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Please suggest some hints/methodology to help us redesign the data model which will make all the reports obsolete.

Question: I am working to improve a poorly designed four-year-old data mart. A lot of work from both the database and BI side has been incorporated in the data mart. We are planning to redesign the data model which will make all the reports obsolete. Would you suggest some hints/methodology to undertake this job?

Adrienne Tannenbaum's Answer: Without knowing the details of why you consider your current design to be poor, it is hard to generalize . I can assure you of one thing though - if all of the design decisions are being made within IT by IT personnel, the business may in fact consider your new result to be "poorly designed." Rule number one - remember, IT is there to serve the business. Data models should reflect what the business has, needs and wants. Start with those who will want the reports.

Chuck Kelley's Answer: I would redesign the data model based on current requirements. Then I would see if I could create views (either normal or materialized) in the database that can provide the inputs to the current reports.

Joe Oates' Answer: One of the best non-proprietary methodologies can be found in Ralph Kimball's book The Data Warehouse Lifecycle Toolkit. This book provides a methodology coupled with a project plan and deliverable templates. It also has a section on data warehouse database design as well as sections on implementation and deployment.


Joe Oates is an internationally known speaker, author and consultant on data warehousing. Oates has more than 30 years of experience in the successful management and technical development of business, real-time and data warehouse applications for industry and government clients. He has designed or helped design and implement more than 30 successful data warehouse projects.

Chuck Kelley is an internationally known expert in database and data warehousing technology. He has 30 years of experience in designing and implementing operational/production systems and data warehouses. Kelley has worked in some facet of the design and implementation phase of more than 50 data warehouses and data marts. He also teaches seminars, co-authored four books on data warehousing and has been published in many trade magazines on database technology, data warehousing and enterprise data strategies. He can be contacted at chuckkelley@usa.net.

Adrienne Tannenbaum is president of Database Design Solutions, Inc. (www.dbdsolutions.com), a New Jersey-based consulting firm specializing in the revitalization of corporate data. The firm focuses on data issues within large organizations and supports all data reconstruction efforts with a solid meta data backbone. Tannenbaum is the author of two popular meta data-focused books: Metadata Solutions: Using Metamodels, Repositories, XML, and Enterprise Portals to Generate Information on Demand (2001, Addison Wesley) and Implementing a Corporate Repository (1994, Wiley).

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