An Assessment of Company Data Warehousing Practices

A survey of Fortune 1000 companies was conducted to assess current data warehousing (DW) practices. The survey focused on a range of issues that involve the development, use, maintenance, management, and assessment of data warehousing. For most measures, the findings of this study compare closely to those of a study by Watson et al. (2001). Similar findings were obtained for the age of data warehouses, their uses, benefits, and the use of multiple architectures for their implementation. Respondents in both studies also gave their DWs an overall favorable rating. This study produced somewhat different findings than Watson et al. and other sources for the median and average costs of DWs. In addition, this study considered a number of issues that were not addressed in the Watson et al. study such as: DW development time, DW size, and DW maintenance issues such as refresh strategies, data quality approaches, and the amount of IS staff needed for maintenance. The findings of this study, along with those of the Watson et al. study, provide important insight about DW issues and challenges for companies who are considering beginning or expanding their DW operations.