DWCMM: The Data Warehouse Capability Maturity Model

Marco Spruit (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)

Catalina Sacu (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)

Abstract: Data Warehouses and Business Intelligence have become popular fields of research in recent years. Unfortunately, in daily practice many Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence solutions still fail to help organizations make better decisions and increase their profitability, due to intransparent complexities and project interdependencies. In addition, emerging application domains such as Mobile Learning & Analytics heavily depend on a well-structured data foundation with a longitudinally prepared architecture. Therefore, this research presents the Data Warehouse Capability Maturity Model (DWCMM) which encompasses both technical and organizational aspects involved in developing a Data Warehouse environment. The DWCMM can be used to help organizations assess their current Data Warehouse solution and provide them with guidelines for future improvements. The DWCMM consists of a maturity matrix and a maturity assessment questionnaire with 60 questions. The DWCMM has been evaluated empirically through expert interviews and case studies. We conclude that the DWCMM can be successfully applied in practice and that organizations can intelligibly utilize the DWCMM as a quickscan instrument to jumpstart their Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence improvement processes.

Keywords: business intelligence, data warehousing, maturity modelling

Categories: D.2.8, H.1.1