Learn about data warehouses with online courses
What is a data warehouse?
As a core component of business intelligence, a data warehouse is a system that houses data from a range of sources. Across industries and around the world, tech professionals can use this data to inform strategic business decisions that propel their companies forward.
A data warehouse often includes a relational database management system and analytical capabilities. It will also include a data integration solution, such as “extract, load, transform” (ELT). ELT is a data pre-processing stage which moves raw data to its destination: the data warehouse.Footnote 1
As big data becomes more available for business intelligence, organizations must house their data in a way that's logical and searchable, which makes smart data warehousing more important than ever. Organizations that understand how to manage data effectively can aggregate information from the cloud, APIs, customer relationship management software, transactional systems, and more. Ultimately, business leaders use this data to generate reports, forecast trends, feed into business intelligence tools, or train machine learning algorithms.
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Data warehouse course curriculum
If careers in data intrigue you, edX offers courses that introduce you to basic data warehouse concepts, as well as advanced data warehouse best practices.
You can learn essentials of database management, such as:
How to leverage different amounts of data
Which tools build systems for easier data visualization and analysis
How to query relational databases using Structured Query Language (SQL)
How to use data governance to tell stories and answer important business questions
Each data warehouse tutorial or course offers specific use cases and trains learners to operate relevant data management systems. You can also learn enterprise database management, which covers how data warehouses aid corporate decision making and business intelligence.
Data warehouse jobs
Data warehousing jobs and job titles vary from company to company. Positions in this field can include:
Data warehouse administrator: Take charge of the day-to-day activities involved in running a data warehouse. Archive information, track changes, migrate data, and monitor system performance.
Data warehouse architect: Design data warehouse solutions to support an organization’s needs. Determine which technologies and tools are best suited to solve modern business challenges.
Data warehouse analyst: Find ways to improve data storage, generate high-quality reports, or ensure data security. Evaluate and test data warehouse systems to validate their integrity.
Data warehouse developer/engineer: Design and implement data warehouses using programming languages. Extract, transform, and load data into databases, test and debug code, and provide troubleshooting support.
Data warehouse manager: Manage the teams responsible for the design, implementation, and maintenance of data warehouse systems and projects. Ensure all data-related goals, milestones, and projects are completed smoothly and on time.
Data warehouse tester: Develop and evaluate testing scenarios to gauge the reliability, accuracy, and integrity of the information stored in a data warehouse. Check the operational environment, backup capabilities, feature functionality, and security on a routine basis to ensure peak performance.
Learning how to manage a data warehouse can also be useful for other tech positions, such as data scientist, data miner, data analyst, data engineer, or business intelligence analyst. To learn more about the skills that these jobs require, you may wish to pursue a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, or an online boot camp.
How to become a data warehousing professional online
Learning enterprise data management can lead to exciting career opportunities. Businesses need data to gain critical insights and stay competitive. They must be able to catalog their data and house it in a way that facilitates easy searching, logical queries, and better data analysis. As data sources expand and machine learning improves, you can be at the forefront of leveraging all that data has to offer.
Prepare for that future with courses from edX and learn how to build a data warehouse that provides real business value. There is no set educational path to get into the field, as every company’s hiring requirements are different. Training to work in this field can include a data analytics boot camp, computer programming courses, and a bachelor’s or master’s degree in data science, computer science, information systems, computer engineering, or business analytics.