I am new to data warehousing and have a few initial questions

1. Just to clarify a datamart is collection of dimension tables that related
to a particular fact table within the data warehouse? I understand that the
same dimension table can be used more than once e.g. the Time dimension.
2. I would like to use Analysis Services with Reporting Services to create
the cubes etc. However some people are keen to use Cognos Impromptu with
Powerplay to implement the cubes etc. Are there any advantages that this
combination offers over the Cognos alternative other than the cost?I typically think of a datamart as being department specific (such as
Accounting or Payroll) and a data warehouse as being a consolidation of
multiple datamarts across the enterprise.
"Russell" <Russell@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A4C4B887-91B7-4C98-BB72-48F275AE21D3@.microsoft.com...
> 1. Just to clarify a datamart is collection of dimension tables that
related
> to a particular fact table within the data warehouse? I understand that
the
> same dimension table can be used more than once e.g. the Time dimension.
> 2. I would like to use Analysis Services with Reporting Services to create
> the cubes etc. However some people are keen to use Cognos Impromptu with
> Powerplay to implement the cubes etc. Are there any advantages that this
> combination offers over the Cognos alternative other than the cost?