A functional data warehouse is vital to an organization's success, but building and maintaining any data warehouse is fraught with managerial and technical pitfalls. Impossible Data Warehouse Situations introduces possible solutions to ninety-one common crises that confront companies of all types, sizes, and structures. Nine leading data warehousing experts provide the thoughtful and detailed guidance corporate executives, IT managers and staff, and end-users need to prevent and survive seemingly impossible situations.

This book serves as a quick reference for resolving specific data warehouse problems and as a practical introduction to the realities of data warehousing not covered in basic texts. Part I addresses management issues, including weak organizational support, unrealistic schedules, and personnel problems. Part II focuses on technical challenges, such as security, integration, and performance. In both sections, Sid Adelman and his coauthors provide multiple perspectives and solutions illustrated by practical examples. Also included are recommendations for further reading and glossaries covering technical terminology and acronyms as well as colloquial English.

Drawing upon their combined 142 years of experience with data warehouse implementations, Sid Adelman, Joyce Bischoff, Jill Dyche, Douglas Hackney, Sean Ivoghli, Chuck Kelley, David Marco, Larissa Moss, and Clay Rehm offer invaluable advice on:

• Management issues
• Changing objectives and requirements
• Budget
• Organization and staffing
• User and team issues
• Product planning and schedules
• Data warehousing standards
• Tools and vendors
• Security
• Data quality
• Integration
• Data warehousing architecture
• Performance

Readers gain access to data warehousing's top minds and learn how to thrive in seemingly impossible situations.

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This book takes a unique approach to the problems faced by data warehouse professionals. The author and the contributors have gathered over 90 situations that they have been asked about in their seminars and presentations, that they have faced in their own work, and that have been submitted to the very popular "Ask the Experts" forum at DMReview. These are all real situations, but they have been disguised to protect the guilty. Topics covered include staffing, budgeting, security, vendors, architecture, and data quality. Each of the "impossible" situations will have one or more solutions contributed by the expert panel. Their different answers and viewpoints, especially when they disagree with one another, provide enlightening reading, as well as useful ideas. This approach should appeal to a broad range of people involved in all aspects of Data Warehouses.