Is There Method Behind This Madness?

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Is There Method Behind This Madness?

by Vijay Sankaran

January 20, 2000


When people think of methodology, they usually imagine the theorists of IT pontificating on the virtues of an application development strategy. Methodology, in truth, is very important to the success of a data warehousing project. Without methodology, a team can walk blindly into a dark room and come out with the stab wounds of a failed effort. Methodology is the map that will help lead the data warehousing project team from point A to point B during the course of a project. It is a collection of best practices and repeatable processes that have been tested and re-tested in live warehouse situations and proven effective.

Why Use Methodology?

When starting a data warehousing project, most project teams don't even think of using a methodology to help them. In fact, most organizations seeking the use of a methodology are those companies that have failed a couple of times or those that have extended development efforts. Most folks either go out and purchase books like the Data Warehouse Toolkit or Building a Data Warehouse and try to follow those to help them get started. While both books offer sound approaches to data warehousing, they don't give project managers the roadmap to avoid the pitfalls that inevitably occur during the course of a data warehousing effort.

A methodology is a collection of best practices and repeatable processes that are designed to help guide a project team through a data warehousing effort.



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