Improving the Efficiency of BI Report Generation for Data Warehousing Projects

This project has been implemented to replace the waterfall model of development with a new agile model of development for data warehousing projects in an organization. Some of the problems associated with waterfall model of development include high cost, late delivery of business value, inability to adapt to the changing requirements etc. The main goals of this project were to reduce the project cost, improve the quality of reports to increase user adoption, and make the process more time efficient. The stated goals were achieved by implementing agile model of development to the data warehousing projects, and were validated by the analysis of the data collected throughout the process of project execution

Designing distribution centres for agile supply chains

Increasing globalisation and market volatility represent major challenges for many supply chains, and particularly for the distribution centres within them. This paper examines how distribution centres are being designed to be agile even though they are, by their nature, long-term fixed assets. The research is based on semi-structured interviews with warehouse design companies to identify the range of agility types that were regarded as necessary during the design phase, and how these were addressed. The research also explores the cost, time and service level implications, whilst handling variances in demand or supply. The interviewee responses are expressed in terms of qualitative measures on Likert scales. The results indicate that there is generally a slightly or moderately higher cost to design for agility. Based on the literature and the case study responses, a methodology is developed of how to address agility within warehouse design, and areas of further research are identified

SOA, SoBI & EDA - Paradigms for Integration Capabilities of BI Platform

A Business Intelligence (BI) provider may offer a basic solution, a packed application or a comprising BI platform which integrates components from individual technologies in a synergic system. The providers’ tendency is to standardize the instruments offered on a single server platform. The article analyzes the integration capabilities and problems of BI platforms, emphasizes the differences between emergent technologies and suggests integration solutions. The analysis is useful both to the providers of BI solutions - in order to develop some agile platforms, as well as to their users - representing an important factor in selecting the solution. In addition, the conclusions to be drawn will emphasize the tendencies from the BI market and will represent the support in creating some agile platforms.Business Intelligence, agile platform, integration, metadata management, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Event Driven Architecture (EDA)

Quality measures for ETL processes: from goals to implementation

Extraction transformation loading (ETL) processes play an increasingly important role for the support of modern business operations. These business processes are centred around artifacts with high variability and diverse lifecycles, which correspond to key business entities. The apparent complexity of these activities has been examined through the prism of business process management, mainly focusing on functional requirements and performance optimization. However, the quality dimension has not yet been thoroughly investigated, and there is a need for a more human-centric approach to bring them closer to business-users requirements. In this paper, we take a first step towards this direction by defining a sound model for ETL process quality characteristics and quantitative measures for each characteristic, based on existing literature. Our model shows dependencies among quality characteristics and can provide the basis for subsequent analysis using goal modeling techniques. We showcase the use of goal modeling for ETL process design through a use case, where we employ the use of a goal model that includes quantitative components (i.e., indicators) for evaluation and analysis of alternative design decisions.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Data warehouse automation trick or treat?

Data warehousing systems have been around for 25 years playing a crucial role in collecting data and transforming that data into value, allowing users to make decisions based on informed business facts. It is widely accepted that a data warehouse is a critical component to a data-driven enterprise, and it becomes part of the organisation’s information systems strategy, with a significant impact on the business. However, after 25 years, building a Data Warehouse is still painful, they are too time-consuming, too expensive and too difficult to change after deployment. Data Warehouse Automation appears with the promise to address the limitations of traditional approaches, turning the data warehouse development from a prolonged effort into an agile one, with gains in efficiency and effectiveness in data warehousing processes. So, is Data Warehouse Automation a Trick or Treat? To answer this question, a case study of a data warehousing architecture using a data warehouse automation tool, called WhereScape, was developed. Also, a survey was made to organisations that are using data warehouse automation tools, in order to understand their motivation in the adoption of this kind of tools in their data warehousing systems. Based on the results of the survey and on the case study, automation in the data warehouses building process is necessary to deliver data warehouse systems faster, and a solution to consider when modernize data warehouse architectures as a way to achieve results faster, keeping costs controlled and reduce risk. Data Warehouse Automation definitely may be a Treat.Os sistemas de armazenamento de dados existem há 25 anos, desempenhando um papel crucial na recolha de dados e na transformação desses dados em valor, permitindo que os utilizadores tomem decisões com base em fatos. É amplamente aceite, que um data warehouse é um componente crítico para uma empresa orientada a dados e se torna parte da estratégia de sistemas de informação da organização, com um impacto significativo nos negócios. No entanto, após 25 anos, a construção de um Data Warehouse ainda é uma tarefa penosa, demora muito tempo, é cara e difícil de mudar após a sua conclusão. A automação de Data Warehouse aparece com a promessa de endereçar as limitações das abordagens tradicionais, transformando o desenvolvimento da data warehouse de um esforço prolongado em um esforço ágil, com ganhos de eficiência e eficácia. Será, a automação de Data Warehouse uma doçura ou travessura? Foi desenvolvido um estudo de caso de uma arquitetura de data warehousing usando uma ferramenta de automação, designada WhereScape. Foi também conduzido um questionário a organizações que utilizam ferramentas de automação de data warehouse, para entender sua motivação na adoção deste tipo de ferramentas. Com base nos resultados da pesquisa e no estudo de caso, a automação no processo de construção de data warehouses, é necessária para uma maior agilidade destes sistemas e uma solução a considerar na modernização destas arquiteturas, pois permitem obter resultados mais rapidamente, mantendo os custos controlados e reduzindo o risco. A automação de data warehouse pode bem vir a ser uma “doçura”

Considerations regarding the agile development of portals

Starting with methodologies, methods and techniques used generally in the development of information systems, a personal approach regarding quick development of portals has been introduced. After a strict theoretical foundation the proposal has been applied within a real collaborative knowledge portal development project. We consider the proposed agile development approach (based on the prototype technique enriched with MDA valences) suitable to all kind of information systems. The agile development framework establishes the life-cycle phases of product development taking into account the desired functionalities.portal, prototype technique, model driven architecture, agile development

Kuluttajatuotteiden toimitusketjun kehittäminen: tapaustutkimus suomalaisessa energiayhtiössä

This master’s thesis studies how a non-manufacturing firm should design and manage a supply chain for consumer products in a global environment where the firm has limited experience and competence on managing material flows to consumer customers. Existing literature on supply chain design and management is highly focused on manufacturing companies and thus, this study tries to fill this knowledge gap by addressing non-manufacturing companies with purchasing-intensive operations. The study follows a problem-solving focused research approach, design science, by dividing the research into two main phases. First, a literature review is conducted focusing on the themes of supply chain design and management in order to highlight the major elements is prior research and to form a theoretical foundation for the practical solution. Second, a case study is conducted in a Finnish utility company to develop, test and evaluate the solution’s applicability in the context of the case company. Research indicates that supply chain design process starts by analyzing product types, customer needs and marketplace requirements, and linking the supply chain strategy and type to the firm’s context. It was found that a supply chain combining lean and agile, leagile, was most suitable for the case company. After determining the supply chain type, the actual supply chain structure is formed. A primary decision factor is the degree of logistics postponement which determines the number and location of warehouses and distribution channel choices in the supply chain. Finally, supply chain management must be ensured by defining the basic processes and the required level supply chain integration with external actors. The proposed solution provides concrete guidelines and decision factors related to supply chain design and management to be utilized in a purchasing-intensive supply chain environment solving the case company’s problem. Additional benefits for the case company include increased supply chain understanding, more efficient and simple material flows, and probable operational performance improvements. Research partly confirms existing theory by showing that certain elements in traditional supply chain design and management theory can also be applied in a purchasing-intensive environment lacking manufacturing operations. In addition, research identifies elements and decisions factors that are relevant especially for non-manufacturing companies such as the high focus on inventory management.Diplomityö tutkii miten hankintaan keskittyvän yrityksen tulisi suunnitella ja hallita toimitusketjuaan ympäristössä, jossa sillä ei ole aikaisempaa kokemusta tuotteiden toimittamisesta kuluttaja-asiakkaille. Aikaisempi tutkimus toimitusketjun suunnittelun ja hallinnan alueilla on painottunut valmistaviin yrityksiin, joten tutkimus pyrkii luomaan uutta tietoa tutkimalla yrityksiä, joilla ei ole omaa valmistusta ja näin keskittyen valmiiden tuotteiden hankintaan toimittajilta. Tutkimus noudattaa suunnittelutieteen (design science) lähestymistapaa pyrkien ratkaisemaan yrityksen konkreettisen ongelman ratkaisuehdotuksella. Tutkimusprosessi aloitettiin kirjallisuuskatsauksella keskittyen pääosin toimitusketjun suunnitteluun ja hallintaan liittyvään kirjallisuuteen tavoitteena tunnistaa tutkimusalueen pääteemat sekä luoda teoreettinen pohja ratkaisuehdotukselle. Tutkimuksen toinen vaihe suoritettiin tapaustutkimuksena suomalaisessa yrityksessä, missä ratkaisuehdotusta kehitettiin edelleen ja lopulta sen toimivuutta arvioitiin tapausyrityksen kontekstissa. Tutkimus osoittaa, että toimitusketjun suunnittelu tulee aloittaa tuotetyyppien, asiakastarpeiden sekä toimintaympäristön analysoinnilla. Lisäksi on tärkeää, että toimitusketjustrategia ja -tyyppi linkitetään aina yrityksen kontekstiin. Tehokasta (lean) ja ketterää (agile) yhdistävän toimitusketjutyypin havaittiin olevan paras ratkaisu tapausyritykselle. Toimitusketjutyypin valitsemisen jälkeen määritetään ketjun varsinainen rakenne, joka hankintaan keskittyvillä yrityksillä liittyy vahvasti siihen kuinka paljon logistiikkaa viivästytetään. Viivästyttämisen aste pääosin määrittää varastojen määrä ja paikan sekä jakelukanavat toimitusketjussa. Viimeisenä on määritettävä prosessit toimitusketjun hallintaan sekä missä määrin on tarpeen tehdä yhteistyötä yrityksen ulkopuolisten toimijoiden kanssa. Esitetty ratkaisu tarjoaa tapausyritykselle konkreettisia suuntaviivoja ja ohjeita toimitusketjun suunnitteluun ja hallintaan hankintaan painottuvassa toimintaympäristössä. Ratkaisu tarjoaa lisäksi yritykselle lukuisia käytännön hyötyjä kuten lisääntyneen toimitusketjutuntemuksen, tehokkaammat ja yksikertaisemmat materiaalivirrat sekä todennäköisesti kasvavan toimitusketjun suorituskyvyn. Tutkimus osaltaan vahvistaa olemassa olevaa teoriaa näyttäen, että valmistaviin yrityksiin keskittyvää teoriaa ja malleja voidaan hyödyntää myös hankintaan keskittyvässä toimitusketjussa. Lisäksi tutkimus tuottaa uutta hyödyllistä tietoa mitkä elementit ja kriteerit ovat erityisen tärkeitä nimenomaan hankintaan keskittyville yrityksille ilman omaa tuotevalmistusta

Developing a business intelligence initiative in higher education

ACM Classification: H.4.2 Types of Systems – Decision SupportIn nowadays, Business Intelligence (BI) is one of the most important areas for managers and their organizations, whose investments on this type of projects are increasing. The decision-making process has become crucial to be more competitive, and higher education institutions (HEIs) are not an exception. For the last years, HEIs from all over the world have started to apply BI to their educational and decision-making challenges. In 2013, the BI Task Force from EUNIS (European University Information Systems) surveyed several HEIs to understand the maturity of their BI systems. The results revealed inconsistencies, raising the doubt about the comprehension of BI concepts. Considering this survey and its basis on maturity models, this dissertation analyses the existing models regarding higher education. Understanding the difficulties in answering the EUNIS survey from a perspective of two Portuguese universities is also a goal. It was created a feedback survey, whose results revealed it was a positive experience, although the lack of clarification of BI concepts was underlined. Thinking about other universities starting their BI journey, it was developed a kit proposal that clarifies concepts and best practices for this sector. It was validated by the two universities mentioned above, which will be starting their initiative in January 2015. This validation was made through an interview, and the feedback was encouraging. Having a guidance to be methodical in this phase was highlighted, as well as the presentation of real success cases that allow to understand what other institutions do on their daily basis.Atualmente, Business Intelligence (BI) é uma das mais importantes áreas para gestores e empresas, cujo investimento tem vindo a aumentar substancialmente. A tomada de decisão tem-se tornado fundamental para o aumento da competitividade e as instituições do ensino superior não são exceção. Nos últimos anos, instituições de todo o mundo têm começado a aplicar BI nos seus desafios. Em 2013, a BI Task Force da EUNIS (European University Information Systems) decidiu realizar um inquérito a instituições de ensino superior para conhecer a maturidade dos seus sistemas de BI. Os resultados revelaram incoerências, criando a dúvida sobre a correta compreensão dos conceitos. Tendo em conta este inquérito e a sua base em modelos de maturidade de BI, é realizada uma revisão bibliográfica dos modelos existentes direcionados para o ensino superior. Compreender as dificuldades em responder ao inquérito da EUNIS, na perspetiva de duas universidades, também é um objetivo deste estudo. Foi criado um questionário de feedback, cujos resultados revelaram ter sido uma experiência positiva, embora a falta de clarificação dos conceitos fosse sublinhada. Considerando instituições a iniciar a sua aventura em BI, foi criado um guião que clarifica conceitos e boas práticas para o sector. Foi validado pelas universidades mencionadas, que vão começar as suas iniciativas no próximo ano. Essa validação, feita com entrevistas, revelou que um guião que ajude as universidades a serem metódicas nesta fase é essencial, bem como a apresentação de casos reais de sucesso que permitem dar a conhecer o que é feito no dia-a-dia do sector

Full steam ahead for Texas ports

Trade ; North American Free Trade Agreement ; Petroleum industry and trade