Data Warehouses

The ever increasing torrent of data being captured by companies and organisations presents new ongoing challenges in terms of how its gathered, stored and analysed: the decision as to how to set up data storage and analytics is an important one to get right. Unsure where to start? Download our guide to find out the steps when starting a typical data analytics project.

Data Analytics Guide

The Data Storage and Analysis Challenge

You may have heard and be familiar with terms such as ‘data warehouse’ or ‘data lake,’ but what roles do they play in data use?

In a nutshell a data warehouse is designed to offer a repository to not only store data but enable meaningful analysis, so performing more than simply a data storage function.

The data warehouse incorporates some or all of these typical elements:

  • A relational database to store and manage data
  • A solution for extracting and transforming data so preparing it for analysis
  • Data mining, reporting and statistical analysis capability
  • Analytics tools to present data in easily digestible form – for example clear visuals
  • Other applications to produce meaningful insights through using tech such as AI (Artificial intelligence) and machine learning-based algorithms

What our customers say

Objective worked flexibly with us to complete a variety of tasks in Azure… The solutions delivered enabled us to improve our ETL process and upskill staff.

Kate Rudd, Head of Data & Reporting

Corndel

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We found the Objective team very flexible and accommodating. Objective proved very helpful.

Yogesh Gopal, Managing Director

Everglade Windows Ltd

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The people at Objective remain friendly, efficient and responsive and over a decade of working together I am really pleased that I chose them as my development partners.

Patrick Walkington, Managing Director

Gainsmore

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The system is great and is ever growing. Thank you for helping us in making our vision real.

Lee Hatwell, Director

Munday and Cramer

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The team at Objective impressed us from the first day with a clear focus on our needs, the flexibility and determination to deliver against complex requirements, and their constructive, collaborative attitude.

Bastian Giegerich, Director-General & Chief Executive

IISS

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I’m so pleased that we engaged Objective. Their extensive support work and flexible approach has made a significant difference to Metsä Wood UK. The team is responsive, experienced and thoughtfully shares pertinent .NET expertise and technical advice.

Stuart B, IT Specialist

Metsä Wood UK

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Objective helped us to transition from our old CRM system to our new one. The team were incredibly efficient and most definitely patient, in was unarguably a complex build. We’ve been delighted with the relationship and impressed with the service throughout

Damian Waters,

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Benefits of Data Warehouses

What are the advantages and benefits of a data warehouse for your business?

  • Centralised data… Consolidates information for easy access, analysis, and reporting, improving decision-making.
  • Enhanced analytics… Optimises complex queries, enabling deeper insights and comprehensive data analysis.
  • Historical perspective… Stores extensive historical data, facilitating trend analysis and forecasting for informed decisions.
  • Data quality… Ensures consistency and reliability, enhancing trust and accuracy in decision-making processes.
  • Scalability… Adaptable to handle large volumes of data and evolving business needs for sustained relevance.

Data Warehouse Solutions: Not Just Data Storage

So, it is evident that ‘data warehouse’ isn’t simply data storage but could be more accurately described as ‘data warehouse solutions’. Data is centralised and consolidated from multiple sources and provides powerful analytical capabilities to allow your business or organisation to gain important and highly useful insights to improve long or short-term decision making and policy development.
A ‘data lake’ by comparison is a more basic solution: here unfiltered and uncategorised data from various sources – for instance social media, apps and IoT (Internet of Things) devices – is more loosely stored for later use.

The format and structure of the various data sets contained in the ‘lake’ are determined at the time of analysis – which could be some time later – as opposed to being categorised straight away as is the case with the data warehouse.

Working with you…

You talk, we listen. By talking through pain points, frustrations, and challenges as well as your needs and vision allows us to get to the heart of your software requirements. Collaborating with owner-managed businesses and corporate organisations, we streamline your business processes through bespoke software, databases & mobile apps.

Your software development project will be fully managed with regular test environment iterations and milestone deliverables, all at a development pace that suits you.

We look forward to working with you.

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Making the Most of Data Warehouse Solution

While Big Data itself is relatively new in terms of the sharp increase in data capture from more and varied sources, data warehouse itself dates back to the 1980s although the scope of data being gathered, stored, and analysed has developed considerably since.

For businesses and organisations a key decision is in how best to set up their data warehouse solutions or, if they have this facility already, how best to develop it and ensure its meeting their current needs and its suitability to handle future demands.

To this end consulting with data warehouse services professionals is a worthwhile move for your business to create a solution to make the most of their data relevant to specific needs. The architecture of a data warehouse they would create for you is based on your specific requirements – not a simple ‘cookie cut’ solution that everyone else uses.

There are various options in terms of commercially available systems to build your data warehouse on: you may have heard of labels such as ‘Azure data warehouse’ or ‘Azure SQL data warehouse’ – these refer to Microsoft’s data warehouse solutions packages.

Microsoft’s solution is a SQL data warehouse using, as its name suggests, the familiar SQL database language.