Building the Data Warehouse

Updated new edition of Ralph Kimball's groundbreaking book on dimensional modeling for data warehousing and business intelligence! The first edition of Ralph Kimball's The Data Warehouse Toolkit introduced the industry to dimensional modeling, and now his books are considered the most authoritative guides in this space. This new third edition is a complete library of updated dimensional modeling techniques, the most comprehensive collection ever. It covers new and enhanced star schema dimensional modeling patterns, adds two new chapters on ETL techniques, includes new and expanded business matrices for 12 case studies, and more. Authored by Ralph Kimball and Margy Ross, known worldwide as educators, consultants, and influential thought leaders in data warehousing and business intelligence Begins with fundamental design recommendations and progresses through increasingly complex scenarios Presents unique modeling techniques for business applications such as inventory management, procurement, invoicing, accounting, customer relationship management, big data analytics, and more Draws real-world case studies from a variety of industries, including retail sales, financial services, telecommunications, education, health care, insurance, e-commerce, and more Design dimensional databases that are easy to understand and provide fast query response with The Data Warehouse Toolkit: The Definitive Guide to Dimensional Modeling, 3rd Edition.

Cowritten by Ralph Kimball, the world's leading data warehousing authority, whose previous books have sold more than 150,000 copies Delivers real-world solutions for the most time- and labor-intensive portion of data warehousing-data staging, or the extract, transform, load (ETL) process Delineates best practices for extracting data from scattered sources, removing redundant and inaccurate data, transforming the remaining data into correctly formatted data structures, and then loading the end product into the data warehouse Offers proven time-saving ETL techniques, comprehensive guidance on building dimensional structures, and crucial advice on ensuring data quality

A thorough update to the industry standard for designing, developing, and deploying data warehouse and business intelligence systems The world of data warehousing has changed remarkably since the first edition of The Data Warehouse Lifecycle Toolkit was published in 1998. In that time, the data warehouse industry has reached full maturity and acceptance, hardware and software have made staggering advances, and the techniques promoted in the premiere edition of this book have been adopted by nearly all data warehouse vendors and practitioners. In addition, the term «business intelligence» emerged to reflect the mission of the data warehouse: wrangling the data out of source systems, cleaning it, and delivering it to add value to the business. Ralph Kimball and his colleagues have refined the original set of Lifecycle methods and techniques based on their consulting and training experience. The authors understand first-hand that a data warehousing/business intelligence (DW/BI) system needs to change as fast as its surrounding organization evolves. To that end, they walk you through the detailed steps of designing, developing, and deploying a DW/BI system. You'll learn to create adaptable systems that deliver data and analyses to business users so they can make better business decisions.

Best practices and invaluable advice from world-renowned data warehouse experts In this book, leading data warehouse experts from the Kimball Group share best practices for using the upcoming “Business Intelligence release” of SQL Server, referred to as SQL Server 2008 R2. In this new edition, the authors explain how SQL Server 2008 R2 provides a collection of powerful new tools that extend the power of its BI toolset to Excel and SharePoint users and they show how to use SQL Server to build a successful data warehouse that supports the business intelligence requirements that are common to most organizations. Covering the complete suite of data warehousing and BI tools that are part of SQL Server 2008 R2, as well as Microsoft Office, the authors walk you through a full project lifecycle, including design, development, deployment and maintenance. Features more than 50 percent new and revised material that covers the rich new feature set of the SQL Server 2008 R2 release, as well as the Office 2010 release Includes brand new content that focuses on PowerPivot for Excel and SharePoint, Master Data Services, and discusses updated capabilities of SQL Server Analysis, Integration, and Reporting Services Shares detailed case examples that clearly illustrate how to best apply the techniques described in the book The accompanying Web site contains all code samples as well as the sample database used throughout the case studies The Microsoft Data Warehouse Toolkit, Second Edition provides you with the knowledge of how and when to use BI tools such as Analysis Services and Integration Services to accomplish your most essential data warehousing tasks.

This is the first book to provide in-depth coverage of star schema aggregates used in dimensional modeling-from selection and design, to loading and usage, to specific tasks and deliverables for implementation projects Covers the principles of aggregate schema design and the pros and cons of various types of commercial solutions for navigating and building aggregates Discusses how to include aggregates in data warehouse development projects that focus on incremental development, iterative builds, and early data loads

Unchain your data from the desktop with responsive visualizations Building Responsive Data Visualization for the Web is a handbook for any front-end development team needing a framework for integrating responsive web design into the current workflow. Written by a leading industry expert and design lead at Starbase Go, this book provides a wealth of information and practical guidance from the perspective of a real-world designer. You'll walk through the process of building data visualizations responsively as you learn best practices that build upon responsive web design principles, and get the hands-on practice you need with exercises, examples, and source code provided in every chapter. These strategies are designed to be implemented by teams large and small, with varying skill sets, so you can apply these concepts and skills to your project right away. Responsive web design is the practice of building a website to suit base browser capability, then adding features that enhance the experience based on the user's device's capabilities. Applying these ideas to data produces visualizations that always look as if they were designed specifically for the device through which they are viewed. This book shows you how to incorporate these principles into your current practices, with highly practical hands-on training. Examine the hard data surrounding responsive design Master best practices with hands-on exercises Learn data-based document manipulation using D3.js Adapt your current strategies to responsive workflows Data is growing exponentially, and the need to visualize it in any context has become crucial. Traditional visualizations allow important data to become lost when viewed on a small screen, and the web traffic speaks for itself – viewers repeatedly demonstrate their preference for responsive design. If you're ready to create more accessible, take-anywhere visualizations, Building Responsive Data Visualization for the Web is your tailor-made solution.

Since publication of the first edition in 1976, The Building Regulations: Explained and Illustrated has provided a detailed, authoritative, highly illustrated and accessible guide to the regulations that must be adhered to when constructing, altering or extending a building in England and Wales. This latest edition has been fully revised throughout. Much of the content has been completely rewritten to cover the substantial changes to the Regulations since publication of the 13th edition, to ensure it continues to provide the detailed guidance needed by all those concerned with building work, including architects, building control officers, Approved Inspectors, Competent Persons, building surveyors, engineers, contractors and students in the relevant disciplines.

This book is insightful and thought-provoking for even the most seasoned SAP BW individual. —Richard M. Dunning, Chair, American SAP Users Group Written by the leading experts in the field, this comprehensive guide shows you how to implement the SAP Business Information Warehouse (BW) and create useful applications for business analysis of company-wide data. You'll quickly learn how to design, build, analyze, and administer the data and information in the SAP BW component. The authors present the material in a way that reflects the process an organization goes through during a software implementation. They begin with an introduction to the fundamentals of data warehousing and business intelligence, helping you determine if SAP BW is right for your organization. The book then focuses on the business content and options available when trying to deliver value from the data stored in the SAP BW. And it includes a methodology for implementing the BW, such as data modeling and techniques for capturing and transforming data. With this book, you'll discover the options available in SAP BW 3.0 and explore a new way to drive business performance. It will show you how to: Tackle such challenges as eliminating poor data quality Develop an information model in order to properly deploy SAP BW Utilize ETL, data storage, information access, analysis, and presentation services Schedule, monitor, archive, and troubleshoot data loads Effectively plan and manage the performance of a data warehouse The companion Web site provides useful guides and templates for configuring your system, industry case studies, and additional updates.

Kick up your training sessions a notch! If you want to make group learning more fun and effective, this is the resource for you. Training expert Elaine Biech, author of Training for Dummies, challenged some of the world’s best game designers to create never-before-seen games using popular training toys and tools from Trainer’s Warehouse, the nation’s leading supplier of learning resources. Whether you’re a full-time workplace learning professional or occasional trainer, this collection contains the most ingenious and inventive collections of learning games. The collection uses a host of common and readily available tools and toys, from throwables and tactiles, to white boards on a stick and noise-making boomwackers. This book will appeal to anyone who delivers training and education—and presenters, too—the games run the gamut from short energizers, icebreakers and closers, to more involved group and team-building activities.

No other resource—not even the building code—presents the exact code information you need, when you need it at design stage The International Building Code (IBC) is a model building code developed by the International Code Council (ICC). The IBC and its complementary codes provide design and construction professionals with a complete set of comprehensive, coordinated building safety and fire prevention regulations in order to safeguard the public health and general welfare of the occupants of new and existing buildings and structures. Adopted throughout most of the United States and its territories, it is referenced by federal agencies, such as the General Services Administration, National Park Service, Department of State, U.S. Forest Service, and the Department of Defense. For architects and other design and construction professionals, it is particularly important that they understand how to apply the IBC and how code officials view buildings, so that they integrate code-required provisions in the earliest design stages of any project. Applying the IBC, as well as its companion codes, to building design is a process that is uniquely different to that of applying the building code during a planning review. Whereas other guide books explain the IBC in sequential order, from cover to cover, chapter by chapter, and section by section, Applying the Building Code explains the requirements of the IBC as they would apply during the common phases of design: from schematic design through to the preparation of construction documents. This effectively highlights applicable requirements of the building code at the appropriate stage of design based on available information. The book provides a 28-step process that is organized according to the three phases of architectural design: schematic design, design development, and construction documents Each step explains the application of the IBC, as well as other codes and standards referenced by the IBC (i.e. International Fire Code, International Energy Conservation Code, and ANSI A117.1) based on available project information Illustrations and examples are provided throughout that explain the code fundamentals associated with each step A single example project is used throughout the step-by-step process to illustrate how each step is applied and builds upon code and project information obtained through previous steps Guidance is also provided on the International Existing Building Code and how the step-by-step process is applied to projects involving existing buildings The role of the building department and its staff in regard to plan reviews and code enforcement is discussed A detailed code data information template is provided that can help organize code-related information for construction documents