Topic 1: Introduction to BI

from topic 1, i have learnt that what Business intelligence is and how it supports decision making in order to improve business operations.

Business Intelligence (BI) is basically connecting data to effective action by drawing reliable conclusions about the current conditions and future events.

In this topic, it also covers a review on the 3 types of multidimensional database, which commonly known as Data Warehouse, namely: (the following links helps us to further understand what each schema is)

i. Star Schema (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_schema)
ii. Snowflake Schema (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowflake_schema)
iii. Constellation Schema (http://datawarehouse4u.info/Data-warehouse-schema-architecture-fact-constellation-schema.html)

However when you have a high volume of data, you can choose star schemas as it gives you better performance.

on the other hand, i also learnt about two data visualization which helps users to interpret the data in a more easy manner which is:

Scorecards: A visual presentation of critical data for executives to view, it allows executives to see hot spots in seconds and explore the situation.






Dashboards: A visual presentation to help managers and supervisors monitor operational performance and success of tactical initiatives such as marketing campaigns and sales performance.





Scorecard shows summary information and monitor alignment and success of strategic objectives and is mostly used by the executives whereas dashboard shows both detailed and summary information for operational and tactical wise, and its commonly used by managers supervisor or frontline crew.

on top of it, there is also Performance management systems (PMS) which are BI tools
that provide scorecards and other relevant information that decision makers use to determine their level of success in reaching their goals. It is also a framework for defining, implementing, and managing an enterprise’s business strategy by linking
objectives with factual measures.

Besides, There is also online analytical processing (OLAP):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_analytical_processing

with 2 types of OLAP:

i) Multidimensional OLAP (MOLAP):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOLAP
OLAP implemented via a specialized multidimensional database (or data store) that summarizes transactions into multidimensional views ahead of time

ii) Relational OLAP (ROLAP):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROLAP
The implementation of an OLAP database on top of an existing relational database