Make Your Warehouse Data Work for You

We live a modern business era where data is king. Reports and dashboards are the hot topic of board room meetings, and measurable results are at the top of everyone’s priority list. But data, especially warehouse data, in and of itself with no means of interpretation is meaningless. Numbers and letters in rows upon rows and columns upon columns of spreadsheets end up drowning management teams instead of spurring them on to greater success, or beautiful dashboards leave a room silent because, though visually appealing, their numbers are ill defined and don’t have practical application.

So why has data become the cool kid on the block?

Data has taken on its oh so popular name because, when paired with the correct business objectives and focus, it takes shape into meaningful answers. Bare bones data does not provide answers, only confusion and perhaps a headache. But data is like clay. It can be massaged and molded in a nearly infinite number of ways to create anything a management team needs it to be. It’s the new-age version of the genie in a bottle. If you need an answer, ask the data. But first, you have to know exactly what your question is, determine what data can get you to your answer, and get the rest of the clutter out of the way.