Data warehousing is the process of constructing and using a data warehouse. A data warehouse is constructed by integrating data from multiple heterogeneous sources that support analytical reporting, structured and/or ad hoc queries, and decision making. Data warehousing involves data cleaning, data integration, and data consolidations.
There are decision support technologies that help utilize the data available in a data warehouse. These technologies help executives to use the warehouse quickly and effectively. They can gather data, analyze it, and take decisions based on the information present in the warehouse. The information gathered in a warehouse can be used in any of the following domains:
Tuning Production Strategies - The product strategies can be well tuned by repositioning the products and managing the product portfolios by comparing the sales quarterly or yearly.
Customer Analysis - Customer analysis is done by analyzing the customer's buying preferences, buying time, budget cycles, etc.
Operations Analysis - Data warehousing also helps in customer relationship management, and making environmental corrections. The information also allows us to analyze business operations.