What is a data warehouse?
Data warehousing acts as a centralised repository where information flows in from multiple sources. Data flows in from transactional systems and other relational databases. It can be structured, semi-structured or completely unstructured.
The data is processed, transformed and ingested so that users can access the processed data through business intelligence tools, SQL clients and spreadsheets. The information is compiled and collated into one comprehensive database.
By gathering all the information in one place, an organisation can better analyse its customers as a whole. This helps ensure that all the information is accessible. Data warehousing also makes data mining possible. Data mining is a process of looking for patterns in the data, which can be used to generate better market insights to improve sales.
What can a data warehouse be used for?
Anyone who has to deal with large amounts of data can benefit from a data warehouse. Some of the sectors that make use of it are:
Airlines
Here, data warehouses are used to make operations run more smoothly. It works to allocate crew, analyse route profitability and more.
Banks
Banks use data warehouses to manage the resources available at the front desk more efficiently. Some banks use it for market research and analysing the performance of products and operations.
Retail industry
In retail, data warehousing is used for distribution and marketing. It is also used to keep track of merchandise, customer buying patterns, promotions and to determine the right price.
Investment
Data patterns are analysed as well as monitoring the market to determine where it would be best to invest.
Telecommunications
In this sector, it is used to promote products, determine the right sales decisions and to make distribution decisions.
Hospitality industry
This industry uses data warehousing to design advertisements and promotional campaigns where they want to target audiences based on their feedback and travelling patterns.
