Building the Data Warehouse
Chapter One
Evolution of Decision
Support Systems
We are told that the hieroglyphics in Egypt are primarily the work of an accountant
declaring how much grain is owed the Pharaoh. Some of the streets in
Rome were laid out by civil engineers more than 2,000 years ago. Examination
of bones found in archeological excavations in Chile shows that medicine - in,
at least, a rudimentary form - was practiced as far back as 10,000 years ago.
Other professions have roots that can be traced to antiquity. From this perspective,
the profession and practice of information systems and processing are certainly
immature, because they have existed only since the early 1960s.
Information processing shows this immaturity in many ways, such as its
tendency to dwell on detail. There is the notion that if we get the details right,
the end result will somehow take care of itself, and we will achieve success. It's
like saying that if we know how to lay concrete, how to drill, and how to install
nuts and bolts, we don't have to worry about the shape or the use of the bridge
we are building. Such an attitude would drive a profes ... read full excerpt from Building the Data Warehouse, 4th Edition ebook
