Data Warehouses: definition and types

With the global advancement towards information management, the data warehouse emerges in industry, as an element that provides assistance in the incessant work of collecting, analyzing and obtaining know-how that can be defined as data management. It is used for storing specific information by companies that can be applied in making decisions based on existing or past factual information. We will now discuss how data warehouses work

What is a Data Warehouse?

In a nutshell, a data warehouse is defined as a middle layer data store of historical records obtained from diverse units within an organization. A Data Warehouse is not one of those routine database systems that implement daily sales transactional activities, but a support system designed for the purpose of carrying out advanced queries and analysis. A data warehouse is a kind of storage facility for data, but its primary purpose is to convert data in some data browsers through combining and evaluating the contents to obtain insights.

In most cases, in the construction of a data warehouse, one construction methodology involves taking the data from more than one independent information entity that are stored in silos and gathering it in a single repository. This operation is usually called ETL (Extract, Transform, Load). In such situations, the goal of the organization is achieved by data obtained through ETL instead of meeting user requirements by traditional data disallowed by restrictions in the Data Warehouse.

Types of Data Warehouses

People do not usually bat an eyelid about the fact that there are different types of data warehouses, since the size and the complexities of an organization usually dictate the types of data that would need to be stored there and also the type of analytics that would be performed on such data. The most usual types are:

Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW)

An Enterprise Data Warehouse is a sizable data storage capacity that all people in an organization can access and use. This concentrates all the data present in the various divisions and is usually more convenient for management as it offers them to possibility of viewing how all the activities to a business are interlinked to each other. EDW allows as many different types of data as possible to be accumulated from various places and provides data that can be used in proper research or data gathering. The fact that an EDW can be scaled up means that large corporations which deal with very large amounts of information can benefit from it considerably. One of its major benefits is that it helps organizations have a centralized system that improves decision-making.

Operational Data Store (ODS)

An Operational Data Store (ODS) is a specific type of data storage system within the broader data warehouse framework, but it serves a different purpose than an Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW). The ODS primarily handles current, day-to-day transactional data rather than historical or aggregated data. It is designed to support operational reporting by providing up-to-date information that reflects ongoing business activities. Unlike an EDW, which accumulates data over time for long-term analysis, the ODS focuses exclusively on real-time data, offering a dynamic view that aids in executive decision-making. Its primary function is to provide a snapshot of present operational data, making it valuable for short-term decision support.

Data Mart

A Data Mart is a simplified lower level of a Data Warehouse that is used in the marketing operations of any section or business unit within a company. For example, let us assume that the marketing unit has a Data Mart that includes only data related to customers and customer behavior, marketing campaigns carried out and advertising measures taken. However, a Data Mart is beneficial in that, although it is small in size and does not have a setup as large as that of an EDW, it still contains the most critical data that a department may need to use without having to deal with an EDW set up.

A Data Warehouse is an essential element in every organization's overall approach to data management. It can be an Enterprise Data Warehouse, an Operational Data Store, or a Data Mart, and it helps companies to structure, evaluate, and utilize data successfully. Aspiring students wanting to embark on a master's degree in this field can pursue the Master's Dregree in Data and Business Analytics program provided by ESIC University that is analytic in nature and exposes students to practice in the field, as well as training them to be enthusiasts of data.

Promoting ESIC University

With each passing day, it becomes clearer and clearer that businesses depend more and more on data. It comes as no surprise that there is a growing need for professionals who are practitioners of both data analysis and business intelligence. This is where ESIC University has its edge. At ESIC University, the Master's Dregree in Data and Business Analytics has been approved as a course designed to guide the skills of students towards data-focused professions. Such a course program presents a very well-rounded education in the field of data, analytics and business objectives in order to address the requirements in any professional field.

At ESIC, students are trained to use and manage data warehouse technologies, plan and design data repositories and implement such techniques. Moreover, the course objective is to train students in both the technical aspects of collecting and processing data using complex diverse data structures and in analytical aspects that are appropriate for giving recommendations that may be helpful to organizations.

Why choose ESIC University?

In the education offered by the ESIC University, the focus is always on industry requirements and their practical aspects. This is mainly the case with data science, as the students start to combine practical work with theoretical knowledge during the coursework through handling datasets. Master's Dregree in Data and Business Analytics program also includes hands-on training, relevant projects and case studies that help the students gain practical work experience. Furthermore, the university closely collaborates with industry and its leaders and aims to provide students with the ability to connect with potential employers.

ESIC also dares to be proactive in data analytics and introduces the most relevant and sophisticated means into the educational process. This allows those who completed the master to remain constant in an ever-changing field. With the analytics of the data embedded in the business strategy, the Master's Dregree in Data and Business Analytics offers students an extra edge while they seek employment.