The Microsoft® Data Warehouse Toolkit: With SQL Server™ 2005 and the Microsoft® Business Intelligence Toolset

Chapter 1. Defining Business Requirements

Building the foundation

Business requirements are the bedrock of the DW/BI system. Business requirements guide the development team in making the biggest strategic choices, such as prioritizing subject areas for implementation, and in making the smallest tactical design decisions, such as how to present key performance indicators on the users' screens. In this chapter, we cover the process of gathering business requirements and converting them into a DW/BI system strategy. We describe the process of interviewing business and IT representatives, categorizing their requirements into analytic themes, converting those themes into incremental projects, and working with senior management to prioritize those projects. We also include a partial set of example requirements for the Adventure Works Cycles business.

As Figure 1.1 illustrates, the Business Requirements Definition is the foundation of the Lifecycle methodology. Business requirements and their associated business value give you the guidance you need to make decisions in all three downstream tracks. As you'll see, they influence the project scope and plan as well.

Figure 1.1. The Business Requirements Definition step of the Business Dimensional Lifecycle

This chapter is primarily about resisting temptation. Gathering business requirements is often outside a technical person's comfort ...