Case Studies: Enterprise Data Warehouse Project 

 

 WorkSafeBC 

Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) Project 
" Design and implementation of a business-enabling decision support strategy "

 The client need

In all organizations a continual increase in the scale and number of IT systems generates an equivalent requirement to improve the management of, and access to, systems information. At WorkSafeBC, individual systems had expanded to the point that information was no longer stored and presented in the centralized manner that could facilitate efficient organizational decisions across the company as a whole. It was also becoming obvious that a data warehouse would better enable internal and external user access to data and increase the performance of analysis and reporting activities.

 Approach and considerations

WorkSafeBC required the design, development and implementation of a Decision Support Strategy (DSS) Enterprise Data Warehouse, and to mitigate risk, it would need to be delivered in several distinct project phases.

Complexities of the EDW project included:

• The implementation of reliable privacy protections and systems security
• The introduction of new technologies and business processes
• Extensive QA & testing to ensure that the new EDW would not adversely impact any mission critical applications or the productivity of their substantial user base

 The strategy

Quartech would need to provide highly skilled consultants and structured project teams in order to support WorkSafeBC's EDW requirements. With both design and implementation requirements, key positions would need to be filled with experienced senior resources that have strong planning and execution experience.

 The Services and technologies

Quartech provided a number of important services through the integrated team:

• Project management, planning & coordination of analysts and developers, and liaising with the DSS Client Team to prioritize and communicate changes required
• Design and development of the data warehouse
• Design and development of internet applications (front end and n-tier components) to interact with the data warehouse, including:
  • Building a web based front-end and a metadata delivery layer (for Micro Strategy ROLAP tool)
  • Building a web reporting application that uses Crystal Reports to deliver sophisticated reports to a variety of business roles
  • Building and customizing ASP code to generate "push technology" reports via Micro Strategy Broadcaster. These reports are automatically generated and delivered by email when certain pre-determined conditions exist in the database
• System acceptance test support
• Business and technical documentation
• Design walkthroughs and reviews
• Implementation and enhancements
• Formal classroom training on the Crystal Reports tools
• Maintenance and enhancements on portions of the Decision Support web site
• Technical support for the monthly data warehouse refresh
• Management of the Decision Support help desk, supporting over 200 users

The services were dependent on a comprehensive list of technologies including:

• Microstrategy Tools, Seagate Info, Crystal Reports, MS Access, SQL Server, IBM Mainframe, MVS, TSO/ISPF, DB2, JCL, Cobol, DB2, SCLM, Endevor, AIX Unix, Informix, Windows NT, HTML, ASP, QMF, and Focus

 The results and benefits

WorkSafeBC was successful in their implementation of an enterprise data warehouse. The high performance centralized data repository provided internal and external users with the ability to rapidly retrieve the information required for efficient day-to-day work and greatly improved broader organizational capabilities for decision support.

Critical components of this successful implementation include:

• Quartech's continued dedication and flexibility in helping WorkSafeBC realize their goals
• Quartech's ability to provide high-quality resources at cost-effective prices
• Diverse experience, skills and knowledge that expanded the capabilities and maturity of the WorkSafeBC teams across a broad variety of technologies and initiatives

Would your organization benefit from improved access to information and enhanced decision support capabilities?

You can find out more about our enterprise data warehouse solutions by contacting us online, or if you would prefer to talk to us by phone or in person, our head office details are available on our contact information page.

Interested in challenging and rewarding DW and BI work?

Enterprise data warehouses and business intelligence systems are an important area of service value for our clients. Is this your area of skill and interest? Make sure that you review our current opportunities on a regular basis and submit your resume today!

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