Let's face it, cloud computing, grid computing, ubiquitous computing platforms are here to stay.  More and more data mind you will make it's way on to these platforms, and enterprises will continue to find themselves in a world of hurt if they suffer from security breaches.  If we think today's hackers are bad, just wait...  they're after the motherload: all customer data, massive identity theft, etc...  I'm not usually one for doom and gloom, after all - we have good resources, excellent security and VPN and firewalls right?   In this entry we'll explore the notion of what it *might* take to protect your data in a cloud/distributed or hosted environment.  It's a thought provoking future experiment - maybe it would take a black swan?

I've just reviewed some technology from a vendor who manages business and technical metadata as a service platform.  Let me say: I'm impressed.  There are many current issues these days with different BI and EDW implementations, specifically around managing, entering, and governing the business and technical metadata.  For years I've found myself using Excel and Word to handle these tasks; while great tools - there are some problems for the Data Steward in the form of governance, management, and usefulness of metadata.   In this entry, I'll discuss a new solution from IData called the Data Cookbook.

Sorry folks, this one is a shameless plug (but I am trying to separate concepts and ideas).

I've decided to give my personal web-site a new face-lift. and in doing so, have begun posting all-things Data Vault modeling and Methodology related there.  So if you're interested in reading new posts about the Data Vault, please see: http://www.DanLinstedt.com

I will reserve this blog for posting about Cloud Computing, MPP architectures in general, scalability, performance & tuning, vendors, database engines, data warehousing architecture, compliance, etc.. that I see making a difference in the BI / EDW world.

If you have an idea, or want to see me post about a specific subject, please reply with your comments here.

Thank-you kindly,
Daniel Linstedt

Welcome to the next installment of Data Vault Modeling and Methodology.  In this entry I will attempt to address the comment I received on the last entry surrounding Data Vault and Master Data.  I will continue posting as much information as I can to help spread the knowledge for those of you still questioning and considering the Data Vault.  I will also try to share more success stories as we go, as much of my industry knowledge has been accrued in the field - actually building systems that have turned in to successes over the years.

Ok, let's discuss the health-care provider space, conceptually managed data and master data sets, and a few other things along the way.

Most of you by now have heard the words: "Data Vault".  When you run it through your favorite search engine you get all kinds of different hits/definitions.  No surprise.  So what is it that I'm referring to when I discuss "Data Vault" with BI and EDW audiences?

This entry will try to answer such basic questions, just to provide a foundation of knowledge with which to build your fact finding on.

There are many things that come to mind when reading the title of this entry, it's a HUGE space with even larger prospects - from the app servers to the databases, from the tips of BI reporting all the way to ethics, security and privacy laws....  And then there's the dreaded: "What if the company supporting my current cloud apps & data fails?"

Hmm, in this entry we will explore the tip of the iceberg as it were, and explore some of the notions to consider when looking at Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing in the cloud...  Why? Because the CLOUD is big, and getting bigger - and because it IS a central and important part of technology evolution in 2010.

Recently I made a key-note presentation at Array Communications conference in the Netherlands.  There were 50 people in the room, and it was a good crowd.  There are quite a few shifts occurring in the EDW/BI market space, and there are some reasons why changes are happening.  Game changing technology is coming to the market in ETL, services, hardware, databases, and applications.

Ok folks, I'm back.  I've spent the last six months reading, writing (and arithmetic - that's a joke... ha-ha...)  seriously, implementing solutions, visiting customer sites, and seeing what's going on in the world; and to that end, the DW/BI world is changing.  You've seen me write about this before, but now it's on-top of your head.

Like it or not...  Your Data Warehouse IS a System Of Record, and if it isn't in 2009, it WILL BE before the end of 2010.  So what does that mean?

There are many trends afoot in the industry, but I think there are two or three that are here to stay, and quite frankly, they will make a huge impact on the way BI/EDW is done.  Some of the technologies that are ground-shaking and game-changing include Solid State Disk, Database appliances on the Cloud, and data services on the cloud.  I've been watching the Database market now for several years, and here are a few of my predictions for 2010.

If you've started a Master Data project, or you are working with Metadata at the business levels, then you probably are familiar with the need for ontological classification of terms.  If you aren't familiar with Ontologies (at an entry level), then I would say that you will have a tough time putting together successful MDM or Master Metadata components for your EDW/BI solution.