1) name at least characteristics or features of a data warehouse

⇒ Subject-Oriented: Data is organized around specific business subjects like sales, marketing,
or finance, rather than operational processes. This makes it easier to analyze data related to a
particular area of interest.

Integrated: Data from various sources is integrated and consolidated to provide a consistent
view of the business. This eliminates inconsistencies and ensures data accuracy.

Time-Variant: Data warehouses store historical data, allowing for analysis of trends and
patterns over time. This enables businesses to identify long-term trends and make informed
decisions.

Non-Volatile: Data in a data warehouse is not updated in real-time. This ensures data
consistency and accuracy for analysis purposes.

Scalable: Data warehouses are designed to handle large volumes of data and can be easily
scaled to accommodate growing business needs. This allows for future expansion and growth.

Metadata: A data warehouse contains metadata, which is data about data. This metadata
describes the structure, meaning, and origin of the data, making it easier to understand,
interpret, and manage.

2) why is data integration required in a data warehouse,more so there in an

operational application ?
⇒Data integration is the process of combining data from various sources into a unified view. It's
essential for both data warehouses and operational applications, but the reasons and
challenges differ.

Unified View of the Business: By integrating data from disparate sources, data warehouses
provide a comprehensive view of the business. This enables analysts to identify trends,
patterns, and insights that would be difficult to uncover from siloed data.

Improved Decision Making: Consolidated data allows for more accurate and timely
decision-making. Businesses can analyze historical trends, forecast future performance, and
optimize operations.

Enhanced Reporting: Data integration facilitates the creation of insightful reports and
dashboards. By combining data from multiple sources, organizations can generate
comprehensive and actionable reports.

Data Quality Issues: Data from various sources may have inconsistencies, missing values, or
errors.
Data cleaning and standardization are crucial to ensure data quality.
 3) every data structure in the data warehouse contains the time element.Why?
⇒data warehouses are repositories of historical data, designed to analyze trends and patterns
over time. Every data structure within a data warehouse includes a time element to facilitate this
analysis. By tracking data over time, businesses can identify trends, seasonal patterns, and
year-over-year comparisons. These insights empower data-driven decision-making, enabling
businesses to forecast future trends, assess risks, and measure performance against industry
standards. Additionally, the time element is crucial for regulatory compliance and internal
auditing purposes, ensuring accurate record-keeping and accountability.
By incorporating the time element into every data structure, data warehouses enable
businesses to gain valuable insights, make informed decisions, and improve their overall
performance.

4) explain data granularity and how it is applicable to the data warehouse.

⇒ Data granularity refers to the level of detail at which data is stored and analyzed. In a data
warehouse, it determines how finely data is broken down. Higher granularity means more
detailed data, while lower granularity provides a broader, more summarized view. The choice of
granularity depends on the specific analysis needs of the business.

For instance, sales data could be stored at a high granularity level, including individual
transaction details like product ID, quantity, price, and customer information. Alternatively, it
could be stored at a lower granularity level, summarizing sales by product category or region.

High granularity allows for deeper analysis, but it requires more storage space and processing
power. Lower granularity is more efficient for broad-level analysis but may lack the detail needed
for specific insights.

5) Top-down vs bottom-up
⇒Top-Down Approach

Merits:

● Strategic Alignment: This approach ensures that the data warehouse aligns with
the overall business strategy by starting with high-level business requirements.
● Enterprise-Wide View: It provides a holistic view of the organization's data needs,
helping to identify common data elements and potential synergies.
● Faster Implementation: By focusing on critical business areas first, the
implementation can be accelerated.

Disadvantages:
 ● Complexity: Designing a complex data warehouse from the top down can be
challenging, as it requires a deep understanding of the entire organization's data
landscape.
● Risk of Overengineering: There's a risk of overengineering the data warehouse by
including unnecessary complexity and features.
● Potential for Scope Creep: As the project progresses, the scope may expand,
leading to increased costs and delays.

Bottom-Up Approach

Merits:

● Focused Implementation: By starting with specific business needs, the

implementation can be more focused and targeted.
● Faster Time to Market: Smaller, more manageable projects can be delivered
quickly, providing early benefits to the business.
● Reduced Risk: By breaking down the project into smaller, less complex phases,
the risk of failure is reduced.

Disadvantages:

● Lack of Enterprise-Wide View: This approach may not consider the organization's
overall data needs, leading to inconsistencies and inefficiencies.
● Potential for Siloed Data: Without a clear, overarching data strategy, data silos
may emerge, hindering cross-functional analysis.
● Scalability Challenges: As the data warehouse grows, scalability challenges may
arise, especially if the initial design was not sufficiently robust.

6) What are the various sources for the data warehouse?

⇒Data warehouses typically draw data from a variety of sources, both internal and external to
the organization. Here are some common sources:

Internal Sources:

● Operational Systems: These are systems that support day-to-day business operations,
such as:
● ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) Systems: Manage core business processes like
finance, HR, and supply chain.
● CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Systems: Track customer interactions and
sales.
● SCM (Supply Chain Management) Systems: Manage inventory, logistics, and
procurement.
● POS (Point of Sale) Systems: Record sales transactions.
 ● Legacy Systems: Older systems that may not be fully integrated but still contain valuable
historical data.
● Log Files: System and application logs that record events and errors.
●

External Sources:

● Social Media Platforms: Data from platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram can
provide insights into customer sentiment and trends.
●
● Web Analytics: Data from website analytics tools like Google Analytics can track user
behavior and website traffic.
●
● Third-Party Data Providers: Companies that specialize in collecting and selling data,
such as demographic data, economic indicators, and industry benchmarks.
●
● Internet of Things (IoT) Devices: Devices that generate data, such as sensors, smart
meters, and wearables.

7) Why do we need a separate data staging component?

⇒A separate data staging component is crucial in data warehousing for several reasons:

1. Data Quality and Consistency:

● Cleaning and Transformation: Data extracted from various sources often requires
cleaning, formatting, and transformation to ensure consistency and accuracy. The
staging area provides a dedicated space for these preprocessing tasks.
● Error Handling: If errors are detected during the transformation process, they can be
addressed in the staging area without affecting the main data warehouse.

2. Data Integration and Consolidation:

● Multiple Sources: Data from diverse sources, with different formats and structures, can
be integrated and consolidated in the staging area.
● Data Validation: Data can be validated against predefined rules and business logic to
ensure its accuracy and completeness.

3. Load Balancing and Performance Optimization:

● Batch Processing: Large volumes of data can be processed in batches in the staging
area, reducing the load on the production systems.
● Parallel Processing: Data can be processed in parallel, improving performance and
reducing processing time.
4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity:

● Backup and Recovery: The staging area can act as a backup and recovery point for
the data warehouse, allowing for quick restoration in case of data loss or corruption.
● Testing and Development: A staging area can be used for testing and development
purposes without impacting the production data warehous

8) Under data transformation, list five different functions you can think of.

⇒Aggregation: This involves combining multiple data points into a single value, such as
calculating the sum, average, or count of a specific metric.

Normalization: This process scales data to a common range, often between 0 and 1, to
improve comparability and model performance.

Discretization: This involves converting continuous numerical data into discrete intervals or
categories, which can simplify analysis and modeling.

Feature Engineering: This involves creating new features or variables from existing data, such
as combining multiple columns or calculating ratios.

Data Cleaning: This encompasses various techniques to improve data quality, including
handling missing values, removing outliers, and correcting inconsistencies.

9) Name 6 different methods of information delivery

⇒
Print Media: This traditional method involves the use of printed materials like books,
newspapers, and magazines.
Digital Media: This encompasses a wide range of digital formats, including websites, blogs,
social media, and email.
Audiovisual Media: This method combines visual and auditory elements, such as videos,
podcasts, and presentations.
Live Presentations: This involves delivering information in real-time through lectures,
workshops, or webinars.
Interactive Media: This method allows for two-way communication, such as online forums, chat
rooms, and virtual reality experiences.
Mobile Devices: This method leverages smartphones and tablets to deliver information through
apps, SMS, and mobile websites.
 10) what are the three major types of metadata in a data warehouse? briefly mention
the purpose of each type
⇒There are three major types of metadata in a data warehouse:

1. Technical Metadata: This type of metadata describes the technical aspects of the data
warehouse, such as the database system used, table and column names, data types,
and indexes. It helps in understanding the structure and organization of the data.
2. Business Metadata: This metadata provides information about the business meaning
and context of the data. It includes definitions of business terms, data ownership, data
quality rules, and data usage guidelines. It helps in understanding the business
significance of the data.
3. Operational Metadata: This metadata tracks the history and lineage of the data,
including how it was extracted, transformed, and loaded into the data warehouse.
It also includes information about data freshness, data quality, and data security. It helps
in understanding the data's journey and ensuring its reliability.

11) what do you mean by strategic information?for a commercial bank , name 5 types
of strategic objectives
⇒ Strategic information refers to data and insights that are crucial for making high-level
decisions about the future direction of a business. It helps organizations to identify opportunities,
mitigate risks, and achieve their long-term goals.

For a commercial bank, here are 5 types of strategic objectives:

● Financial Performance: This includes objectives related to profitability, revenue growth,

cost reduction, and risk management.
● Customer Acquisition and Retention: This involves attracting new customers,
retaining existing ones, and enhancing customer satisfaction.
● Product and Service Innovation: This focuses on developing and launching new
products and services to meet evolving customer needs and market trends.
● Operational Efficiency: This aims to improve the efficiency of internal processes, such
as loan processing, customer service, and risk management.
● Technological Advancement: This involves adopting new technologies to improve
service delivery, enhance customer experience, and reduce operational costs.

12) do you agree that a typical retail store collects huge volumes of data through its
operational systems? Name three types of transaction data likely to be collected
by a retail store in large volumes during its daily operations
⇒ Yes, it's absolutely true that typical retail stores collect huge volumes of data through
their operational systems. Modern retail stores are equipped with advanced technologies that
capture data at every stage of the customer journey.

Here are three types of transaction data commonly collected by retail stores:
 Point of Sale (POS) Data: This includes information about each transaction, such as:

a) Product ID and description

b) Quantity purchased
c) Price
d) Date and time of purchase
e) Customer loyalty program information (if applicable)
f) Payment method

Inventory Data: This data tracks the movement of products within the store, including:

g) Product stock levels

h) Inventory replenishment orders
i) Product returns and exchanges
j) Product locations within the store

Customer Data: This information is collected through loyalty programs, online

purchases, and in-store interactions:

k) Customer demographics (age, gender, location)

l) Purchase history
m) Preferred products and brands
n) Customer preferences and feedback

13) examine the opportunities that can be provided by strategic information for a
medical centre. can you list 5 such opportunities?
⇒ Improved Patient Care:

● Personalized Treatment Plans: By analyzing patient data, healthcare providers can tailor
treatment plans to individual needs, leading to better outcomes.
● Early Disease Detection: Predictive analytics can identify patients at risk for certain
diseases, allowing for early intervention and prevention.

Enhanced Operational Efficiency:

● Optimized Resource Allocation: Analyzing historical data on patient volume, staffing

needs, and resource utilization can help optimize resource allocation, reducing costs and
improving efficiency.
● Streamlined Workflow: Identifying bottlenecks and inefficiencies in workflows can lead to
streamlined processes and reduced wait times.
Enhanced Financial Performance:

● Predictive Budgeting: By analyzing historical financial data, medical centers can forecast
future revenue and expenses, enabling better budgeting and financial planning.
● Identifying Profitable Services: Analyzing service-line profitability can help identify
opportunities for growth and cost reduction.

Improved Decision-Making:

● Data-Driven Insights: Data-driven insights can inform strategic decisions about facility
expansion, service offerings, and partnerships.
● Risk Management: Analyzing historical data can help identify potential risks and develop
strategies to mitigate them.

Enhanced Research and Development:

● Identifying Research Opportunities: Analyzing patient data can identify opportunities for
clinical research and drug development.
● Accelerating Drug Development: By leveraging data analytics, researchers can
accelerate the drug development process.

14) describe 5 differences between operational and information all systems

⇒

15) why are operational systems not suitable for providing strategic information?
give three reasons and explain
⇒Operational systems, while essential for day-to-day operations, are not well-suited for
providing strategic information. Here are three reasons why:

1. Data Structure and Focus: Operational systems are designed to capture and process
detailed transactional data for immediate operational needs. This data is often highly
granular and specific to individual transactions. While this level of detail is necessary for
operational efficiency, it's not always suitable for strategic analysis, which often requires
a broader, more aggregated view of the data.
2. Real-Time Processing: Operational systems are optimized for real-time processing,
prioritizing speed and efficiency over historical analysis. This focus on real-time data can
limit the ability to analyze historical trends and patterns, which are crucial for strategic
decision-making.

3. Lack of Integrated Data: Operational systems often operate in silos, with each system
capturing and storing data independently. This can lead to data inconsistencies and
difficulty integrating data from different sources. Strategic decision-making often requires
a comprehensive view of the organization's data, which can be challenging to achieve
with siloed operational systems.