My introduction to Data Warehousing was a water cooler discussion with a colleague just returned from a Data Warehousing workshop. The main topic of that discussion was the long development time required by data warehousing projects and how foolish it was start any project where the first "deliverable" to a business user was planned for three years hence.

With the approach that Ms. Moeller presents in this book, however, data warehouse projects are made eminently manageable by planning a series of major deliverables spaced 3-6 months (not YEARS) apart - at a fraction of the cost of a full-blown "Data Warehouse." Data Warehousing projects no longer have to automatically connote the development of a "black hole."

Potential readers should be aware that this book is not a "how-to-do-it." Rather, it focuses on what has to be done and how to approach a Data Warehousing project in general.

One final note: having read Ms. Moeller's past articles in the journal "InfoDB", she continues to present very technical information in a lucid, clear writing style. I'm still amazed that I read each chapter straight through in one sitting. This is the first "technical book" I have read in a very long time about which I can make that statement.