IST-Data Services Blog

For this second issue of the IST-Data Services news, we focus on our data warehousing services and the developing campus enterprise data warehouse initiative. We highlight three important accomplishments that took place in the last two weeks.

1. At the first DS Brown-Bag lunch (Oct 5th), Peter Cava (with Patrick McGrath, Max Michael, and Thom King) delivered a presentation on Data Warehousing 101 (a.k.a. Everything you ever wanted to know about Data Warehousing but were afraid to ask).

This brown bag session covered basic concepts in data warehousing, the current UC Berkeley data warehouse and business intelligence environment, goals for the future of the UC Berkeley Enterprise Data Warehouse, and a demonstration of the tools we use to aggregate (Informatica PowerCenter) and present data to data warehouse users (Hyperion BAIRS portal).

Many IST and campus colleagues attented (and our regrets that the room was not big enough for all who wanted to attend). Find the Powerpoint slides for this presentation at DW 101 slides (PDF).

2. Thom King, DS Data Architect, coordinated the publication of the architecture for the Enterprise Data Warehouse. This represents the second major milestone in the EDW Roadmap project, begun more than a year ago in partnership with the campus Data Stewardship Council.

See A roadmap for decision making: Data Warehouse Architecture and the EDW Architecture Package (Zipped PDF) document for more details, or contact Thomas King.

3. The first phase of the business intelligence (BI) tool review process was kicked off by DS in partnership with Business Administration. The business intelligence tool is an integral part of the data warehouse, and is used by the campus community to display data warehouse data. The objective of this review project is to select a BI tool that will be implemented in Fiscal 2008 as a replacement for the current Hyperion product. The core team for the project is now being assembled and many participants in different organizations across the campus and IST will act as contributors and reviewers throughout the project.

For more information, see the BI Scope Statement (Word document), the BI Platform Evaluation and Selection project plan (PDF), or contact Peter Cava.

The next IST-Data Services brown-bag lunch will feature an overview of informatics services, with a particular focus on the partnership between the Berkeley Natural History Museums and IST to develop the next generation of biodiversity informatic services. It will take place on Tuesday, October 24 at noon in the Grinnell Miller Library of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (in the Valley Life Sciences Building on campus). We hope to see you there.