{"id":2322,"date":"2019-04-11T11:17:48","date_gmt":"2019-04-11T11:17:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customlytics.com\/should-you-invest-in-a-data-warehouse\/"},"modified":"2021-11-26T14:28:14","modified_gmt":"2021-11-26T14:28:14","slug":"should-you-invest-in-a-data-warehouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customlytics.com\/de\/should-you-invest-in-a-data-warehouse\/","title":{"rendered":"Should you invest in a data warehouse?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u201cA data warehouse serves as a source of truth for your company.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author: Martin Schneider<\/strong>– Former Big Data Engineer at Customlytics<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Every big company has it and is proud of having it, and speaks about it:\u00a0a data warehouse.\u00a0<\/strong>Such as\u00a0Lyft Engineering Blog<\/a>,\u00a0Netflix<\/a>,\u00a0Spotify<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Airbnb<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

The big question is,\u00a0why do you need a data warehouse?<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s a time saver and makes you efficient and allows you to scale analytics. E-commerce companies such as Amazon, Netflix or Lyft are \u201ctrendsetter\u201d when it comes to using data as a competitive advantage. While doing so they put pressure on their competitors to keep up with them.<\/p>\n\n

Something similar is happening in the mobile app industry<\/strong>, independent from the vertical. The market has matured over the last years and data has become the competitive edge for many developers and marketers alike.<\/p>\n\n

1. The evolution of analytics<\/h2>\n\n

All of them have gone a long way from using (many) Excel files until they had their own data warehouse and BI-Tool (see\u00a0Ben Weber\u2019s Medium post series<\/a>\u00a0or his\u00a0book<\/a>).\u00a0The demand for data grows as the business does<\/strong>. It allows stakeholders across all functions to make informed decisions to further grow the business.<\/p>\n\n

What is an analytics evolution? Well, it\u2019s a scenario where a developer or a marketing manager takes care of ad-hoc data requests issuing a CSV-file for C- or middle-management.\u00a0When a top-level question displays problems or surprising outcomes it results in an even higher need for data<\/strong>. Management wants to understand the unexpected result and request more data.<\/p>\n\n

There will be a point when the time a developer has to spend or a marketer has to wait with data requests has become his full-time job.\u00a0This would be the time to consider building a data warehouse.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

2. Benefits of a dedicated Business Intelligence team<\/h2>\n\n

A typical argument against establishing a BI\/A-team is: \u201cWhy should I invest in a data warehouse and a BI\/A-team, which doesn\u2019t bring any value?\u201d Well, this is a valid question. Let me break it to you:\u00a0a\u00a0Business Intelligence\/Analytics-team is truly not generating any direct profits or return on investment. But if you consider it as an investment into work efficiency and time, it pays off.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Having dedicated analytic resources has the following benefits:<\/p>\n\n