Data warehousing is the process of collecting data which is then organized in such a way that it can easily analyzed, extracted, reported on, and otherwise be used for the purposes of further understanding the data. This ability to understand any data can give organizations the power to make very useful management decisions.
This process consists of extracting data from one or more source Databases. This information is then transformed or cleaned up to remove all anomalies and brought into a central repository, a Data Warehouse. We then take the information from the data warehouse into Data Mart(s) which are specialized versions of the data warehouse which have been designed to suit the needs of the customer/target audience. It is then possible to view this data using a reporting tool such as Business Objects, Cognos BI in the form of graphs or charts etc. The Stages of the Data warehouse are: