Understanding what a data warehouse really solves

At its core, a data warehouse is a data repository of disparate data sources, mostly structured to help answer BI analysis questions using reports and dashboards. It is typically used by heads of departments and businesses to get a bird's-eye view of how the organization is doing holistically using SQL interfaces. It analyzes operational data to predict growth and identify bottlenecks and other business stragglers to help the business evaluate its performance using KPI metrics in the face of its competitors and plan more strategically. The older on-premises offerings are moving into the cloud to take advantage of the elasticity of cloud computing.

This can be simplified into two main parts:

• Base underlying storage:
  • Cloud storage is increasingly popular on account of it being affordable, scalable, and reliable.
• The analytic layer built on top of storage:
  • The analytic layer houses several pieces beyond just data, such...