Rob Armstrong
Director, Data Warehouse Support
Teradata
Starting with Teradata in 1987, Rob Armstrong has continued to be deeply involved in virtually every aspect of the data warehouse and analytical processing arenas. His work in the computer industry has been dedicated to information-driven business improvement and more effective business decisions and execution. Roles have encompassed the design, justification, implementation and evolution of enterprise data warehouses.
Armstrong has collaborated with and led cross-functional Teradata project teams to deliver some of the most successful data warehouses and information systems in existence. Currently, Rob works with companies around the world to lead workshops, better understand challenges and processes, develop and enact best practices, and identify business opportunities.
With an extensive background in retailing, he has also spent considerable time improving business processes in manufacturing, telecommunications, transportation, and hospitality. His work can be seen in companies such as Wal*Mart, Travelocity, Harrah’s Entertainment, 3M, British Airways and many other Teradata customers. A skilled facilitator, Rob engages the total business-IT spectrum of technologists, business users, and executives in the common interest of improved performance and ROI from their information environment.
In addition to white papers, presentations and magazine articles, Armstrong co-authored the book Secrets of the Best Data Warehouses in the World, together with Ralph Hanusa from Southwestern Bell and Tom Coffing, a data warehouse consultant with global experience.
A pragmatic visionary, he has clearly articulated the key goal for the data warehouse in his second book Evolving Through Action: Maximizing Business Returns by Driving Action from the Data Warehouse:
“The real purpose of the data warehouse is to move business decisions forward and change the way people are looking at the business. There needs to be a move from looking ‘at data’ to ‘looking for business opportunities.' "Evolving Through Action " is focused on driving significant and measurable return on investment from the data warehouse environment.
Data Acquisition Services for the Modern Data Warehouse
In recent years there has been a significant evolution in the requirements for acquisition and integration of content into a data warehouse. The need for more up-to-date data and the disappearance (or at least shrinking) of overnight batch processing windows demands a re-thinking of traditional implementation models. Together with these trends is a dramatic evolution in the tools and techniques for data integration. Rob will discuss different implemetation techniques for data acquisition and integration along with the tools required for successful realisation of more aggressive service levels in the areas of data freshness, performance and availability. A variety of approaches will be examined with assessment of the tradeoffs between them.
Key take-aways: