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Does a small business really need a data warehouse?
Not always. If you have one or two systems and simple reporting, a BI tool connected directly to the source may be enough. A warehouse becomes worthwhile when you combine several systems, need history, face slow or inconsistent reports, or want a reliable foundation for forecasting and future growth.
Cloud warehouses have made this far more affordable than a decade ago, since you generally pay for storage and the queries you run rather than for hardware.
Consider a warehouse when:
- Data lives in three or more systems
- Source systems do not keep history you need
- Reports are slow or put load on operational software
- You want one agreed set of metric definitions
If none of these apply, start simpler and revisit later.
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