Reviews for Data Warehousing for Dummies

1. Excellent Introduction and Overview of DW and BI

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, April 12th, 2010

   As someone new to Data Warehousing I found this book to be an excellent introduction and more. It takes a reader with little knowledge and makes him/her comfortable with DW concepts and principles, and more importantly, the DW language and jargon. It also takes the reader to a level beyond just the basics so that he/she understands how DW works in practice, and importantly it focuses on the realities, benefits and pitfalls of getting DW to work for real. There is therefore a very important theme running throughout the book of the importance of practical implementation and the challenges that will be encountered in executing a DW strategy. The book also covers Business Intelligence (BI) which is the whole reason for DWs and similarly it provides an excellent overview of the various aspects of this crucial topic. I feel this book has now given me confidence to know and understand how DW works and what it is all about despite having little in the way of IT background. There were some elements where database techniques are discussed that left me with a few questions. However, these were easily answered by consulting other books or going online. Overall - an excellent book with an easy, informal, well-written style and very comprehensive and authoritative content.

2. Cheesy

   Rated 3 out of 5 stars, July 12th, 2007

   I've never bought a 'Guide for Dummies' before and all the prejudices I had about them are turning out to be true.
   
   This book's style is totally inappropriate for its audience.
   
   Let me explain. If I bought a Dummies Guide to, say, Shakespeare or Windows Vista then I could forgive the author if it was written in a jokey or chatty style. These are subjects that attract dilettantes, readers who may want a more relaxed introduction to their chosen topic. But no one is going to want to read a book about Data Warehousing unless they are already an IT professional. Furthermore, when said professional (me in this case) picks up this book he/she isn't looking to be entertained - this isn't pleasure reading - they're looking to learn the facts as quickly and painlessly as possible. Long introductions and cringe making jokes just get in the way of this.
   
   I'll give a 'for instance'. The author states that a data warehouse doesn't need to be large (terabytes of data and scores of tables, etc). Simple enough. He then decides to emphasise this point by paraphrasing the conversation from the film Crocodile Dundee where the hero whips out his knife and says to the mugger 'That's not a knife, this is a knife' (substite 'data warehouse' for 'knife' in the previous sentence). Why? Does the author think I'll be rolling around on the floor laughing, saying 'Gee, I only wish learning could be this much fun all the time'? Seriously, this dross takes up half a page.
   
   The back cover proclaims that this is a plain English guide to Data warehousing. The publishers obviously don't understand the differnce between 'cheesy English' and 'plain English'. I wouldn't say this book is factually incorrect in anyway, it's just very inaccessible. It should be no bigger than an O'Reilly pocket guide, instead it is 300 pages of chat and padding.
   

3. From a beginner to a different people!!

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, April 12rd, 1999

   This book is really excellent. Before reading it, everything in Datawarehousing seemed to be dark, but now, everyone listen to me when I talk to other people about data warehouse. Is the first book I am motivated to read from the beginning through the end.