BI Master - BI Architecture

Dear friends,
Today, I will show you the BI Architecture defined to my master degree (data warehouse class) that it’s also based in the project that I’m developing to my company. The objective is not explain in detail each module definition, but describe how I apply the BI architecture to my project. I suppose you already read a lot about this subjects like ETL, ODS, DW, Cube, BSC … I want to show you what I’m doing and I want to receive feedback from you to improve my work and to share knowledge between us.

The architecture defined for the project follow the Inmon approach, the 3 tier-architecture.
It was necessary to customize the ODS in order to satisfy one of the business requirements that is to keep the data imported dynamic. Keep data dynamic means that the business user administrator could change the data (from last year) directly to ODS when he needs. The reason is because some data from operational system must be corrected or because it has bad quality or there is an error. The data inside ODS is stored for one year.

The following image shows the relation between all modules and how they are integrated between itself.

1. Operational Systems (OS)
Operational Systems record details of business transactions in real time. It’s here where data is stored and will support data warehouse. These operational systems include data from external data sources like interest rates and exchange rates, and others…

2. Extract Transform and Load (ETL)
The ETL, Extract, Transform and Load data from Operational System into OLAP database.
There are two ETL processes in this architecture:
2.1 Makes the extraction of the data from OS, transform and integrate into the ODS.
a. Initial ETL
b. Daily process ETL
2.2. Makes the processing update of the cube.

3. Operational Data Store (ODS)
After the extraction, cleanness and integration of the data from the operational systems into ODS, it is necessary to include additionally calculations and aggregations to allow indicators to be generated dynamically to our OLAP cube in spite of create it static inside an ETL. Normally, all the calculations are made inside an ETL, but in this case the business requirements imply a customization. And these requirements are:

· Problems in financial instruments evaluation.
· Requests from managing entities to change positions
· Positions corrections
· Data in operational systems could be incorrect

4. Data Warehouse – OLAP Cube
In this module, is implemented the multi dimensional view of the new system. It will be created the famous cube that will enable the users to visualize business indicators from different perspectives. This cube is supported by an OLAP database and an OLTP database that will process the cube and update periodically the OLAP database, MOLAP.

5. Reports and Data Analysis
In this module will be available all the value, measurable and complete information that will be important to decision makers. Will be created static reports (pre-defined) and dynamic reports (Adhoc-reports) that allows the business users to create their own questions to the cube.

Feel free to make questions!
Regards!
Pedro.

BI Master - MSc UK Universities

Dear Friends,
As I told you lot of times in this blog, I’m currently attending a master BI degree here in Portugal. But I also was seeking for BI masters not only in Portugal, but also in UK. Following a request of my friend Amin, I’m writing today about the research I made before start my master degree.

In Portugal, ISCTE University is the winner for BI master degrees, perhaps in UK there are several candidates, and probably will be someone that disagree with me, but I hope to receive some feedback from you.
First of all you have a website that could be your first step to begin your research! The website is www.findamasters.com and has thousands of masters to see. Second, you must visit the website of British Council, http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-study-in-the-uk.htm?mtklink=corpo

I’m very impressed with the organization of some universities in UK. It was a surprised for me the possibility of take the master degree by distance and to visit the University in the open days!

If you are outside UK and cannot stay much time there, you can take the master on your country by a specific web platform and with an instructor exclusive for you. The main disadvantages are the price, that is higher, and the time to take the master is the double of the normal one!!! But you could conciliate the master with a part-time job!

I selected the universities that you should take a look and see the master contents and the respective prospectus.


http://www.soi.city.ac.uk/pgcourses/index.html


http://www.wmin.ac.uk/cscs/page-1578


http://www.gre.ac.uk/courses/pg/com/dwdm

My friend subhash, we know that you attended your master degree in Greenwich University, so please give us some feedback about it, ok? eheheh...

And a curiosity, if someone are interested, it was here http://www.newman.ac.uk that I finished my degree some years ago in Birmingham (UK), at NewMan College on Socrates European Program!
If someone could send some feedback I will appreciate, because maybe I will return to UK soon…
Regards!!

BI Conference - Andy Neely in Portugal (ISCTE University)

Dear Friends,
As I told you before my University ISCTE, where I'm current attending my BI master degree, is the best Portugal University in this subject, and not only for the master contents but also the excellent knowledge and experience of the teachers.

And to comprove it, next 22 January 2008, the ISCTE will organize a conference inviting Mr. Andy Neely. He is Deputy Director of the ESRC/EPSRC AIM Research Initiative, Professor of Operations Strategy and Performance at Cranfield School of Management, and Visiting Professor of Operations Management at London Business School.

He's the author of these books:
Business Performance Measurement
(March 2002)
http://www.amazon.com/Business-Performance-Measurement-Andy-Neely/dp/052180342X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199744561&sr=1-1

Getting the Measure of Your Business
(July 2002)
http://www.amazon.com/Strategy-Performance-Getting-Measure-Business/dp/0521750318

Automating Your Scorecard: The Balanced Scorecard Software Report
(October 2003)
http://www.amazon.com/Automating-Your-Scorecard-Balanced-Software/dp/1891234102/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199745056&sr=1-4

Business Performance Measurement: Unifying Theory and Integrating Practice
(Only available next February 2008)
http://www.amazon.com/Business-Performance-Measurement-Unifying-Integrating/dp/052185511X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199744561&sr=1-3


For these and other reasons the conference promises! If you are in Portugal or close, the registrations are opened! Come here and enjoin it!!
Regards!

NEW YEAR 2008

Dear friends,
First of all, I want to desire you a happy new year and I hope all your dreams come true.
I have much ambition for the year of 2008 and I will try to achieve all or almost all the following objectives:

· Finish my BI master degree classes
(http://www.mestradosiad.blogspot.com/)
· Take Microsoft BI tools certification
(http://www.microsoft.com/sql/solutions/bi/default.mspx )
· Take IETLS English Exam
(http://www.britishcouncil.org/portugal-exames-ingles-ielts.htm )
· Take TDWI certification directly in Amsterdam or Munique conferences
(http://www.sigs-datacom.de/sd/tdwi/conferences/2008/index.htm )

The main purpose of these objectives is preparing my bags to start a new adventure outside Portugal. Currently I have some good offers to leave Portugal but I decided to wait a few more time, because I’m enjoying my current job and my master BI degree.

We cannot waste the chances the life give us, and in my case I accepted the offer to go to England to finish my degree and the offer to work in a European Commission (Milan-Italy), because I felt that if I not accepted that offers the life wouldn’t grant me others.
So… we must dream, help the others and have much ambition!!
ALL GOOD FOR YOU!

BI Master - Good or Bad Decision?!

Dear Friends,
I finished my first trimester of lessons… I still have one year more... and maybe you are curious to know if was a good or bad decision... and I sincerely say you that yes... it was the best decision I made in the last times. I feel that it was a good decision because I love business intelligence (as a set of small parts) and I found excellent colleagues and excellent teachers.



I am curious to know if the quality of the teachers will be the same in the next trimesters, but I will keep you informed! :-)

As I told you before, in this first trimester I had three classes:

1. Decision Suport Systems
2. Data Warehouse Projects
3. Data Analysis (Statistics)

Sincerely I like the three classes but my main preference goes to the first two! Data analysis I think is not difficult but you need to spend some time to study hard… in contrast, the other two classes you also need to study hard but in my case, is a way to improve my current daily job at my company as BI developer. So, I’m very motivated!

BI Master - DSS Management tasks vs levels

Dear Friends,
I’m here today to update an old post about management tasks and levels. And I’m doing that, because at this moment I have a better perspective of what is Business Intelligence and what is the relation with management different tasks on different levels inside a company.
http://pedrocgd.blogspot.com/2007/11/bi-master-management-tasks-and-sub.html
So, Plan and Control are very important but doesn’t make sense without other tasks like Leadership, Organize and Act.

A plan is a process that helps to decide! To decide what it must be done, for who and when it must be done. To plan we have to determine well the objectives that must be realistic, measurable and complete. Having the objectives well tracings, the planning goes to guide us into the final objective, exceeding intermediate obstacles, making to expend us little time, energy and resources to reach the same final.

A great DSS has to be 100% under the control of the manager who is the main responsible for taking a decision, he is the decision maker, and the same time he’s the lead and he must put all the plans in action.

BI Master - News

Dear Friends,
It has much time that I did not write in my blog… sorry for that, but last weeks was terrible for me with lot of work not only in my current job but also with my fantastic master BI degree.
I have a lot of things to write and to share with you… after next Thursday I will be more available to write here and to share you with some interesting subjects.
Kind regards!

OFF-TOPIC - Help someone in the right moment

Something like Business Intelligence...

"LEIA O TEXTO ABAIXO ANTES DE VER O V Í D E O :
A menina, 13 anos, ganhou um prêmio e foi cantar o Star Spangled Banner,hino dos EUA, no jogo da NBA.Vinte mil pessoas no estádio, ela afinada e compenetrada.
De repente o braço tremeu, ela engasgou, esqueceu a letra... DEU BRANCO!!!Treze anos. Sozinha, ali no meio...O PÚBLICO ESTUPEFATO ameaça uma VAIA...
Num repente, Mo Cheeks, técnico dos Portland Trail Blazers, aparece ao seu lado e começa a cantar, incentivando-a, e trazendo o público junto.Bonita CENA e - o que é mais incrível - ... Só o técnico tomou a iniciativade ir até lá para ajudar, enquanto os demais à volta dela só observavam estupefatos...
Mostre como uma atitude de liderança e solidariedade, NA HORA CERTA, pode fazer uma grande diferença, para ajudarmos um ser humano e mudar a história do JOGO da vida .Será que isso já não aconteceu nas nossas vidas? E a nossa atitude foi a do técnico Mo Cheeks ou da de todos que estavam ao redor, comum e de descaso? TEM GENTE QUE ESTÁ NO MUNDO PARA AJUDAR... OUTROS PARA VAIAR. PENSE NISSO. AGORA VEJA O FILME..."



Received by e-mail

OFF-TOPIC - Google ADSense (1 Month Analysis)

Dear Friends,
In this post you can see where visitors of this blog come from and how many they are in the last month. And the main reason for write this blog in English is to describe my master degree experiences and my current job as BI developer (problems and solutions) for the maximum people. (I’m receiving visits from 36 different countries)
I think writing the blog in english could be a better way to achieve one of my life objectives: back to work in England (and this time not for study but for work as BI Analyst/Developer), maybe back to work in Italy or work in Spain (Barcelona).

"Life is too short to spend time in routine tasks!" :-) Made by me!





Regards,

BI Master - Management Tasks and Sub-Tasks

Few managers realize that a company plan must provide the framework for the company control system. If missions, goals, strategies, objectives, and plans change, then controls should change. Although this error occurs at the top, repercussions are felt at all levels.

The picture below show how management level are related with management tasks, a cross join between planning and control and the different levels of management.

Planning and control are the two most closely interrelated management functions as our teacher told us in the last class.
The planning function entails deciding today what to do tomorrow. The planning horizon could be several years, one year, few weeks or a day (example is my current project that gives trader information like bonds, equities, cash flows and other instruments)

Once the plan is implemented, the control function takes over for assuring the accomplishment of the plan’s objectives. This requires actual outcomes to be monitored and evaluated, and corrective action must be taken when the plan deviate from planned objectives. The corrective action will be taken by tactical level and a revision in the original objectives could be done.