What is A Data Warehouse?
Data Warehousing for ERP Explained
Data Visualization & Data Warehousing with Business Intelligence for NetSuite, Powered by GURUS
In this article, I’ll be explaining what a Data Warehouse is and how it works, especially in relation to your ERP system.
If you’re new to the world of Business Intelligence, it is very easy to get lost in the sea of technologies that make up this world. With just a couple of online searches for “Business Intelligence”, you will very quickly stumble on a number of varying technologies including Data Visualization, OLAP, ETL, Analytics and of course Data Warehousing.
To help you get started, my goal today is to focus on Data Warehousing - which is undoubtedly at the heart of any business intelligence strategy.
Alright, so first let's start with the definition…. What is a Data Warehouse?
Wikipedia defines a Data Warehouse as “a system used for reporting and data analysis” and “a core component of business intelligence”. Simply put, a Data Warehouse delivers a Single Source of Truth carefully structured to maximize the consumption of large volumes of data. The goal of a Data Warehouse is to empower YOU, the end user, by providing you with full access to your business information living in the important enterprise systems that run your organization.
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Data Warehousing is designed to selectively store and optimize business data across multiple systems to facilitate reporting and analytics. Keep in mind, this is very different from a Database whose sole purpose is to capture transactional data from a single system (such as your ERP system), primarily to support operations.
Think of a Data Warehouse as the heart of your business pumping strategic information to the company’s brain. Everyday, strategic decisions are made by your top executives that can either hurt or help your business. A well-designed Data Warehouse delivers a centralized, clear and complete library of your most important business information informing you on your company’s state of affairs.
So, How does data warehousing work? And, How can it transform the way you report on your data?
Anyone who is running their company on Oracle NetSuite knows that the data captured in their ERP system is filled with valuable nuggets of information on the health of their business. By design, NetSuite’s software is great at ingesting data. However, it is not uncommon for you, the user, to face challenges in getting to the most relevant information in a timely manner. Native reporting in your ERP will only get you so far, and in many cases, strategic reporting happens outside of the ERP platform. That is where Data Warehousing comes into play.
The right Data Warehousing solution designed for your NetSuite ERP will efficiently re-structure both the transactional and non-transactional data from the NetSuite database and store it in an external repository designed to address your Business Intelligence needs.
This powerful repository, known as the Data Warehouse, will allow your business to make sense of the inherently complex relationships of the data living in your ERP, CRM and any other strategic enterprise system impacting your operations. To facilitate this process, we built Business Intelligence for NetSuite, Powered by GURUS. With Business Intelligence for NetSuite, Powered by GURUS, we have removed the guesswork in building a custom NetSuite Data Model and made it available in our turnkey BI and Data Warehouse solution designed to reduce deployment from months to weeks.
Just remember, a Data Warehouse is only one piece of the Business Intelligence pie.
A comprehensive Business Intelligence solution requires multiple systems and highly skilled expertise to deliver the robust features necessary to consolidate, optimize and visualize the mission critical data unique to your business.
If you are interested in learning more about Business Intelligence for NetSuite, Powered by GURUS, and how it’s tailor-made for the NetSuite customer, take a look at some of the resources below.
Looking for more NetSuite Add Ons? Visit our NetSuite Modules & Add Ons Guide.
