The Data Warehouse ETL Toolkit: Practical Techniques for Extracting, Cleanin

Rating:
Summary: Another strong Data Warehousing book from Ralph Kimball
Review: In this book Ralph lays down a framework for constructing the DW ETL. This is useful not just in constructing quality ETL processes, but also because Ralph's works tend to 'set' standards in data warehousing. The format of this book is similar to the Lifecycle Toolkit. Ralph takes a very staged, logical approach to the material. Some sections are just great e.g. the chapters on Extraction and Development. A small amount of the material is repeated from the Lifecycle Toolkit and Dimensional Modeling books, but no more than is needed to make this book stand on its own.

Also like the other books, this one takes a vendor agnostic approach. While this may increase the shelf-life of the book, I would have appreciated some comparisons between the major vendors out there today.

Overall: I recommend this one as a buy, even if you have Ralph's other books.


Rating:
Summary: Indispensable How-To for all ETL Architects/Developers/Mgrs
Review: Ralph Kimball has rounded out his complete recipe for building fast, cost effective, robust and durable enterprise dimensional data warehouses with this immensely valuable addition to all IT & Data Warehouse professionals' bookshelves.

Without a doubt ETL has been the biggest stumbling block to deploying and maintaining well architected data warehouses that stand the test of time. Ralph draws on his years of experience and engagement with thousands of projects and crystallizes the `Best Practices' into an effective application architecture for all ETL systems regardless of what tools projects use for implementation.

In this thorough examination of the Extract, Transform and Load (ETL) process, Ralph identifies 38 critical functions that all ETL systems need to implement for success in the long haul. He thoughtfully lays out simple and practical approaches for how each of these functions can be implemented by projects with any size of budget.

For many, the paradoxical nature of ETL (seeming trivial yet replete with endlessly complex details that constantly change) has been the proverbial straw that has broken the bank for many DW projects. Continual customer pressure to grow, improve performance, and quickly deal with changing business conditions have left developers and architects grasping for more powerful and flexible approaches to ETL that meet project timelines, yet evolve and improve with age. Armed with this enlightening roadmap, many DW professionals will be far better equipped to design and build systems that meet the challenges today and tomorrow.