The University of Nebraska Data WarehouseUniversity of Nebraska Computing Services Network (UNCSN)

Walter Weir, University of Nebraska CIORandy Goldenstein, UNCSN Data AdministratorUNCSN Information Access Team

Data Warehouse OverviewWarehouse TerminologyWarehouse Benefits & ChallengesCurrent State of the University Data WarehouseFuture PlansCampus Partnerships Needed for SuccessDiscussion/Questions

Data Warehouse Terminology

Data Warehouse A copy of transaction data specifically structured for

querying and reportingData Mart

A logical subset of the complete data warehouseOLAP (On-Line Analytic Processing)

The activity of querying and presenting text and number data, usually with underlying multidimensional ‘cubes’ of data

Dimensional Modeling A specific discipline for modeling data that is an

alternative to entity-relationship (E/R) modeling; usually employed in data warehouses and OLAP systems.

Data Warehouse GoalsSpeed up reportingReduce reporting load on transactional systemsMake institutional data more user-friendly and accessibleIntegrate data from different source systemsEnable ‘point-in-time’ analysis and trending over timeTo help identify and resolve data integrity issues, either in the warehouse itself or in the source systems that collect the data

Warehouse ChallengesHigh-level supportIdentification of reporting needs by subject area and organizational roleBridging the gap between reporting needs and technical specificationsPartnerships with central and campus administrative areasCustomer support and training

Current Warehouse Environment

Physical ArchitectureSubject Areas of DataTime DimensionsCustomer DemographicsReport Delivery Mechanisms

Physical ArchitectureProduction, Fail-over, and Test ServersAll Servers are 4-way 700mHz processors with 2 GB RAMShared SAN contains approximately 2 Terabytes of storageCurrent Production Database size is approximately 450 GB

Subject Areas and Sources of Data

Financial Transactions – Legacy & SAPHuman Resource – Legacy & SAPPayroll – Legacy & SAPBudget Data – University PSL (Personnel Services Ledger) systemStudent Data Institutional Research Feeds from UNK, UNL Current Data Feeds from UNO

Time DimensionsFinancial Transactions – Fiscal Year 1993/94 to PresentHuman Resource – March 1995 to PresentPayroll – Fiscal Year 1995/96 to PresentBudget – Fiscal Year 1989/90 to PresentStudent Data UNK IR – Academic Year 1997/98 to Present UNL IR – Academic Year 1996/97 to Present UNO Current – Academic Year 1986/87 to

Present

Customer Demographics1,646 Users As Of 3/31/2003By Campus:

UNL – 878, IANR – 256 UNMC – 104 UNO – 120 UNK – 182 UNCA – 106

By Organizational-Level Access: Campus – 252 VC/VP – 70 College – 316 Department & Below – 1008

Customer DemographicsBy Subject-Area Access: Financial/Budget/Payroll - 1578 Human Resource – 1564 Student – 1272By Report Delivery: Web Only - 714 Ad-hoc Access - 932

Report Delivery Mechanisms

Web SitesAd-hoc Reporting AccessScheduled and On-Demand Report Generation

Data Warehouse Web Sites

Customer Support Web SiteMain Reporting Web SiteGeneral Operating Budget Web SitesWeb Sites Using Warehouse Extracts University Tuition Remission Web Site UNL Job Listing Web Site UNK Phone Directory Web Site

Customer Support Web Site

Address: http://nulookhelp.nebraska.eduContents: News Online Help & FAQ Downloads Data Dictionary Training Registration

Main Warehouse Web SiteAddress: http://mynulook.nebraska.edu

Contents: Dynamic pre-defined reports Main developed reporting sections

Personal Reports (‘my stuff’ section) Employment information Course and student reports Sponsored activity reports

University → LedgersUniversity → EmployeeUniversity → Student Info

General Operating Budget Web Sites

Address: http://www.nebraska.edu/about/budget_operating.shtml

Contents: Public Access to Official Published

General Operating Budget Last 4 Fiscal Years listed on site Also have a private site during budget

development cycle

Web Sites Using Warehouse Data

University Tuition Remission Web Sitehttp://trp.unl.eduUNL Academic Affairs Job Listing Web Sitehttp://svcaa.nebraska.eduUNK Phone Directory Web Sitehttp://www.unk.edu/directory

Ad-hoc Data Warehouse Access

End-user views are available for all subject areasAccess requires more technical knowledgeAd-hoc access given out by security administrators on the campusesUNCSN actively supports MS Excel and MS Access, but customers can use any reporting tool capable of connecting to an OLE DB or ODBC data source

Scheduled and On-Demand Report Generation

General Operating Budget Reports (on-demand during budget development)Printed GOB ‘Budget Books’Annual Salary Increase Notification LettersPhone Directory Information (UNO and UNK)Monthly Benefit Enrollment Reports Mandatory Retirement Enrollees Voluntary Retirement Enrollees

Current ProjectsAcademic Management Information System (AMIS) for UNL Academic AffairsFinancial Reporting EnhancementsPayroll Reporting EnhancementsData Dictionary DevelopmentSubject-area Specific Training Curriculum

Future Enhancements and Directions

U-Wide Institutional Research ReportingDimensional ModelingOLAP ToolsCustomized/Specialized Reporting SystemsCampus Data Marts

U-Wide Institutional Research Reporting

Oversight by Central AdministrationAutomatic Generation of IPEDS ReportsTransmission of NEEDS data to NCCPECensus-date Student Data needed for all campuses Still need UNO and UNMC dataWould free up campus IR staff for more in-depth analysis and reporting

Dimensional ModelingDimensional Modeling is a departure from traditional ‘Entity-Relationship’ database designHelps facilitate top-down analysis and data miningNeeded by many OLAP reporting toolsRequires help to define High-level Reporting Needs Functional Definitions and Validation

OLAP Analysis & ToolsUsually requires dimensional models to be defined and in placeMany vendor tools available for this purposeSAP Business Warehouse module uses dimensional models and OLAP tools

Specialized Reporting Systems

A data warehouse is NOT a Decision Support System (DSS)A data warehouse CAN be utilized as the data repository to support DSS solutionsChallenge here is high-level support and clearly defined goalsExamples UNL’s Academic Management Information

System (AMIS) Central Institutional Research Reporting

System

Campus Data MartsLogical next step in warehouse architectureWill help balance workload on hardware and softwareProvides opportunity for more campus-specific development and reportingWill require close partnerships for planning, training, implementation, and on-going support

Campus Partnerships Necessary for Success

Central and Campus Administrative Areas Institutional Research Accounting Budget Human Resources/Payroll Student Registration & Records Sponsored Programs/Grants Facilities Management

Administrative Systems GroupCampus Computing Areas

Recommended ResourcesBooksRalph Kimball, The Data Warehouse ToolkitRalph Kimball, The Data Warehouse Lifecycle

ToolkitInmon, W.H., Building the Data Warehouse

Web Sites Data Warehousing Information Center,

http://www.dwinfocenter.org The Data Warehousing Community Site,

http://www.datawarehouse.com

Discussion/QuestionsContacts:UNCSN Helpdesk – (402) 472-7373UNCSN Helpdesk Email – helpdesk@nebraska.eduWarehouse Team – nulook@nebraska.edu