What is a data warehouse?
 Who is using the data warehouse?
 How do I request access?
 How do I get help?

What is a data warehouse?

The data warehouse concept evolved from the growing competitive need to quickly analyze business information. The existing institutional systems were not set up to optimize data retrieval and the process was difficult, tedious, and subject to a variety of errors. Existing operational systems cannot meet this need because:

• Lack of historical data in some operational systems
• Data required for analysis resides in different operational systems
• Complexity of querying effective dated rows in PeopleSoft operational systems

A data warehouse eliminates these problems by storing the current and historical data from disparate operational systems that business decision makers need in a single, consolidated system. This makes data readily accessible to the people who need it without interrupting on-line operational workloads.

Who is using the data warehouse?

The Data Warehouse provides information to staff in all major areas of the university.

This includes Academic Affairs which incorporates all of our schools and colleges, Business, Finance and Administrative Services, Human Resources, Alumni and Development, Internal Audit, Student Affairs and the Budget Office.   In addition to reporting services, the information in the data warehouse is used by several web applications that provide inter-active services to our staff and students.

How do I request access?

Please review the access page to request access to the warehouse.

How do I get help?

The data warehouse group in the Enterprise Technology Group division is committed to meet the reporting needs of Syracuse University. To improve service to our clients, we have implemented a procedure for reporting problems or requesting information about the warehouse.

Reporting a problem can be done by contacting the Information Center to report problems with MyReports Hyperion or the data warehouse. These requests are logged into the SERVICE DESK system. Problems may also be directed in an email to the Data Warehouse Group at:

We are using Service Desk to monitor and record all service activity related to MyReports, Hyperion, or the data warehouse. Some of you may have experienced the situation where you needed an answer about the warehouse and you were unable to reach one of the members of the warehouse group. A member of the data warehouse group is assigned to monitor our Service Desk incidents, This coverage will provide a timely solution for warehouse problems.

For any questions related to MyReports, Hyperion, or the data warehouse, an email can be sent to: