Warehouse Data with Microsoft Visual FoxPro

Your data is growing. Query performance is declining. Emerging technologies require interoperability from multiple disparate sources. Managers and other decision-makers are looking for information, not raw data. Sound familiar? How can you satisfy storage, performance, interoperability, and information requirements using Visual FoxPro? Enter Business Intelligence and the data warehouse. Business Intelligence is a broad term used to describe an organization's need to turn raw data into valuable information. One way to satisfy this need is to develop a data warehouse. A data warehouse stores raw data compiled from various sources and is built for query performance, efficiency, and ease of use. Many people assume that to develop such a warehouse requires the purchase of a large, expensive, and feature-rich Database Management System. However, an analysis of the requirements for creating a data warehouse reveal that VFP is quite capable of handling the task! First, I'll review the general requirements for a data warehouse and then show you how VFP can be used to create a data warehouse that can become part of a wider Business Intelligence solution.