Data Mart

What is a Data Mart?

A data mart is a data storage system that contains information specific to an organization’s business unit. It contains a small and selected part of the data that the company stores in a larger storage system, such as a data warehouse or a data lake. Companies use a data mart to analyze department-specific information more efficiently. It provides summarized data that key stakeholders can use to quickly make informed decisions.

For example, a company might store data from various sources, such as supplier information, orders, sensor data, employee information, and financial records in their data warehouse or data lake. However, the company stores information relevant to, for instance, the marketing department, such as social media reviews and customer records, in a data mart.

Type of Data Marts:

Dependent data mart:

A data mart that is built from an existing data warehouse, using a top-down approach. This type of data mart ensures data consistency and quality, but can be slow and complex to create and maintain.

Independent data mart:

A data mart that is built from other data sources, such as operational systems or external data providers, using a bottom-up approach. This type of data mart provides data flexibility and speed, but can be prone to data duplication and inconsistency.

Hybrid data mart:

A data mart that is built from a combination of data warehouse and other data sources, using an integrated approach. This type of data mart achieves the optimal balance between data reliability and agility, but can be challenging to design and integrate.