What Is Data Warehousing And Data Mining?

Data warehousing and data mining are aspects of information systems. Most companies are now aware of the benefits of creating a data warehouse that serves as the central repository of all the data collected from disparate sources including those pertaining to the company's finance, manufacturing, sales and the like. The data warehouse is usually built from data collected through the different departments of the enterprise and can be accessed through various online analytical processing tools to support decision making. Data warehousing can be described as the process of extracting, transferring and integrating data spread across multiple external databases and even operating systems with a view to facilitate analysis and decision making.
Complementary to the functions of data warehousing, many companies resort to data mining as a strategic tools for reaching new levels of business intelligence. Using algorithms to analyze data in a meaningful way data mining more effectively leverages the data warehouse by identifying hidden relations and pattern in the data stored in it. For instance, data mining makes it possible to trace retail sales patterns by ZIP code and the time day of the purchases so that optimal stocking of items become possible such mined data pertaining to the vital areas of organization can be easily accessed and use for different purposes. For example, staffing for different times of the day can be planned as can the number of check-put counters that need to be kept open in retail stores, to ensure efficiency as well as effectiveness.