Definition
A Data Warehouse is a central repository for structured, integrated and historical data prepared for analysis, reporting and decision support.
Human Explanation
It stores data prepared specifically for business analysis.
Why it Matters
A Data Warehouse enables rapid analysis and reliable reporting based on consistent data.
Conceptual Boundary
A Data Warehouse is not intended for day-to-day transaction processing. It is optimised for analytics and reporting, and may work alongside a Data Lake within the same architecture.
Practical Perspective
A well-designed Data Warehouse enables data from many years and multiple systems to be analysed together.