Rating: 
Summary: Refreshingly honest, thorough and well written
Review: Ms. Dyche has managed to do the impossible by writing a book that will appeal equally to business and technical folks. More importantly, she uncovers the real business value of data warehousing, as well as exposing the technical issues surrounding their design, implementation and ongoing management. And she does it through engaging writing that makes it impossible to put the book down. I read (devoured) this book in a single [long] evening, dwelling on every fact and marvelling at the width and breadth of the author's knowledge and experience.She begins by explaining in simple, but not condescending terms, what a data warehouse is, its value to business, and key objectives of data warehousing. While I admired her ability to describe complex facts in clear terms, I especially enjoyed the list of trite data warehousing aphorisms. Mr. Dyche's style is to always provide balance. She comes across as passionate about every topic, but is equally quick to show the darker side of things. This she does throughout the book, and it is one reason why this technical book is such a page-turner. The next chapter is a thorough discussion of decision support that covers the mechanics, and provides illustrative examples that transform concepts and theory into the practical and achievable. Chapter 3 is devoted to the topics of data warehouses and database marketing. This is where Ms. Dyche skillfully ties together the business and technical aspects. She also provides the most complete explanation of what exactly customer relationship management it (the term is so bandied about these days that most people have no idea what it really means). This chapter provides excellent material for marketing and MBA types, and will hopefully provide IS/IT folks with ideas on how data warehousing initiatives support business processes. The case studies in this chapter reinforces key points of facts and discussion, and also showed the bridge that needs to be built between IS/IT and business process owners. I came away with this chapter feeling as though I had a mandate to build such a bridge. The next chapter, 4, is a panoramic view of how various industries use data warehousing to their advantage. Ms. Dyche recommends that you read them all because you'll learn much by looking beyond the borders of your own industry segment, and I completely agree with her. I couldn't resist jumping to the telecom industry first, though, and was astonished at not only how well Ms. Dyche understood and articulated the issues, but in how well they were presented in 9 pages. She gave the same thorough and insightful treatment to retail, financial, transportation, government, health care, insurance and entertainment (although the page count varied from one industry to another). Chapter 5 delves deeper into the technology and can be easily understood by IS/IT folks who may not be data warehouse experts, as well as business process owners who don't want to be experts, but may be interested in how the moving parts fit together. Implementation and finding the right vendors are covered in the next two chapters. I had to smile when I read the accurate portrayal of "Good vs. Evil: A tale of Two Project Plans." This is required reading for every project manager who finds her- or himself managing a data warehouse project. Here Ms. Dyche takes a poorly developed project plan that is unfortunately representative of most and shows the flaws. She then shows what a good project plan looks like. Also pay close attention to what she has to say about qualifying and selecting vendors in chapter 7. Although she herself is a consultant who works for a small firm she is not the least bit reticent about providing a balanced view of the good and bad of consultants and vendors, as well as the relative strengths and weaknesses of large firms vs. small ones. Both honesty and humor come through here. Because I have a "thing" for cost analysis and ROI I especially liked chapter 8 that covers the data warehouse business value proposition. Like every other chapter this was one the mark and insightful. However, the real insights (not to mention a touch of wit) come in chapter 9 - the perils and pitfalls. First she discards the tired list of pitfalls that have been circulating and comes up with a fresh set of "New Top 10" pitfalls, which hit home and impart more wisdom that you can imagine. She then segues into an expose of ten dirty little secrets, which are refreshing in their frankness and insight. Ms. Dyche really steps up to the plate here. Apparently she was on a roll when writing this chapter because she caps it off with a piece on the politics of data warehousing and eight signs of data warehouse sabotage. She ends with a chapter titled, "What to Do Now" that offers yet more advice and insight about how to proceed if you need a data warehouse or if you already have one. This book is packed with facts wrapped in wit and sparkling prose. It contains advice and wisdom that would take years to accrue, and is usually jealously guarded by consultants and vendors. Yet the author, a consultant, freely dispenses this advice and wisdom, which makes this book so valuable. It earns far more than the 5 stars available and is strongly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: VERY MISLEADING TITLE - This is NOT an INTERNET Book
Review: The title for this book is VERY misleading. In my opinion it verges on misrepresentation. The prefix "e-" has a very specific meaning in the industry. The publisher and the author MUST know this. To title the book "e-Data" more than implies that the book discusses the internet. It is only after purchasing the book that I discovered that it is simply a general data warehousing book with NO appreciable discussion of the implications the internet has on business intelligence. I have been working in the data warehousing/business intelligence area for close to ten years now. I have never heard "e-" applied to anything but internet realted material. I have no problem with some one coining a new term in the industry, but it seems to me that this title is a diliberate attempt to mislead people. I would hope that amazon.com does something to make clear that this book is improperly titled.
Rating:
Summary: ...Turning Data Into Information With Data Warehousing
Review: There's no question that this is a data warehousing book, but the author provides a great range of examples--both from e-businesses and us regular guys--to define what "e-data" really is...integrated "enterprise" data. The book's subtitle "Turning Data Into Information With Data Warehousing" describes it best. I would recommend this book to any business executive, IT manager, or corporate executive interested in learning more about how data warehousing can help various business initiatives.
Rating:
Summary: Lost in your data warehouse?
Review: This book bridges the management and practitioner communities, presenting real-world scenarios of how data warehousing is helping companies today. As a practitioner, I read about strategic business justifications for data warehousing, particularly CRM and database marketing programs. The New Pitfalls section alone should be required reading for executive sponsors. The author's sense of humor was an unexpected but welcome bonus!
Rating:
Summary: It's the Case Studies that Clench It...
Review: Yes, the author has a funny streak and the book is well-written, but the book's real value is in its case studies. I'm sick and tired of books whose "case studies" cite widely-known or already-published company stories. The author has actually interviewed key data warehouse users, and it's interesting to read about what Sears, Charles Schwab, BofA, and Allsport.com are doing with their data warehouses.
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