Welcome to my BeyeNETWORK Expert Channel on virtual data warehouse architectures and the data delivery platform.

The last twenty years, the classic data warehouse architecture has served us well. But if we think about the new demands and requirements from our customers, such as real-time data warehousing and increased flexibility, and if we consider new technologies, ranging from data warehouse appliances to mashups, the question we can ask ourselves is whether this is still the best architecture we can come up with. My answer would be "No."

This expert channel will focus on a new architecture called the data delivery platform. The data delivery platform is based on the concept of a virtual data warehouse. This channel will help you understand the data delivery platform, how new technologies make it possible to develop this platform, and the design and architectural principles of the platform.

In a nutshell, the end of the era of the classic data warehouse architecture has come, and like with all other technical solutions and technologies, it is time for a replacement.

As channel expert I will cover technologies, ideas, tools and design principles related to the data delivery platform and virtual data warehouses. I do welcome your questions, comments, ideas and suggestions. Please send them to rick@r20.nl. I am looking forward to lively discussions.

Rick is an independent consultant, speaker, and author, specializing in data warehousing, business intelligence, application integration and database technology. He is managing director and founder of R20/Consultancy. He is an internationally acclaimed speaker who has lectured worldwide for the last 25 years. He is the chairman of the successful annual European Business Intelligence and Data Warehouse Conference held in London. In the summer of 2012 he published his new book Data Virtualization for Business Intelligence Systems. He is also the author of one of the most successful books on SQL, the popular Introduction to SQL, which is available in English, Chinese, Dutch, Italian, and German . He has written many white papers for various software vendors. Rick can be contacted by sending an email to rick@r20.nl.

Editor's Note: Rick's blog and more articles can be accessed through his BeyeNETWORK Expert Channel.