The Data Webhouse Toolkit: Building the Web-Enabled Data Warehouse

In this groundbreaking work, authors and data warehousing visionaries Ralph Kimball and Richard Merz explore a next-generation Web site architecture that exploits the unique nature of the Web's interactivity to dramatically improve an organization's understanding of its relationship with users. The Data Webhouse Toolkit isn't a how-to manual; it is a high-level look at an ambitious new approach to system design.

The foundation of the concept of Webhouses is the "clickstream"--the plethora of information that can be gleaned if only a system could capture and accurately analyze all of the interaction (or lack thereof) that occurs between Web users and the sites they access. The authors take a careful look at all of the valuable information in the clickstream and point out the complications of compiling this precious information from various gathering sources such as the user's machine, ISP, and Web site.

The book argues strongly for the application of data warehousing and dimensional analysis to the clickstream to radically improve the strategic knowledge of customer motives and actions. While there are no real-life case studies yet to illustrate the concept, this book is bound to whet the appetites of creative entrepreneurs and system architects. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered: "Clickstream" concept, opportunities and barriers to information, Web site user tracking, clickstream-driven decisions, clickstream data marts, user interface design, data mining, international concerns, scalability, and project management.