Data mining exercise 2: analytics data environment

Instructions

Prepare a depiction of an analytics data environment typical to an online retailer. Include a data warehouse repository that depicts various sources of available data. Also include at least one data mart that is sourced at least in part from the data warehouse.

1. Source Data Systems: Identify at least two source data systems that are typical to an online retailer and that might be useful to a data mining initiative to better understand the retailer’s customers.
2. Data Warehouse: Describe the contents of a data warehouse typical to an online retailer, emphasizing sources (transactional system, supply chain management system, etc.) and data subject areas (sales, customer, supply, etc.).
3. Data Mart: Identify the benefits and limitations of a data mart that is sourced from the warehouse to support customer analytics for a typical online retailer.
4. External Data: Identify a source of external data a typical online retailer might wish to include in a customer analytics data mart. What benefit is gained by the addition of this external data? What challenges are presented by the integration of this external data source?