Of Webs and Warehouses

Most telephone companies have been aware of the Internet for a long time but only now are beginning to take advantage of it by offering Internet access to their customers, creating their own sites on the World Wide Web and creating partnerships and ventures to explore the potential of the on-line world.

Similarly, data warehousing, despite the hip moniker, has really been around for years. Mass file storage companies such as IBM, NCR, Teradata (acquired by NCR a few years ago) and EMC were in business long before the hype went into high gear last year. With the development of new search engines and sorting systems, the concept of data warehousing is so universally understood as to be used in TV commercials.

Yet telcos are just beginning to unlock the profoundly positive effects data warehousing can have on their operations and their relationships with customers. The prospect of heightened competition has driven them to explore how they can use information that has long been stored on multiple databases (including service trends, customer profiles and market facts) to become better customer care providers. Web warehousing, or how companies can integrate their data warehouses with decision support system capabilities and their home sites on the World Wide Web, allows companies to spur operational efficiency and build stronger relationships with their customers, suppliers and partners.

"The Web will create a superconducting effect in the data warehousing market," says Manish Acharya, director of marketing at Microstrategy Inc., a developer of software-based navigational tools in Vienna, Va. The company has developed a relational on-line analytical processing tool (OLAP) called DSS Web. The solution can allow end users to conduct conventional OLAP analysis over the Web.

With the help of such tools, and given the nature of the telecommunications business and the upheaval that competitive reform will bring to it, perhaps telcos are among businesses with the most to gain from

Web warehousing. Building a Web Warehouse Web warehousing does not amount to much more than allowing access to warehoused data through the World Wide Web, opening access to this information to thousands of users at a time. However, this is exactly why its potential is so huge.

The server-based DSS Web OLAP interface works with Internet browsers to provide ad hoc, autoprompting and drill-down capabilities for accessing information, says Acharya. A decision support language based on hypertext modeling language (HTML) employs application objects that allow users to make direct inquiries about stored information.

DSS Web can access all kinds of widely used databases such as Oracle, Informix, Sybase, NCR, Non-Stop SQL, DB2 and Red Brick (Figure 1). It also supports many operating systems and working environments, including Microsoft Excel. In addition, DSS Web works with many browsers. A demonstration can be seen at www.strategy.com.

DSS Web also can be enhanced or customized by users with HTML authoring tools and Java-compliant tools such as Netscape's LiveWire Pro.

A few companies have started testing or using DSS Web. Most, such as the Hannaford Bros. Co. grocery store chain on the East coast, are retail users, but Acharya says Microstrategy also is working on projects with AT&T, MCI and Sprint in the telecommunications industry.

"Think of the possibility of literally bolting your Web site to your data warehouse. That's what this concept really is, and not that many people have heard about it," says Paul O'Brien, vice president of marketing at NCR's Communications Industry Group.

NCR has seen enough potential in DSS Web that it has invested in a partnership with Microstrategy that is expected to drive telecom industry interest in Web warehousing. DSS Web has been ported to NCR's Teradata and WorldMark data warehousing systems.

But spurring Web traffic is almost incidental to the benefits Web warehousing can provide to those who invest in it. "A company establishing a DSS or data warehousing application these days faces an expensive and complicated endeavor," says Acharya.

Using the Web can cut the time, cost, equipment and maintenance involved in setting up a data warehouse. Access via the Web also means there is no danger of system blockage or overload. Users can get information when they need it.

Acharya provides specific examples of how telcos could make Web warehousing work for them. A supplier could analyze equipment records regarding purchases or usage to proactively determine a telco's needs in that area. Transferring such data by mail is costly, and even doing it over the phone can be time consuming and difficult to arrange.

In another case, a customer could access information about different service or price plans, comparing information and perhaps ultimately buying a service over the Web. What you have then is the consumerizing of data warehousing, says Acharya.

Customers would not have to dial into customer service numbers and remain on hold for any amount of time. They also could interactively ask specific questions about services and quickly see results.

For example, one question could be: Given my user profile, what would be the best service plan for me? DSS Web could analyze the customer profile kept in one database and correlate it with service information in another.

Also, rather than physically seeking stored files or waiting to log onto a particular database, telco employees could use their own on-line access vehicle or a company intranet to research information on service buying trends or track fraud prevention. This could greatly increase an employee's productivity and could be especially helpful if an employee is remotely located.

Whatever the case, the concept of Web warehousing effectively alters how a telco does business and produces gains across the board.

Opening the Warehouse The concept of Web warehousing may have more to do with unlocking the ultimate potential of two distinct paradigms. Data warehouses and related information analysis are not worth much if the access to them is not quick and easy. Similarly, the worldwide data access available via the Web may not be worth having unless it is fully exploited and used to streamline operations or boost productivity.

Opening the data warehouse to mass access allows more people to take advantage of the information available on such systems, and it exploits the World Wide Web's intended purpose.

Telcos sometimes appear is if they really want to invest in the Internet but are somewhat mystified by the opportunity. Also, despite their familiarity with data warehousing. a market-oriented data warehousing strategy sometimes seems to elude them.

Web warehousing can bring some clarity to their Internet and data warehousing philosophies and coax them on their way to fulfilling the promise of such technologies.