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GCN Home > 06/19/06 issue

RFP Checklist | Data warehouses

By Drew Robb, Special to GCN

Ask yourself the following questions when creating and evaluating proposals for a data warehouse. In drafting an RFP, review format and content rules to ensure they are vendor-neutral. Unless it’s absolutely critical to have a function that a single vendor supports, word your requirement in a way that encourages vendors to come up with competing solutions.

  • What current databases will the warehouse pull data from? Are they all under your control, or do some of them belong to other agencies?

  • Who will define the structure of the warehouse, initially and in the future?

  • Will there be data marts in addition to the central warehouse?

  • How large does the database scale? Is this adequate for your organization’s current and future needs?

  • What operating systems does the database require? Does the organization currently support these OSes, or will it need to add additional skill sets?

  • What hardware does the database run on? What will the initial hardware purchase costs and ongoing support costs be?

  • What level of customization is needed? Does the database support the organization’s existing stored procedures or user-defined functions? Does it support any unusual data types used by the organization?

  • Does the database provide ANSI standard SQL support?

  • Is the database open source or proprietary?

  • What security features does the database offer? Does it include data encryption? Does it offer record level access control? Does it have a built-in audit trail that can track which system user made what change at what time, and indicate old and new data values?

  • Does the system have a hierarchical permission structure to limit who can make changes? Will the public have access to the database over the Internet, or is it restricted to internal users?

  • What legacy or other systems must it interact with? Does the data need ETL functionality to move it to the data warehouse, or will it be populated with fresh data? Who handles ETL work or data entry, the agency or the contractor?

  • Will the data warehouse be mirrored or backed up in any particular way? How long does it take to restore the warehouse? Will it be stored in a single or multiple locations? How will data be updated?

  • What reports are needed, in what format (XL, Word, HTML)? Who creates them? Are the reports to be standardized, ad hoc or both?

  • How is the database licensed? By number of processors, users, size of data store?

  • What is the deployment deadline? Can the vendor meet that deadline? Will it be a phased deployment?

  • Does the contractor need a certain level of security clearance? What levels of certification and accreditation are needed? Is knowledge of or experience in any specific field needed or useful to the contractor?

  • How will the consultant turn running the data warehouse over to internal staff after deployment? What type of documentation and training are required? What type of ongoing support?

  • How easy is it to get support personnel/ third-party software for the DBMS and hardware in your area?



More news on related topics: Storage Management, Content / Record Management, Knowledge Management, Management



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