Given the strengths of open source database management systems (DBMSes), open source seems like a natural platform for data warehousing. We've seen a number of success stories over the last few years, Travelocity, O'Reilly, FTD, and Frontier Airlines among them, but the roster of case studies is mighty thin. But I've only recently (re-)started looking — in the last couple of years, on the open-source front I've covered mostly BI (e.g., May, March) — and I hope to find many more for a report I am planning on open source (based) data warehousing (OSDW).Additional OSDW implementations are surely out there. My confidence stems from industry developments that include, since I last looked closely at the OSDW topic:

But I'd like to hear from actual users and developers and not just the vendors. I will cite noteworthy examples in my planned report and use them, in light of an examination of twenty years of data warehousing and of open source, to consider OSDW best practices.

It's important to recognize that the world of open-source has grown increasingly complex, with

This complexity is simultaneously a response to market forces and conditions and of significant benefit to the market, namely, to all us DBMS (and other enterprise software) users. It is a sign of vibrancy and possibility. Clearly the time is right for a comprehensive, objective look at open source data warehousing.

Seth Grimes is an analytics strategist with Washington DC based Alta Plana Corporation. He uses and consults on open source data warehousing and analytics.Given the strengths of open source database management systems, open source seems like a natural platform for data warehousing. We've seen a number of success stories over the years — Travelocity, O'Reilly, FTD, and Frontier Airlines — but the roster of case studies is mighty thin... I'd like to hear from actual users and developers for a report I am planning on open source (based) data warehousing.