Book Review: The Data Warehousing Toolkit 2nd Edition

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Book Review: The Data Warehousing Toolkit 2nd Edition

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David.Poole

Posted Friday, April 24, 2009 12:24 AM

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Comments posted to this topic are about the item Book Review: The Data Warehousing Toolkit 2nd Edition

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Post #703758

ChrisMoix-87856

Posted Friday, April 24, 2009 7:07 AM

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I'm curious about how much overalap there is between this book and The Microsoft Data Warehouse Toolkit (http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Data-Warehouse-Toolkit-Microsoft-Business-Intelligence/dp/0471267155/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240578426&sr=8-1).

I have the Microsoft specific one on my desk right now - I'm trying to make the time to read it.

Post #703917

RichardDouglas

Posted Friday, April 24, 2009 8:14 AM

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I'm currently working my way through this book as we are in the process of building a data warehouse here. So far I have found the book very readable, it's not too dry like a lot of other IT books I have read.

Rich

Hope this helps,
Rich

Post #703979

gmby

Posted Friday, April 24, 2009 8:26 AM

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I found very little overlap between this book and the Microsoft specific one. The Microsoft specific one assumes you already understand dimensional design - it is focused on implementation using the Microsoft stack.

I highly recommend the original - especially if new to dimensional design.

john g

Post #703996

mr.collier

Posted Friday, April 24, 2009 9:41 AM

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The core difference that I've noticed is that The Microsoft Data Warehouse Toolkit approaches the topic of building an end-to-end solution on top of the entire Microsoft BI Stack. However, the text only scratches the surface of "dimensional modeling" per se which is at the core of Kimball's methodology.

The Data Warehouse Toolkit: The Complete Guide to Dimesional Modeling on the other hand goes into great detail of how to structure a Kimball data warehouse design, and covers how to model "Business Processes" in depth. As stated by the reviewer, this book is database agnostic and, in my view, should be read prior to reading any other Kimball publication. In a nutshell, this is an absolute must read for any DW/BI professional.

Post #704086

Andrew Peterson-472853

Posted Monday, April 27, 2009 2:57 PM

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Great write up. Thanks for taking the time. Your Organizational Culture comment really caught my eye, such as:

This was so contrary to the corporate culture and belief system that my analysis went straight into the round file.

There is technical success for a project, which most IT staff tend to focus on, and then there is business success of the project. I am sure your projects were technical successes, but I've found that the business has to want to know the truth. I've found that BI must be sponsored by the business side, and not the technical side.

Going into a project, if you suspect that the project is not sponsored by the business side, keep it technically sound, but don't be surprised when the truth is ignored. Most organizations need a high level of pain before they will be ready for a change.

The more you are prepared, the less you need it.

Post #705352

sean.mcclowry

Posted Wednesday, May 06, 2009 7:59 PM

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David - nice review - and thanks for the mention on MIKE2.0!

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