Iterative Approach

The single most important development in warehousing today is probably the iterative approach. Data Warehouse projects risk getting bogged down in traditional "waterfall" approaches, where phases are not allowed to overlap and project "scope-creep" causes the collection phase to expand, never getting complete enough to move on to the data delivery phase.

Frequently this phenomenon is caused by the fact that the corporation’s information needs are little understood in key areas. Required data has not been available in the past, so business users literally don’t know what’s needed, what will be of use and what will not. Of course, some needs are obvious, but the more subtle requirements only surface after iterative exploration of what’s available versus what’s meaningful.

Hence, the iterative model of data research and discovery, leading to the iterative model for development of databases and applications to access the data. Until the availability question is settled, presentation will tend to shift and grow.

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Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000. Laura Brown, LBPI, Inc. (DBA: System Innovations)

Last Updated: August 18, 2000