Building the Data Warehouse (Paperback)

~ W. H. Inmon (Author) "We are told that the hieroglyphics in Egypt are primarily the work of an accountant declaring how much grain is owed the Pharaoh..." (more)
Key Phrases: local data warehouse, living sample database, data warehouse record, Sarbanes Oxley, Bob Smith, Hong Kong (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a clear and well thought out textI would recommend it to anyone working in data management or considering setting up a data warehouse..." (Managing Information, 9 October 2002)

"overall, this is a clear and well thought out text. I would recommend this to anyone working in data management or considering setting up a data warehouse" (Managing Information, December 2002) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

• The new edition of the classic bestseller that launched the data warehousing industry covers new approaches and technologies, many of which have been pioneered by Inmon himself
• In addition to explaining the fundamentals of data warehouse systems, the book covers new topics such as methods for handling unstructured data in a data warehouse and storing data across multiple storage media
• Discusses the pros and cons of relational versus multidimensional design and how to measure return on investment in planning data warehouse projects
• Covers advanced topics, including data monitoring and testing
• Although the book includes an extra 100 pages worth of valuable content, the price has actually been reduced from $65 to $55

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 4 edition (October 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764599445
• ISBN-13: 978-0764599446
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #118,321 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Intro to Concepts and Benefits - Light on Tech, December 18, 2003

By	Mark A. Lucas "SingleSpeeder" (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Building the Data Warehouse (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

Bill's books are good conceptual books aimed at explaining the Business Benefits and Overall Technical concepts that are fundamental to data warehousing. This book is a classic that people serious about Business Intelligence should read. HOWEVER - Inmon's technical details are light and sometimes generalized, whereas Kimball's books tend to be more nuts-n-bolts and include usable examples. I RECOMMEND (a) read Inmon for how BI environments should be built under ideal situations, (b) read Kimball (warehouse toolkit) for how to do an actual project. For Project Management and Infrastucture issues, read Kimball's "Warehouse Lifecycle Toolkit". (c) Read Inmon's Corp Information Factory to understand the BI architecture most companies try to build (whether they know it or not!), and (d) STOP wasting time comparing Inmon to Kimball - their paradigms are complimentary, not contradictory.
CHECK OUT "Data Warehousing Fundamentals" by Paulraj Ponniah - it covers concepts by Inmon, Kimball and other leading thinkers and is very useful when -planning projects, -working with management to explaing BI environments.

47 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Inmon vs. Kimball????, December 27, 2003

By	JP O'Connor "Avocation: Olympic Shooting Coac... (Marietta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Building the Data Warehouse (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

The two approaches, Inmon and Kimball are complimentary. Kimball is not "BS" and "stupid" as stated by one reviewer. In fact, it is the PRACTICAL techniques and elegant SIMPLICITY that makes Kimball's work so valuable. Inmon is strong on theory, while Kimball is strong on the day-to-day tools required to build a useful and understandable decision support environment. This reviewer has observed many huge "pure Inmon" projects fail (and none observed succeeded) while all pure Kimball projects observed have thrived and exceeded expectations. Strong words, to be sure, but accurate to the reality observed by this reviewer. While the failures might be attributed to the particular technical teams and management groups, many of those same groups did succeed with a dimensional approach.

If you want to debate academics, read both authors and have at it. I have to actually deliver... on time or early and on budget or below. Thus, my rating reflects that reality. Give me Kimball. The techniques have worked for me (and teams of all sizes) since 1986 at many Fortune 100 and 500 clients.

Inmon provides a great perspective on the issues and on how to think about information management for decision support and this book provides some of his latest thinking on the topic. Kimball provides an excellent and proven way to get there in the real world.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sound guidance from the father of Data Warehousing, November 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Building the Data Warehouse, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

Hello

If you don't know anything about Data Warehousing and want to know or maybe have some incorrect and preconceived ideas about building a Data Warehouse then this book is for you.

The book is deceptively simplistic. Because I would imagine Bill Inmon wanted to be as unabiguous as possible it does become a little tedious at times. Nonetheless, if one were to buy only one book on data warehousing I would say that it would be quite possibly this one.

Some critics say that this book is not worth much and cite other authors who have written about Warehousing data. My only comment on this count would be perhaps that people have not understood the content of the book, bought the book by mistake thinking that it was about warehousing something else or know it all i.e. they are Bill Inmon.

So yes, if you really want to get the best introduction to building a Data Warehouse then buy this book.

Regards

Martyn R Jones Director, iniciativa