Enterprise Data Warehouses: Definition and Guide

An enterprise data warehouse (EDW) is a centralized repository for storing and analyzing business data from various departments and sources. It enables data-driven decisions, quicker time to insight, and consolidated and standardized data across an organization. Cloud-based EDWs offer benefits such as speed, scalability, lower total cost of ownership (TCO), cloud elasticity, integration capabilities, and self-service for business users. Key selection criteria when choosing a cloud data warehouse include compatibility with existing systems, cost comparison, scaling capacity, security features, user access control, fault tolerance, and peer recommendations.