Ingon Vs Kimball Case Study

Inmon vs. Kimball: Which approach is suitable for your data warehouse?

Sansu George

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When it comes to designing a data warehouse for your business, the two most commonly discussed methods are the approaches introduced by Bill Inmon and Ralph Kimball. Debates on which one is better and more effective have been on for years. But a clear cut answer has never been arrived upon, as both philosophies have their own advantages and differentiating factors, and enterprises continue to use either of these.

To begin with, let us have a quick look at both the approaches. In a nutshell

Bill Inmon’s enterprise data warehouse approach (the top-down design): A normalized

Inmon’s approach is suitable for stable businesses which can afford the time taken for design and the cost involved. Also, with every changing business condition, they do not change the design; instead they accommodate these into the existing model. However, if local optimization is good enough and the focus is on quick win, it is advisable to go for Kimball’s approach. Keeping this in mind let Inmon vs. Kimball fight happen over a few sectors /

Only data marts are required. Hence, Kimball’s approach is suitable.

• CRM in banks: The focus is on parameters such as products sold, up-sell and cross-sell at a customer-level. It is not necessary to get an overall picture of the business. For example, there is no need to link a customer’s details to the treasury department dealing with forex transactions and regulations. Since the scope is limited, you can go for Kimball’s method. However, if the entire processes and divisions in the bank are to be linked, the obvious choice is Inmon’s design vs. Kimball’s.

• Manufacturing: Multiple functions are involved here, irrespective of the budget involved. Thus, where there is a systemic dependency as in this case, an enterprise model is required. Hence Inmon’s method is ideal.

While designing a data warehouse, first you have to look at your business objectives – short term and long term. See where the functional links are and what stands alone. Analyze data sources for quantity and quality. Finally, evaluate your resource level, time frame and wallet. This helps you to arrive at which method to adopt Inmon’s or Kimball’s or a combination of