Reinventing the Wheel?! Why Harmonization and Reuse Fail in Complex Data Warehouse Environments and a Proposed Solution to the Problem.

Abstract

Enterprise or group data warehouses are often introducedin complex multi-national organizations in order to fosterharmonization, integrate heterogeneous source systems andhide the heterogeneity from analytical systems. Industryreference data warehouse logical data models such as Teradata'sFS-LDM or IBM's BDWare promoted as acceleratorsfor the development of such large data warehouses. However,this paper shows that logical data models alone arenot sucient to ensure reusability in those environments.In order to provide a solid basis for standardization, thelogical data model needs to be accompanied by a semanticbusiness information model used as an anchor point forthe mappings and for communication with business users.Such a model allows a model-driven approach for specicationof the data transformations, which usually accounts forat least half the total eort of large data warehouse projects.The paper presents an approach building upon the TeradataBusiness Data Element (BDE) concept giving practical examplesfrom project experience in the nancial services industry.A research prototype is presented, utilizing SemanticWeb technologies such as the Web Ontology Language(OWL) to facilitate the traceability of data requirements,business terms and physical data elements in the dierentlayers of a complex data warehouse architecture.

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