Michael Jennings : “Not Your Father’s ODS”

Not Your Father's ODS : "In this article, I'll propose a solution that builds on a key investment already in place at many organizations: the operational data store (ODS). Experience with ODS implementations is growing at a propitious time — a time when IT desperately needs to think outside the box about where to take its enterprise information strategy. After considering where things stand now, I'll discuss how the ODS may be repositioned to serve broader enterprise information requirements.".

My experience is that the ODS is the most misunderstood part of a data warehouse architecture, often being used as just a staging area for a dimensional warehouse and other times as a complete normalised replica. Properly used, an ODS can be a key, distinct part of a warehouse architecture that answers a different type of question than that normally met by the warehouse - integrated, operational-style reporting where data is often available in real time and without all the complications of SCD2s and SCD3s. Not a bad article, and it's always interesting to read stuff that puts forward the case for this often misinterpreted part of a DW architecture.