Data Warehousing: Using the Wal-Mart Model
A real-world look at how Wal-Mart developed and uses its massive data warehouse.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Data Warehousing: Using the Wal-Mart Model
Chapter 12: Conclusion
It is always valuable to learn from the success of others. Wal-Mart's data warehouse is certainly a highly visible successful implementation. Sam Walton's remark, "Most everything I've done I've copied from someone else," is a good philosophy that obviously worked well. Although you cannot expect to duplicate Wal-Mart's system, you can certainly learn from and improve upon their successes. There are many things we can learn from Wal-Mart's approach, and these can be placed in four broad categories: focusing on the business, building a team, communicating openly and effectively, and applying technology.
Focus on the Business
Focusing on the business is paramount. Solving a business problem by enabling better decisions is the key to a successful data warehouseimplementation. The obsession to solve business problems, the flexibility to change, and a measured return on investment are elements needed for the long-term growth of the data warehouse. Continuously providing your company with new information and merging the data from disparate systems is essential to maximizing the value of an enterprise data warehouse. Remember to build your data warehouse in complete alignment with your company's objectives. Technical obstacles, such as extremely large data and processing volumes, can be managed but are a moot issue if there is no business sponsorship.
Build a Team
Building a team is an essential part of the construction process. Pick your team wisely, particularly the project leader. If your company needs help building its data warehouse, then pick your partners carefully and define very clear milestones. You will...
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