An evidence-based organizational framework for exceptional analytics team results The Analytics Lifecycle Toolkit provides managers with a practical manual for integrating data management and analytic technologies into their organization. Author Gregory Nelson has encountered hundreds of unique perspectives on analytics optimization from across industries; over the years, successful strategies have proven to share certain practices, skillsets, expertise, and structural traits. In this book, he details the concepts, people and processes that contribute to exemplary results, and shares an organizational framework for analytics team functions and roles. By merging analytic culture with data and technology strategies, this framework creates understanding for analytics leaders and a toolbox for practitioners. Focused on team effectiveness and the design thinking surrounding product creation, the framework is illustrated by real-world case studies to show how effective analytics team leadership works on the ground. Tools and templates include best practices for process improvement, workforce enablement, and leadership support, while guidance includes both conceptual discussion of the analytics life cycle and detailed process descriptions. Readers will be equipped to: Master fundamental concepts and practices of the analytics life cycle Understand the knowledge domains and best practices for each stage Delve into the details of analytical team processes and process optimization Utilize a robust toolkit designed to support analytic team effectiveness The analytics life cycle includes a diverse set of considerations involving the people, processes, culture, data, and technology, and managers needing stellar analytics performance must understand their unique role in the process of winnowing the big picture down to meaningful action. The Analytics Lifecycle Toolkit provides expert perspective and much-needed insight to managers, while providing practitioners with a new set of tools for optimizing results.

This old edition was published in 2002. The current and final edition of this book is The Data Warehouse Toolkit: The Definitive Guide to Dimensional Modeling, 3rd Edition which was published in 2013 under ISBN: 9781118530801. The authors begin with fundamental design recommendations and gradually progress step-by-step through increasingly complex scenarios. Clear-cut guidelines for designing dimensional models are illustrated using real-world data warehouse case studies drawn from a variety of business application areas and industries, including: Retail sales and e-commerce Inventory management Procurement Order management Customer relationship management (CRM) Human resources management Accounting Financial services Telecommunications and utilities Education Transportation Health care and insurance By the end of the book, you will have mastered the full range of powerful techniques for designing dimensional databases that are easy to understand and provide fast query response. You will also learn how to create an architected framework that integrates the distributed data warehouse using standardized dimensions and facts.

Updated new edition of Ralph Kimball's groundbreaking book on dimensional modeling for data warehousing and business intelligence! The first edition of Ralph Kimball's The Data Warehouse Toolkit introduced the industry to dimensional modeling, and now his books are considered the most authoritative guides in this space. This new third edition is a complete library of updated dimensional modeling techniques, the most comprehensive collection ever. It covers new and enhanced star schema dimensional modeling patterns, adds two new chapters on ETL techniques, includes new and expanded business matrices for 12 case studies, and more. Authored by Ralph Kimball and Margy Ross, known worldwide as educators, consultants, and influential thought leaders in data warehousing and business intelligence Begins with fundamental design recommendations and progresses through increasingly complex scenarios Presents unique modeling techniques for business applications such as inventory management, procurement, invoicing, accounting, customer relationship management, big data analytics, and more Draws real-world case studies from a variety of industries, including retail sales, financial services, telecommunications, education, health care, insurance, e-commerce, and more Design dimensional databases that are easy to understand and provide fast query response with The Data Warehouse Toolkit: The Definitive Guide to Dimensional Modeling, 3rd Edition.

A thorough update to the industry standard for designing, developing, and deploying data warehouse and business intelligence systems The world of data warehousing has changed remarkably since the first edition of The Data Warehouse Lifecycle Toolkit was published in 1998. In that time, the data warehouse industry has reached full maturity and acceptance, hardware and software have made staggering advances, and the techniques promoted in the premiere edition of this book have been adopted by nearly all data warehouse vendors and practitioners. In addition, the term "business intelligence" emerged to reflect the mission of the data warehouse: wrangling the data out of source systems, cleaning it, and delivering it to add value to the business. Ralph Kimball and his colleagues have refined the original set of Lifecycle methods and techniques based on their consulting and training experience. The authors understand first-hand that a data warehousing/business intelligence (DW/BI) system needs to change as fast as its surrounding organization evolves. To that end, they walk you through the detailed steps of designing, developing, and deploying a DW/BI system. You'll learn to create adaptable systems that deliver data and analyses to business users so they can make better business decisions.

Data has become the new currency; organizations are drowning in it, but few are cashing in on its true value. The Analytics Lifecycle Toolkit translates the entire analytics lifecycle into actionable insights, providing a framework for building an effective analytics capability and the processes that turn data into action. Part 1 describes the “who,” “how,” and “why” of modern enterprise analytics, giving leaders clear insight into the value of strategically-aligned capabilities. Part 2 details best practices that include problem framing, data sensemaking, model development, change management, data management, product management, and more. Part 3 rounds out the discussion by providing guidance on sustaining high performance and guiding the analytics function into new phases of business. For organizations who see the value of analytics but lack the depth of knowledge needed to structure appropriate solutions, this book breaks the cycle of frustration and provides a roadmap for putting the right people, processes, and technologies into place. For those who have already implemented analytics, this book serves as a reference for leadership and a “refresher course” to update the team on the latest in practices and processes. Rather than a simple catalogue of analytics models, the discussion emphasizes underlying principles in key process areas to help organizations build analytics capabilities tailored to their specific needs—allowing them to harvest the highest-value information to better inform strategic decisions. In line with the book’s practical focus, the companion website provides downloadable resources, tools, videos, and more to support and streamline implementation. The discussion itself assumes no prior knowledge of analytics and explicitly clarifies complex concepts and terms, using real-world examples to illustrate what effective practice looks like on the ground. With clear guidance, expert insight, and a wealth of practical tools, The Analytics Lifecycle Toolkit is an essential resource for any organization seeking an optimized analytics program.

This textbook covers all central activities of data warehousing and analytics, including transformation, preparation, aggregation, integration, and analysis. It discusses the full spectrum of the journey of data from operational/transactional databases, to data warehouses and data analytics; as well as the role that data warehousing plays in the data processing lifecycle. It also explains in detail how data warehouses may be used by data engines, such as BI tools and analytics algorithms to produce reports, dashboards, patterns, and other useful information and knowledge. The book is divided into six parts, ranging from the basics of data warehouse design (Part I - Star Schema, Part II - Snowflake and Bridge Tables, Part III - Advanced Dimensions, and Part IV - Multi-Fact and Multi-Input), to more advanced data warehousing concepts (Part V - Data Warehousing and Evolution) and data analytics (Part VI - OLAP, BI, and Analytics). This textbook approaches data warehousing from the case study angle. Each chapter presents one or more case studies to thoroughly explain the concepts and has different levels of difficulty, hence learning is incremental. In addition, every chapter has also a section on further readings which give pointers and references to research papers related to the chapter. All these features make the book ideally suited for either introductory courses on data warehousing and data analytics, or even for self-studies by professionals. The book is accompanied by a web page that includes all the used datasets and codes as well as slides and solutions to exercises.

The final edition of the incomparable data warehousing and business intelligence reference, updated and expanded The Kimball Group Reader, Remastered Collection is the essential reference for data warehouse and business intelligence design, packed with best practices, design tips, and valuable insight from industry pioneer Ralph Kimball and the Kimball Group. This Remastered Collection represents decades of expert advice and mentoring in data warehousing and business intelligence, and is the final work to be published by the Kimball Group. Organized for quick navigation and easy reference, this book contains nearly 20 years of experience on more than 300 topics, all fully up-to-date and expanded with 65 new articles. The discussion covers the complete data warehouse/business intelligence lifecycle, including project planning, requirements gathering, system architecture, dimensional modeling, ETL, and business intelligence analytics, with each group of articles prefaced by original commentaries explaining their role in the overall Kimball Group methodology. Data warehousing/business intelligence industry's current multi-billion dollar value is due in no small part to the contributions of Ralph Kimball and the Kimball Group. Their publications are the standards on which the industry is built, and nearly all data warehouse hardware and software vendors have adopted their methods in one form or another. This book is a compendium of Kimball Group expertise, and an essential reference for anyone in the field. Learn data warehousing and business intelligence from the field's pioneers Get up to date on best practices and essential design tips Gain valuable knowledge on every stage of the project lifecycle Dig into the Kimball Group methodology with hands-on guidance Ralph Kimball and the Kimball Group have continued to refine their methods and techniques based on thousands of hours of consulting and training. This Remastered Collection of The Kimball Group Reader represents their final body of knowledge, and is nothing less than a vital reference for anyone involved in the field.

Cowritten by Ralph Kimball, the world's leading data warehousing authority, whose previous books have sold more than 150,000 copies Delivers real-world solutions for the most time- and labor-intensive portion of data warehousing-data staging, or the extract, transform, load (ETL) process Delineates best practices for extracting data from scattered sources, removing redundant and inaccurate data, transforming the remaining data into correctly formatted data structures, and then loading the end product into the data warehouse Offers proven time-saving ETL techniques, comprehensive guidance on building dimensional structures, and crucial advice on ensuring data quality

The categorisation of analytical projects could help to simplify complexity reasonably and, at the same time, clarify the critical aspects of analytical initiatives. But how can this complex work be categorized? What makes it so complex? Data Analytics Initiatives: Managing Analytics for Success emphasizes that each analytics project is different. At the same time, analytics projects have many common aspects, and these features make them unique compared to other projects. Describing these commonalities helps to develop a conceptual understanding of analytical work. However, features specific to each initiative affects the entire analytics project lifecycle. Neglecting them by trying to use general approaches without tailoring them to each project can lead to failure. In addition to examining typical characteristics of the analytics project and how to categorise them, the book looks at specific types of projects, provides a high-level assessment of their characteristics from a risk perspective, and comments on the most common problems or challenges. The book also presents examples of questions that could be asked of relevant people to analyse an analytics project. These questions help to position properly the project and to find commonalities and general project challenges.

"International Institute for Analytics"--Dust jacket.