Building Your Data Warehouse -- Foundation for Your Analytics
Channel: The DRIVE/conference
Date: 19/03/2014

Your data warehouse -- data mart -- reporting database, however you want to slice it, is the single most important foundation for creating reports and ultimately using analytical tools for data discovery.

Some of the more "modern" tools such as Reporting Services, Tableau, Excel's Power Pivot and others are dramatically changing the way we need to think about how we design the underlying data structures to make the use of these new tools for our user communities of analysts and decision makers.

Many of the old constraints of data cubes, complex-star schemas and long complex planning and design cycles for data warehouses need to be rethought and changed to a more flexible and agile development methodology.

In this session we'll look at some concepts and show some practical examples of how to design a few underlying data warehouse tables to support ease of use in analytical tools and help you reduce the amount of effort in creating the data structures you need in your data warehouse.

Brian Dowling has invested more than 20 years working in Advancement and Development Services, Finance, Administration and Operations managing systems, gift processing, records, web sites, research, and other functions that help to support effective fundraising and constituent engagement. Brian joined the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation in 2008 as Senior Vice President for Finance and Information Systems and is responsible for managing finance, technology, administration and operations and deploying creative solutions to help the Foundation achieve its fundraising and engagement goals. Brian worked previously at the University of Michigan and was responsible for managing the technological infrastructure, gift processing and records administration for the Office of University Development in support of a $3.1 billion campaign. The database contained over 1,000,000 entities and average revenue was $250-$370 million representing approximately 184,000 gift transactions. Prior to that, Brian worked at The University of Toronto. The university's $1 billion campaign was Canada's largest and most successful philanthropic effort in higher education. The database of over 700,000 entities supported a large scale advancement operation. Brian has also worked at a number of institutions in both the United States and Canada, where he gained understanding, knowledge and perspectives of managing in small, medium and large shops. This experience included multiple system conversions, web site development, budgetary and financial responsibilities, operations management and more. He has consulted in the United States, Canada, Asia and Australia, written numerous articles and presents regularly at conferences. He invests his spare time in SupportingAdvancement.Com and is an amateur musician.