Agile Development in Data Warehousing

Abstract

Traditional data warehouse projects follow a waterfall development model in which the project goes through distinct phases such as requirements gathering, design, development, testing, deployment, and stabilization. However, both business requirements and technology are complex in nature and the waterfall model can take six to nine months to fully implement a solution; by then business as well as technology has often changed considerably. The result is disappointed stakeholders and frustrated development teams. Agile development implements projects in an iterative fashion. Also known as the sixty percent solution, the agile approach seeks to deliver more than half of the user requirements in the initial release, with refinements coming in a series of subsequent releases which are scheduled at regular intervals. An agile data warehousing approach greatly increases the likelihood of successful implementation on time and within budget. This article discusses agile development methodologies in data warehousing and business intelligence, implications of the agile methodology, managing changes in data warehouses given frequent change in business intelligence (BI) requirements, and demonstrates the impact of agility on the business.

Comparing Requirements Analysis Techniques in Business Intelligence and Transactional Contexts

“…In the case of transactional systems, the steps are generally carried out sequentially, although some iterative methods have emerged in recent years (Bormane et al, 2016). While transactional systems occasionally follow this route for requirements analysis, this is almost always the path taken in business intelligence development projects (Jukic & Velasco, 2010;Moss & Atre, 2003;Rahman et al, 2011).…”

A Holistic Approach to Innovation and Fostering Intrapreneurship

“…Further,itisarguedthatfactorssuchascreativity,proactivity,andneedforachievementdrives intrapreneurialpersonalityalongsideeducationindifferentculturalsettingsaroundtheglobe (Amo & Kolvereid, 2005). Also, based upon the observations of Judge, Fryxell, and Dooley (1997) studiesintheiridentificationforcreatinggoal-directedinnovationtheemphasisisplaceduponfour managerialpracticeswhichinclude;balancedautonomy,personalizedrecognitionsystems,integrated sociotechnicalsystemsandcontinuityofslackthatwouldsupportinnovativeness.Thismeansthatfor organizationswhichaimstopromoteinclusiveinnovations,itisnotsufficienttousewhatevermeans areathandbuthavetodosowithoutthesupportoragainsttheirsuperiors'explicitordersinorderto beabletopushtheinnovation (Halme,Lindeman&Linna,2012).Thisapproach,inturn,indicates intrapreneurshipwithinthelargeorganization (Antoncic,2001;Carrier,1994) Thereisnosingle'one-size-fits-all'methodologytoemployacrosstheenterprisetoaccomplish injectingawareness-ofandengagement-intheeffectiverunningofthebusinessintoemployees,but manyproventechniquesdoexistwhichmaybecombinedtoreachthisgoal.Forexample,Agile software development (Rahman, 2018;Smith & Rahman, 2017;Rahman, Rutz & Akhter, 2011) approaches have proven effective in reducing time-to-market and delivering functional value to customers (Lu&Ramamurthy,2011;Mithas,Ramasubbu&Sambamurthy,2011).Inothertypes of development and manufacturing, approaches include Six Sigma and Lean. In IT (Information Technology)departments,theDevOps(contractionofDevelopmentandOperations)movementhas provedtobeverysuccessfulinreducingfailures,improvingtimetomarketandincreasingvalue (Orr,2012).Tobridgetacticalactionsandstrategicplanstherebydecreasingchurn,'skunkworks' projectsandpoliticalinfighting,TOC(TheoryofConstraints)providespracticaltoolswhichhave beenprovenoutfordecades (Neave,1990).…”

Can Agile, Lean and ITIL Coexist?

“…IT departments need to deliver business value faster. Traditional IT projects that follow waterfall method may take six months to a year to complete a software project (Rahman et al 2011). Taking longer time before realizing business value is considered a major limitation and inefficiency of the waterfall method.…”