Customer Reviews

Blissful Data: Wisdom and Strategies for Providing Data That's Meaningful, Useful, and Accessible for All Employees

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Margaret Chu leads us into and through the world of Data Warehousing with a writing style unique to "IT primers."
This book was fun to read. Blissful Data informs and entertains. The examples and the book's illustrations facilitate the readers' education in all aspects of projects involving large amounts of data.
For me, it's indeed rare for such a valuable learning experience to be so enjoyable!

As corporate executives launch strategic projects that mandate enterprise information (business intelligence, supply chain management, CRM, database marketing), data is once again in fashion. Margaret Chu describes not only the value of rich, clean, integrated data, but the tactics involved for deploying it across the enterprise. Issues that are top-of-mind in today's businesses--including data quality, data modeling, and even the politics around information--take center stage in a well-structured, easy-to-read format.

Written in an engaging style with a plethora of real-life examples, Blissful Data should be in the library of managers and practitioners alike!

I really enjoyed reading Blissful Data on one of my recent business trip. The first thing that struck me was the distinctive coaching style of the author. By not coming across as teaching, preaching, or mothering, I found it easy to "listen" and take the author's friendly advice to heart. As I got into the book, I discovered the author's wit and talent in illustrating difficult technology concepts using everyday life examples. By the time I finished the book, it became clear that the book has comprehensively covered technology, human factors, project disciplines, and everything else necessary for successful implementations of enterprise data warehouses. It is an easy read, flows well, and expertly organized. I was able to finish it in a couple of hours to get all the salient points, and I know where to go back and easily find the details if I needed to.

If you've ever tackled a project where you set out to track woozles and ended up fleeing from heffalumps, this is just the book to save you from future tramplings. Blissful Data is not merely about data warehouses, though you'll find that subject thoroughly rendered. Margaret Chu analyses all the factors that make or break a project of any kind, with a particular focus on data warehouse implementation. You'll come away from this book with a substantial introduction to modern Project Management principles. As Ms Chu points out, the issues inherent in creating data warehouses are largely human issues, and she shows how best to view and handle those issues, in addition to the technical ones.

Was I beginning to sound pedantic? Fortunately Blissful Data smooths the path through dense underbrush with lots of personal examples and whimsical analogies. For example, we precede the discussion of corporate culture with one of Village People culture--complete with illustration of said singers, in case you'd forgotten what they looked like. And yes, my opening line concerning woozles and heffalumps was inspired by Ms Chu's other references to A. A. Milne's fabled stories. I was repeatedly struck with amusement and even a few guffaws, and was thereby refreshed to undertake the analyses and explanations. There is enough serious medicine in Blissful Data to keep me coming back for repeated doses, but a spoonful of sugar eases the swallowing.

This is definitely not a book reserved for tech geeks or business managers or execs. It speaks to everyone who has ever tried to improve the way they do their job. With a career spanning 20 years of Information Technology projects, I consider myself well versed in all aspects of system implementation. Yet as Zen teacher Sunryu Suzuki noted, "Everything is perfect, but there is a lot of room for improvement." Blissful Data is the sort of book that will provide lasting benefits in improving on my perfection. I highly recommend it to anyone who ever works with people or performs a job.

With its case studies, personal examples, fun illustrations and appropriate quotes at the beginning of each chapter/topic, Blissful Data really does make a very dry topic approachable and interesting.

Businesses have known for a long time that correct information is crucial to their success. But getting people within the company to steward the information, rather than "own" it, can be a difficult task. Margaret Chu shows how it can be done.

The author writes well, and is conversant in both the business case and the technology aspects of data collection and dissemination within an organization. It's really the best book about this subject I've read -- by far.

The combination of IT development, database technology, and project management is enough to get a person into serious trouble, sitting-duckwise. Margaret Chu has walked that walk and lived to tell the tales. It's a depressing fact that 8 out of 10 projects fail in the opinion of their stakeholders, and if you don't want yours to be another sad statistic, I strongly suggest you let her hard-won wisdom guide your steps.

Margaret Chu's book is a delightful book with the just the right amount of humor and sophistication. She takes a complex subject, data warehousing, and presents it in a non threatening, easy to understand, plain English style, that makes the book a quick read. In addition to being able to finish the book quickly you'll come away with a feeling of satisfaction and you'll know a lot of the dos and don'ts of data warehousing.

I have been saying for years that the company that can harness its collective information across the supply chain can increase market share and profits by maximizing customer service through maximizing effective resource utilization to drive down total costs. This is what Margaret Chu has shown you can do with a well thought out and planned data warehouse initiative. But it won't be a cake walk. It takes discipline to do it right. However, with Margaret's book, which is full of insights, remember this sections, and humorous but poignant nursery rhymes you will learn how to apply the finer points of her book to create a successful data warehouse initiative.

Margaret starts off with a simple and clear explanation of a data warehouse. She then explains how a data warehouse and a data mart are different. She further explains that a data mart is type of data warehouse with a very specific purpose. She emphasizes that the type of data warehouse you choose needs to be aligned with the corporate strategy and that you need to think through the why of what you are trying to accomplish before you can choose the correct type of data warehouse.

The last chapter of "Blissful Data" is dedicated to two case studies to further arm the reader with a positive road map to data warehouse success. The first is a success story and the second is a failure. However, Margaret goes further than just telling stories of success and failure. In each case study she reviews what went well and what didn't. Yes even in successful projects some things could have been done better and even in failed projects there are things that went well and need to be capitalized on.

Well I have now told you about the beginning and the end but I suggest you now go out and purchase this book to fill in the middle, I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

In a very enjoyable read, Margaret lays out the major lessons people need to know in order to provide a true environment for business to see, understand, and act upon their data. She outlines the lessons with humorous analogies, relevant stories, and practical experiences.

Margaret also provides a very natural progression of the information so the book is good for the novice as well as the experienced. Extremely useful were the "remember" points sprinkled throughout the chapters and the impactful quotes that encapsulate important ideas and messages.

Margaret Chu brings a unique blend of technical insight and practical organizational acumen to this beguiling field. I've been associated with data as a corporate resource since early testing of IBM's GIS in the 60's decade, early use of Software AG's ADABASE in the 70's, and beneficial application of early PC-based relational databases of the 80's. Those expecting a treatise on the mechanics of data warehousing to gain a marginal advantage might be disappointed. They should put aside their geek-bias; this readable book can give them a quantum leap advantage to build a data warehouse that actually delivers what the sponsors expect. The two chapters on "Politics: ...Who Owns It Anyway? and ...Who's Going to Pay? are the heart of this practical book.

The first chapter sets an informative and entertaining tone that prevails throughout the book. The author uses wit and anecdotes everyone can relate to in order to educate the reader about data warehousing including data types, concepts, projects, myths and facts. Personal experiences add credibility and value to what is being taught. It is a great book for the data warehouse knowledgeable person as well as the novice.