTIONS

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Simplicity and Transparency

by Jodie Heflin on May 11, 2010

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Simplicity and Transparency — Presentation Transcript