ABSTRACT
Business–IT efficiency is an incessant IT evolution that resembles n-dimensional phenomena—it is constantly changing across a multitude of imperatives, most essentially across the business, technology, time, location, cost, and user experience (UX) dimensions. This chapter considers the fundamentals of an EDW/BI solution using open source technologies, tools, and techniques, starting from the data to the dashboard across the entire spectrum of the business—(social) enterprise and the social/competitive/intelligent customer. It details the foundational aspects of an open source—based EDW/BI solution in terms of architectures, technologies, and business uses. The chapter details the foundations and frameworks of an open source—enabled EDW/BI solution from concepts to customization, the best-fit pragmatics in terms of contextual relevance and usability for implementing such a solution in the real world, and how the solution can elevate the contextual customer to an intelligent customer.
