Netiquette IQ Technical Term of The Day - Data Mart

data mart

A data mart is a repository of data that is designed to serve a particular community of knowledge workers.  The difference between a data warehouse and a data mart can be confusing because the two terms are sometimes used incorrectly as synonyms. A data warehouse is a central repository for all an organization's data. The goal of a data mart, however, is to meet the particular demands of a specific group of users within the organization, such as human resources or finance. For this reason, a data mart can be thought of as a subset of an organization's data warehouse.  Because data marts are optimized to look at data in a unique way, the design process tends to start from an analysis of user needs. A data warehouse's design process, on the other hand, tends to start from an analysis of what data already exists and how it can be collected in such a way that it can be used later on. In general, a data warehouse tends to be a strategic but somewhat unfinished concept; a data mart tends to be tactical and aimed at meeting an immediate need. Today, data virtualization software can be used to create virtual data marts, pulling data from disparate sources and combining it with other data as necessary to meet the needs of specific business users. A virtual data mart provides knowledge workers with access to the data they need while giving the organization's data management team a level of control over the organization's data throughout its lifecycle. ============================================== In addition to this blog, I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, "Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:  www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki  If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio  and an online newsletter via paper.li.I have established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and  Yahoo.  I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and I have been contributing to the blogs Everything Email and emailmonday . My work has appeared in numerous publications and I have presented to groups such as The Breakfast Club of NJ Rider University and  PSG of Mercer County New Jersey. ==========================================