Claudia Imhoff

* A cutting-edge response to Ralph Kimball's challenge to the data warehouse community that answers some tough questions about the effectiveness of the relational approach to data warehousing * Written by one of the best-known exponents of the Bill Inmon approach to data warehousing * Addresses head-on the tough issues raised by Kimball and explains how to choose the best modeling technique for solving common data warehouse design problems * Weighs the pros and cons of relational vs. dimensional modeling techniques * Focuses on tough modeling problems, including creating and maintaining keys and modeling calendars, hierarchies, transactions, and data quality

The "father of data warehousing" incorporates the latest technologies into his blueprint for integrated decision support systems Today's corporate IT and data warehouse managers are required to make a small army of technologies work together to ensure fast and accurate information for business managers. Bill Inmon created the Corporate Information Factory to solve the needs of these managers. Since the First Edition, the design of the factory has grown and changed dramatically. This Second Edition, revised and expanded by 40% with five new chapters, incorporates these changes. This step-by-step guide will enable readers to connect their legacy systems with the data warehouse and deal with a host of new and changing technologies, including Web access mechanisms, e-commerce systems, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems. The book also looks closely at exploration and data mining servers for analyzing customer behavior and departmental data marts for finance, sales, and marketing.