The 1st Iteration is to include your Plan, Action, Observations, and Reflections.

Running head: ETL DEVELOPER AT GLOBAL POINT

ETL DEVELOPER AT GLOBAL POINT

Introduction and Methodology

Naveen Kumar Nagulapalli.

Ms. Wilmore, Cheryl k.

IST 8101

Wilmington University.

Introduction

ETL stands for Extract, Transform and Load which refers to the combination of three different functions into a single methodology. This ETL is used in the databases and especially in the data warehousing. This concept is used in effective management of the databases. This covers the whole process of migrating the data from the different databases to a data warehouse (Oracle, n.d.). There are various ETL tools in the current software world and these tools are responsible for extracting the data from various sources, clean the data, Customize, restructure and integrate the data. Then finally it loads the data into the data warehouse. It is very hard to build an ETL process in data warehousing (Shaker, Adeltawad & Hamed, 2011). This ETL process is in use from long time and it acts as the back bone for data warehousing. ETL doesn’t mean only these three processes and there are many other processes in the whole transformation. ETL is a time consuming, complex process and it needs lot of budget and resources during the implementation process (Shaker et al., 2011).

While building a data warehouse we have to closely look into three areas because we are going to get the data from various sources into a single source and make the whole data into a single format or a standardized format for the organization operations (Oracle, n.d.). The three main areas where we should focus are the source area, destination and the mapping area. Source area is the various databases from which we get the data and there are various entities and relations between these tables. The destination area is the data warehouse where there will be a star schema model. Mapping area is where different data models are linked to each other using a specific set of methods. But there is no standard model available for the mapping area and this is the reason we use ETL tools for creating a standard format for a specific business (Shaker et al., 2011).

The description of the steps in ETL process is:

Extract

In this step the data is extracted from different sources without affecting the source databases operations. The main motto is to extract as little data as possible from the source databases. The size of the extracted data is huge and it may range from kilobytes to gigabytes. The extraction can be several ways and this can be updates, incremental and full extract (Oracle, n.d.).

Transform

This is the important step in data warehouse process because here we transform the data according to the destination. There are various rules applied on the data and converts the whole data into same dimension. The whole transformation step includes cleaning, transformation and integration of data. The data should be unambiguous and clean (Shaker et al., 2011).

Load

This is the final step of ETL process and here we load the data into the target dimensional structure. The goal of this step is to ensure whether the whole data is loaded properly or not. This loaded data is accesses by all the users and applications (Shaker et al., 2011).

All these steps or functions are combined into a single solution called ETL and there are various tools which are enabling this process and these tools are useful for most of the companies to extract the data from various sources and make a data warehouse. It is always advisable to build our own ETL tool if the data is small. If there is large amount of data and if it becomes hard to manage then it is advisable to take an ETL tool to complete the process. There are many factors that need to be identified while choosing an ETL tool. In this Action research I will learn about ETL and why ETL is important in Data warehouse and what role it is playing in the current organizations. After learning everything about ETL I will learn about various models in ETL and the different types of ETL tools. I will compare all the tools and suggest some best tools for the organizations. By this research I will be able to learn about how to implement ETL process to form data warehouse.

Methodology

ETL is very important in the data warehousing and there are various models, methodologies and tools available in the current technology world. It is becoming hard for most of the companies to do analysis, create reports and make decisions with the data they have. The companies first need to form a data warehouse and to create a data warehouse first they need to perform ETL process. The data warehouse will be clean and usable if the organization follows a proper ETL process and tools (Sweety, Piyush & Saumil, 2012).

The organization should follow a process in finding the best methodologies and tools to form a proper data warehouse. There are various research methods that can be used for finding the solutions and I advise that using an Action research method will be very useful for learning more about the ETL and finding the best solution for the implementation of ETL. This research will improve the quality of the organization and increase the performance of the ETL process.

Action Research is a systematic, collaborative and critical approach followed by the participants who are performing an enquiry about a particular topic. This research is performed to improve the quality of a particular approach or a technology that is current in use. While performing an action research the person or the participants ask questions to the different stakeholders who are related directly or indirectly to the topic(Richard, 2000). In an action research project the researcher takes the help of an subject matter expert in taking learning and taking important decisions on the project. There are many advantages for choosing this research process because this research will help you to find the issues of a particular topic and then you can take decisions on the problems and thereby you can implement proper solutions for the research (Richard, 2000).

The action research process will follow the seven step process whatever may be the concept that the researcher is dealing. They are:

1. Selecting a Focus (Richard, 2000).

2. Clarify theories

3. The researcher should identify the questions that he need to ask the SMEs

4. Then you need to collect the data from various resources which can be articles, books or questionnaires

5. Analyze the data which we have collected from various resources.

6. The data should be reported to all the people who are connected to the research

7. After reporting the results there should be a action on the particular problem or improvement for which you are performing this action research (Richard, 2000).

History of Action Research

Kurt Lewin is the reason behind the origin for the Action research. He also proved that through action research we can develop relationship between various groups and increase communication and co-operation between the groups. Lewin described the Action research concept as a spiral process and this approach will be useful for identifying the problems and explore the solutions for the problems (Adelman, 1993).

Figure 1: Lewin’s model of action research. Dickens, L., & Watkins, K. (1999). Action Research: Rethinking Lewin. Management Learning, 30(2), 127-140.

As part of my topic I will select this action research methodology and my study will be both qualitative and quantitative in getting the information. Action research will definitely fit for my ETL research because it will address all the problems that the organizations are facing in finding the best ETL tool and implementing them. The action research follows a specific process in finding the solutions and implementing them (Regina, 2002). The action research mainly contains these following steps as part of their process:

1. Plan

2. Action

3. Observation and

4. Reflection

Because as part of the planning step, I will identify what need to be done as part of selecting the ETL tools and models. Then in the action step I will implement the complete planning phase. In the next step I will collect and analyze the evidence which I have found during my action step. I will then reflect all the evidence. In this way I will go through various iterations until I find the right solution for my research (Regina, 2002).

References

Adelman, C. (1993). Kurt Lewin and the Origins of Action Research. Educational Action Research, 1(1), 7-24, DOI: 10.1080/0965079930010102

Oracle. (n.d.). Overview of Extraction, Transformation and Loading. Retrieved from

https://docs.oracle.com/cd/B19306_01/server.102/b14223/ettover.htm

Regina, R. (2002). Supporting Technology Integration through Action Research. The Clearing House, 75(5), 233-237.

Richard, S. (2000). Guiding School Improvement with Action Research. Retrieved from

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/100047/chapters/What-Is-Action-Research%C2%A2.aspx

Shaker, H. A., Abdeltawab, M.H. & Hamed, A. E. (2011). A Proposed Model for Data Warehouse ETL Process. Journal of King Saud University,23(2), 91-104.

Sweety, P., Piyush, P., & Saumil, P. (2012). Overview of ETL Process With Its Important. International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications, 2(2), 906-908.