The Data Warrior

Changing the world, one data model at a time. How can I help you?

Archive for the tag “#datavault”

02 Jun 2012
1 Comment

Data Vault Book is #1

This is really cool!

Well for a few of us anyway 🙂

This week, the Data Vault modeling book, Super Charge Your Data Warehouse, hit #1 on the Amazon Kindle list for books on data warehousing.

Data Vault Book on Kindle #1

Data Vault Book on Kindle #1

Here are some recent rankings:

Guess the book is filling a need for a bunch of people.

Like I said, very cool.

Later.

Kent  (Editor, Amazon #1 Best Selling book)

P.S. You can now follow me on twitter @KentGraziano

Posted in Data Modeling, Data Vault, Data Warehouse and tagged , , , , ,
24 May 2012

Is Data Vault Agile?

You bet it is!

Years ago I wrote an article about Agile Data Warehousing and proposed using Data Vault Data Modeling as a way to get there. Dan Linstedt recently published an article with more details on how it fits. Here are the good parts:

1. Individuals and Interactions over processes and tools

The Data Vault is technology agnostic AND focuses VERY heavily on customer interaction. In fact it’s really the only methodology where I’ve seen a very heavy emphasis on the fact – The business owns the data.

Also, you have to start with the Hub entities and they require identification of the business keys as specified step-by-step on page 54 of Super Charge Your Data Warehouse

2. Working Software over Comprehensive Documentation

With the pattern based architecture in a Data Vault model and with the business rules downstream of the Data Warehouse, you can start building extremely fast and even use code-generation tools or scripts to get the first cut of your model.

I’ve in fact used code-generation for Data Warehouses that have been in production for quite a few years They’re even running today.

The Data Vault Model & Methodology in my opinion is the fastest way to get something delivered to a Data Warehouse and it dramatically reduces project timelines and risk.

3. Customer Collaboration over Contract Negotiation

The Data Vault Methodology emphasizes the ownership of the project and data by the business and makes them a partner on any Business Intelligence project.

And, the fact that it’s easy to address change makes them happy which interestingly enough, is the next one:

4. Responding to Change over Following a Plan

This makes some people cringe. But it’s a reality of most projects. The first time out neither you nor the business REALLY know what they want. It’s only after they see something, they realize the value of the information and their brains start churning.

In the traditional forms of Data Warehousing, it takes scoping, project budgeting, planning, resource allocation and other fun stuff before you can even get creative and give them what they think they want. The problem is, most business users don’t REALLY know. The DW team ends up thinking and even assuming for them often incorrectly. You can end up with something that is really fancy and beautiful and still … useless!

To add to the complication, If it’s in fact a bad idea, it will be money ill spent which can be as much of a big deal if it’s a great idea where the time to build will make them lose out on the competitive edge they’re looking for.

With the Data Vault, the model is built for change from the ground up. Since the core data NEVER ever changes, creating business level user-interface layers on top is just so easy – and many architects and modelers think it’s ideal.

Check out the full post – Agile Data Warehousing

(and don’t forget to buy the book).

BTW – if you are going to ODTUG KScope12 this June in San Antonio, be sure to stop by for a chat. I will be giving two talks, one on Data Vault and one on using SQL Developer Data Modeler.

See ya.

Kent

P.S. I am now on twitter! You can follow me there @KentGraziano.

Posted in Data Modeling, Data Vault, Data Warehouse, ODTUG, Oracle, SQL Developer Data Modeler and tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
09 May 2012

The Data Warehouse Journal

The Data Warehouse Journal

My good friend Dan Linstedt has begun publication of a new online journal that aggregates articles, video, and tweets from across the data warehouse world.

Check it out!

– Kent

Posted in Data Modeling, Data Vault, Data Warehouse and tagged , | Leave a comment
29 Apr 2012

A Data Architect’s Initial View of Data Vault

Wow this is really cool! A long time, experienced, Kimball-style architect had this to say (and more!) about the Data Vault:

The more I thought about it, the more I began thinking a traditional staging area and its complexities are a huge headache!  The simpler design using the data vault methodology as the persistent staging area offers huge benefits over the traditional Kimball style data warehouse staging area.  This includes repeatable code use in building and populating the data vault as well as the ability to easily account and validate the data.

(see more at A Data Architect’s Initial View of Data Vault | Making Data Meaningful.)

That pretty much says it all.

Ready to learn Data Vault now?

Well then get to it! Go to the learning portal and sign up or at least go buy the book!

Later.

Kent

Posted in Data Modeling, Data Vault, Data Warehouse and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
19 Apr 2012
6 Comments

How’s your surfing?

I read this today on one of my favorite blogs – Zenhabits, and it definitely spoke to me:

We are not walking a path, but surfing a sea.

Most people look at goal setting as picking a destination, then figuring out a path to get there. That assumes you’re walking on land that will change very little, and that while you will have unforeseen obstacles, you’ll be on stable ground and the destination won’t move. That’s not at all true — life is more like the sea, ever changing with no fixed paths or destinations, with swells and currents and waves that change everything at every moment. The ultimate skill, then, isn’t setting a destination (goal) or a path (plan), but surfing. In surfing, you take whatever waves come, learn to judge the waves as they come, learn to ride the wave as it changes, not as you planned. It’s going with the flow (literally), and changing what you do depending on how the flow changes. (via » Why We Overplan :zenhabits.)

For years, every time someone asked about how I got to where I am in my career, I often found myself at a loss to give them a seemingly satisfactory answer.

What Leo wrote above articulates really well what I have been doing (unconsciously) most of my life – going with the flow. I have only been on surfboard once (yes, even data warriors surf) but the analogy fits really well in my mind. (BTW – A good downhill ski run or shooting some white water fits too)

It “feels” like the right answer.

Oddly (or not?) it fits with a classic quote from my martial arts hero Bruce Lee: “Be water”

Pretty Zen, right?

So what does this have to do with data modeling, data warehousing, etc?

Mostly I have found in doing agile (or agile-like) projects, the team needs to be like water, or really like a surfer on the water, and go with the flow through the sprints and iterations.

Changing directions at a moments notice as the users needs and priorities change.

Embrace the change.

Doing so without judgment or expectation.

Flow around the obstacles and blockages – or risk crashing on the reef!

So, let go of all the goals and set-in-stone project plans. Embrace the flow and see where you might go.

Who knows, you might hang 10 on the biggest wave of your life!

Aloha.

Kent

P.S. If you want to learn to be a better data surfer check out the Data Vault Learning Portal and learn how to implement the most agile data modeling technique around – Data Vault.

Posted in Data Modeling, Data Vault, Data Warehouse, Martial Arts and tagged , , , , , ,

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