Before You Start Developing with the Data Warehouse Analytics System
For the latest version of Commerce Server 2007 Help, see the Microsoft Web site.
This topic introduces broad concepts about the Commerce Server Data Warehouse Analytics System and provides a context for the detailed information in other topics within this section.
The Data Warehouse Analytics System is a combination of a SQL Server database, an Analysis Services database, a set of processes that a system administrator uses to import and maintain data, and a set of reports that a business manager uses to analyze site trends. The phrase "Data Warehouse Analytics System" is used throughout this section to refer to the whole system. The phrase "Data Warehouse" is used throughout this section to refer to the data storage components of the Data Warehouse Analytics System. These data storage components include the SQL Server database and the Analysis Services database.
The Data Warehouse Analytics System imports data from the production Commerce Server Web application into an offline database. The Data Warehouse Analytics System collects day-to-day operational data about users who visit your site. This information includes user profile data, transaction data, and click-history data. It also collects product data and advertising data. The data is gathered from Internet Information Server (IIS) server logs and Commerce Server databases. You can extend the Data Warehouse Analytics System to gather data from other sources. Because the Data Warehouse Analytics System stores data on a computer that is separate from the computers that run the Web application, you can analyze data without affecting the performance of the Web site.
Why Use the Data Warehouse Analytics System?
The Data Warehouse Analytics System provides the following benefits:
Easily create reports. The Data Warehouse Analytics System uses the SQL Server 2005 or SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services to create reports. By using SQL Server Reporting Services, you can easily create custom reports and modify the reports that Commerce Server provides. For information about the reports that Commerce Server provides, see Data Warehouse Analytics Business Scenarios.
Extend the Data Warehouse. You can add custom objects to the Commerce Server Data Warehouse. For more information, see Extending the Data Warehouse Logical Schema.
Automatically or manually import run-time data. You can set up tasks to import data from Internet Information Services (IIS) logs and from the Commerce Server Profiles, Catalogs, Orders, and Marketing databases. You can also manually import data by using the Import Wizard.
Create a 360-degree view. You can create business reports that provide commerce information to sales, marketing, product support, and other departments.