The first step to knowledge management is usually to deploy a BI tool, such as Microsoft Power BI. Often, however, the needs for reporting and data analysis grow and become more complex over time, and that’s when it may be time to start using a data warehouse to support the BI tool. Data warehousing is an important part of modern knowledge management, and can be used to take knowledge management to the next, more efficient level.
Better data warehouse performance enhances reporting
The data warehouse is optimized for data editing and processing, making it a more efficient solution than the BI tool alone. Thanks to the data warehouse, heavy calculations can be done in the background, in which case the reporting tool or source systems do not slow down.
If reporting requires complex computation, multiple different source systems, and a lot of data, a vast amount of performance is required. In a data warehouse, the calculations are made only once for the data warehouse and not for each report separately, which greatly improves data processing speed and system performance.
A data warehouse enables self-service and better utilization of BI tools. Ready-made calculation formulas can be modeled in the data warehouse to streamline reporting, in which case the author of the report does not need to know the technical implementation of individual calculation formulas. Authors can select the elements they want directly in the report, and compare them with the data that they are using. Data warehousing thus opens up wider possibilities for the author of the report to make versatile reporting independently, using different source systems.
Data warehousing harmonizes data management and analysis
In a data warehouse, data is harmonized, i.e. combined by defining uniform concepts and calculation models. For example, customer-related information can be combined from different systems in a data warehouse on the basis of a unique customer number or business ID.
Uniform calculation formulas allow data collected from different systems or units to be used reliably in one report. For example, a calculation formula assigned to a margin calculation can easily be added to any report and linked to a client, project or unit. Common indicators help calculate margins in the same way each time, regardless of the project, which improves transparency and comparability of data.
Controlled data distribution and processing facilitates the interpretation and use of reports when everyone has access to the same data source, common calculation formulas and operating models.
However, a common model for data management does not eliminate the possibility of data modification or ad hoc reporting. Controlled data distribution and processing facilitates the interpretation and use of reports when everyone has access to the same data source, common calculation formulas and operating models.
Data warehousing brings new possibilities for analysis and forecasting
With the help of data warehousing, important data remains stored and unchanged even if the systems are updated or replaced. In this case, the data generated by both the old and the new system can easily be used in reporting together, without interruptions or shortcomings, and the figures are fully comparable.
Data warehousing also brings completely new possibilities for analyzing and forecasting figures, as long-term historical data from different systems is readily available. A data warehouse can be used to enrich data and take into account all available data; prices and quantities of products and their variations, making analyzes based on data from a month, a year or even several years back more accurate.
The possibility of advanced analytics brings more accuracy to the prediction. Advanced analytics can be used to proactively optimize performance, for example in cash flow management, supply chain optimization or inventory management. If you use a cloud-based platform, such as Microsoft Azure, you can agilely connect separate analytics tools to the data warehousing, enabling, for example, guided learning or data clustering.
Do you want to know more?
Learn more about the benefits and opportunities of data warehousing by downloading our latest guide: 8 reasons to choose a data warehouse to support Power BI – how to move from searching for information to working with information.
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