While 100% success can never be guaranteed, proper planning and the right steps in implementation of the DW will enhance the probability of DW success.
Make the building of the DW a joint project with the user. Involving users through this process will increase their buy-in, and misunderstandings and miscommunications will be reduced.
Make it clear that maintaining data quality will be an ongoing joint user/builder responsibility. Data problems are simply a fact of life with a DW.
Train the users in phases. Too many organizations give their users basic, intermediate and advance training all upfront, before the users are familiar enough with the tool to really know what they need to learn or what problems they will encounter. Have additional training periodically, including hands-on, so they can gradually and incrementally build up their knowledge.
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Train the users on the data itself as much on the tools to access it. Users are not accustomed to seeing the data in the DW format, and will need to develop a comfort level with this new format.
Provide some form of automated directory to the information stored in the warehouse. This may involve building a separate database with directory information, but it does not usually need to be a very complex one. This will make it easier and encourage use.
Populating the DW can often take some time, so request the data as soon as you know what is needed. There are often delays, whether due to bureaucracy or ignorance, that will slow things down, so get started early with this.
Users will only use a DW if they have faith in it, so set aside the time for thorough testing to ensure a relatively bug-free rollout. Work with the users to develop checks on the data during development and throughout to ensure its integrity, and test the logic and correctness of input sources. Include complex queries in the test plan, and have users compare results back to original data sources. Also, alert the network personnel to possible spikes in network activity that could result during the rollout.
Improve development of the DW by having a good familiarity with the desktop databases and spreadsheets. Because the users are most familiar with the spreadsheet as their analytical tool, build in the capabilities to get the most out of the spreadsheets.
Have a user support system in place from the beginning so that help can be immediate when they are trying to use and learn the DW. They will be encouraged to use the system if they can get their questions answered quickly. Have resources available even during off hours, when some users will be mostly likely to experiment with the new technology. Also, provide audit trails for the work that they do, so that they can examine their results in detail.
Since use of the DW may often be optional for the users, market and sell the system to them, play up and demonstrate the benefits, and be able to show them tangible results quickly. This will ensure a stronger user commitment.
The primary source for the above was the “Data Warehousing Information Center“.
