Start with single view of data

With business intelligence (BI) gaining massive ground across all verticals, the emphasis on enterprise data warehousing (EDW) has also grown. Besides, increasing data volumes, number and diversity of users and ongoing user requests for decision support and reporting needs are increasing the complexity of DW projects.

Simply put, a data warehouse is a repository of an organisations electronically stored data. A typical data warehouse is designed to facilitate information analysis and produce meaningful reports for decision makers in an organisation.

What this means is that any organisation in a competitive environment dealing with high volume of business transactions, which requires data analysis on a continuous basis, is a candidate for data warehousing. In fact, EDW should not be considered only as versatile reporting tool, but also a strategic tool in the hands of decision makers.

However, it is important to remember that the success of an EDW implementation largely depends on identifying the requirements, focusing on quick-win areas and involvement of the senior management in the entire life cycle of implementation.

What helped us successfully implement EDW at Jet Airways was the clear-cut strategic plan. Use internal resources from business and IT to identify key areas that the project should focus on. Also provide extensive training for the core project team on BI tools.

In the airlines industry, where profit margins are always under pressure, thanks to the competition and factors like volatile fuel prices, over capacity and infrastructural issues, understanding the profitability of each route is critical.

This was our primary focus when we decided to invest on an EDW solution. It allowed us to track our revenues and costs at the route level and also gave an insight into the booking profile. We further expanded the usage of EDW into areas of travel agency profiling, and corporate profiling.

In the phase two of the project, we plan to develop models for operational data such as aircraft usage, on-time performance, delay analysis, fuel consumption and aircraft maintenance cost. In this phase, we are focusing on our major costs as well as operational efficiencies.

For EDW to be successful, end users need to have passion for analytical work and deep understanding of their business and processes. BI is a strategic tool for decision making and is not to be used as a glorified reporting tool.

However, lack of flexibility in responding to ongoing business users change requests can completely spoil the game. Remember that the lifecycle of DW does not end with the initial deployment. Instead, it continues as the business requirements evolve.

Reaping benefits

• EDW provides a common data model for all data of interest, regardless of the source of the data. This makes it easier to report and analyse information from across multiple data models that used to retrieve information such as sales invoices, order receipts and general ledger charges.
• Prior to loading data into the data warehouse, inconsistencies are identified and resolved. This helps the organisation simplify reporting and analysis, and provides for what is commonly referred to as single version of truth.
• Since information in the data warehouse is under the control of data warehouse users, even if the source system data is purged over time, the information in the warehouse can be stored safely for extended periods of time.
• Data warehouses facilitate decision support system applications such as trend reports (for example, the items with the most sales in a particular area within the last two years), exception reports, and reports that show actual performance versus goals.
• Since data warehouses are separate from operational systems, the retrieval of data does not slow down operational systems.
• Data warehouses can work in conjunction with and, hence, enhance the value of operational business applications, notably a customer relationship management system.

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