Data warehouse: the source of decision making in companies

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Today, companies have managed to identify the value of data for the development of their businesses, the improvement of products and services, the generation and/or increase of income, cost control and the optimization of benefits and profits.

The collection, storage, analysis and use of data has become a common how overseas chinese contribute to business in the usa practice among companies globally, which has unleashed a trend of generating large volumes of data from different numbers and types of data sources.

This situation has forced organizations, which see data as the source of their decision-making, to find various solutions and alternatives to be able to efficiently manage and analyze the large data sets they have within their structures.

This task, which is of vital importance for companies, cannot be carried out by traditional databases, as it is a task that requires systems that are scalable, reliable and that also have the security required for the analysis and reporting process that companies request.

Given this scenario, then, data storage or Data Warehouse appears as the comprehensive solution for organizations to collect and analyze all the data sets they have, with the aim of finding valuable information that allows them to make business decisions from a strategic perspective that contributes to the growth and development of their brands, products and/or services.

In the following lines we will delve deeper into the Data Warehouse or data storage . If you are interested in learning more about this topic, continue reading this content, where we will tell you what a data warehouse is , what are the types of data storage , its advantages and some other valuable data such as where to study data analysis or the Data Science career .

Data storage: definition
Data warehouse is a repository that collects, unifies and analyzes structured or semi-structured data collected by an organization's systems and departments. The data usually comes from various sources such as online transaction processing applications, also known as OLTP , CRMs, marketing automation, among others .

A Data Warehouse is an architecture that allows raw data to be stored and transformed, so that analysts, data scientists and executives can understand, analyze and produce reports that support decisions related to company regulations, objectives and risks.

Characteristics of a data warehouse:
Among the characteristics of the Data Warehouse or data storage, 4 main aspects stand out:

It is not volatile: the information in data warehouses is stable and does not change, that is, when new data is entered into a Data Warehouse , the previously stored data does not undergo any changes or is not deleted. The information is usually updated without the need to implement recovery processes, transactions or control mechanisms.
It is subject-oriented: data warehouses seek to make access to data easier, more understandable and more effective for end users, which is why data is organized into specific functional areas or topics. The Data Warehouse focuses on data analysis and modeling for decision making.
It is integrated: This characteristic refers to the objective of the Data Warehouse to create uniformity between different types and sets of data coming from diverse and disparate sources. That is, a data warehouse must have a solid structure, avoiding inconsistencies and guaranteeing consistency in its coding, naming conventions, attribute measurements, among others.
Variations over time: Changes and variations recorded over time are taken into account by data warehouses . This feature provides the possibility of collecting information that allows trend analysis by entering data into the Data Warehouse that will not be changed or updated later.
Advantages of implementing a data warehouse in a company:
Among the main benefits and advantages of data storage are:

They benefit decision-making in a company's areas, thanks to the collection, analysis and understanding of integrated and global data. They also allow for faster queries and access to information.
They contribute to the prediction and prevention of possible future scenarios, due to their ability to store historical data.
They allow the centralization of information, benefiting and enhancing communication between areas and departments of the same organization.
They increase the productivity of companies through the optimization of information technology and statistical analysis and report generation processes.
They manage to convert data into valuable information and knowledge, thanks to statistical analysis and modeling, a process that allows identifying relationships between data from the same warehouse.
Types of data storage
The media, devices or types of data storage are a key and fundamental aspect for achieving a secure and effective configuration of a Data Warehouse in an organization. The storage devices are responsible for guaranteeing everything from access and data integrity to the privacy of the information stored in the warehouse.

Below, learn about the types of data storage most commonly used in companies :

Disks: one of the most used media for storing data and information, there are currently two types of disks:
SSD (Solid State Drive) solid state drives : These store information on chips with interconnected flash memories. There are three types of solid state drives depending on their connection: SATA, M.2 and PCIe NVME.
HDD (Hard Drive Disk) hard drives : are characterized by being mechanical devices that record data through magnetism. They are made up of different rigid disks that rotate at high speed, while their read and write head performs the function of recording or reading the information.


Magnetic tapes: are used to record information and data on a plastic strip containing magnetic material. Variations in magnetic tape storage systems can be found depending on the chemical composition, size, type of container in the system, storage space, magnetic characteristics of the tape or the recording formats implemented.


Network storage: This type of storage allows large amounts of information to be transferred in a short time, thanks to the possibility of having transfer capacities of no less than 1000 Mbps or, if companies have a fiber optic network, transfers reach speeds of about 10 Gbps. Among the types of network storage, two stand out:
SAN - Storage Area Network: Used primarily in application servers, SAN works through multiple devices that act as a disk block, ultimately enabling data storage and access to information from any desired network point.
NAS - Network Attached Storage: focused on business or personal storage. This storage system, unlike SAN, uses a single device with network access to store and share data and information. Through NAS, user access and the actions or operations they are allowed to perform with the data can be managed.

Cloud storage: This is one of the most popular types of data storage today. It consists of hiring an external storage service where companies will extract, group and share data and information over the Internet. Access to information stored in the cloud is not tied to or limited by the operating system, location, time or device from which it is requested. Cloud storage is an alternative that eliminates the need to purchase and manage a data storage infrastructure, thus providing attributes related to scalability, durability and agility.
Types of cloud storage: Within this type of storage, three subtypes stand out, each offering their own advantages:

Object storage: This type of cloud storage is characterized by accumulating large stores of unstructured data, such as videos, photos, audios, and web content, among others. In this sense, objects are responsible for storing data in the format in which it arrives, allowing the metadata to be customized to facilitate access and analysis of the data.

Block storage: It is recommended for high-performance workloads, as it is a fast and low-latency system. It works by dividing different storage volumes into individual blocks, each block having a unique identifier that allows for fast storage and retrieval.
File storage: Popular among applications, this is the dominant technology in NAS systems. In file storage, data is stored, organized, and represented in a hierarchical format of folders and files. This structure allows data to be explored and analyzed from start to finish with ease and effectiveness.
Learn everything you need to know about data at Continental University of Florida
Data is now one of the most valuable assets of an organization. Its importance in decision-making and business development is indisputable, so if you are thinking about studying data analysis , let us tell you where to access the Data Science degree and why it is worth it.

At Continental University of Florida we have available the Bachelor's Degree in Data Science , a program in which you will become a professional with the ability to analyze data to make intelligent and informed decisions, with ethical values ​​and responsibility.

Studying data analysis at CUF will allow you to learn and address areas of study related to data mining, database management, big data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Gain high-value skills and competencies that will help you become a top professional:

Develop the ability to collect data.
Manage and prepare data, separating what is relevant and priority from what is secondary and unnecessary noise.
Analyze data to turn it into information that can be used for timely decision making.
Develop data models, respecting ethical principles and professional responsibility.
If you want to know much more about CUF 's Data Science program , we invite you to visit the program's information page here .