Bill Inmon
Encyclopedia
William Harvey Inmon is an American computer scientist
, recognized by many as the father of the data warehouse
. Bill Inmon wrote the first book, held the first conference (with Arnie Barnett), wrote the first column in a magazine and was the first to offer classes in data warehousing. Bill Inmon created the accepted definition of what a data warehouse is - a subject oriented, nonvolatile, integrated, time variant collection of data in support of management's decisions. Compared with the approach of the other pioneering architect of data warehousing, Ralph Kimball
, Inmon's approach is often characterized as a top-down approach.
. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics
from Yale University
, and his Master of Science degree in Computer Science
from New Mexico State University
.
He has worked for American Management Systems
and Coopers & Lybrand before 1991, when he founded the company Prism Solutions, which he took public. In 1995 he founded Pine Cone Systems, which was renamed Ambeo later on. In 1999, Bill created the Corporate Information Factory Web site to educate professionals and decision makers about data warehousing and the Corporate Information Factory.
Further Bill Inmon was the creator of the Government Information Factory, as well as Data Warehousing 2.0. Mr. Inmon is a prolific author on the building, usage, and maintenance of the data warehouse and the Corporate Information Factory. His books include "Building the Data Warehouse" (1992, with later editions) and "DW 2.0: The Architecture for the Next Generation of Data Warehousing" (2008).
In July 2007 Bill was named by Computerworld
as one of the ten people that most influenced the first 40 years of the computer industry.
Bill Inmon's association with data warehousing stems from the fact that he wrote the first book on data warehousing, he coined the original term, he held the first conference on data warehousing (with Arnie Barnett), he wrote the first column in a magazine on data warehousing, he has written over 1,000 articles on data warehousing in journals and newsletters, he created the first fold out wall chart for data warehousing and he conducted the first classes on data warehousing. Recent advances by Bill include the creation of DW 2.0 - the definition of the next generation of data warehousing. In addition Bill was the creator of the corporate information factory (the "cif") which describes the larger information architecture into which warehousing fits. More recently Bill has developed the technology for including unstructured textual data into the data warehouse - the world's first "textual ETL".
Computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....
, recognized by many as the father of the data warehouse
Data warehouse
In computing, a data warehouse is a database used for reporting and analysis. The data stored in the warehouse is uploaded from the operational systems. The data may pass through an operational data store for additional operations before it is used in the DW for reporting.A data warehouse...
. Bill Inmon wrote the first book, held the first conference (with Arnie Barnett), wrote the first column in a magazine and was the first to offer classes in data warehousing. Bill Inmon created the accepted definition of what a data warehouse is - a subject oriented, nonvolatile, integrated, time variant collection of data in support of management's decisions. Compared with the approach of the other pioneering architect of data warehousing, Ralph Kimball
Ralph Kimball
Ralph Kimball is an author on the subject of data warehousing and business intelligence. He is widely regarded as one of the original architects of data warehousing and is known for long-term convictions that data warehouses must be designed to be understandable and fast...
, Inmon's approach is often characterized as a top-down approach.
Biography
Bill Inmon was born July 20, 1945 in San Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, and his Master of Science degree in Computer Science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
from New Mexico State University
New Mexico State University
New Mexico State University at Las Cruces , is a major land-grant university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States...
.
He has worked for American Management Systems
American Management Systems
American Management Systems was a high technology and management consulting firm, founded in 1970 by a group of five former Defense Department officials who had worked under Robert McNamara in the Kennedy and Johnson administration...
and Coopers & Lybrand before 1991, when he founded the company Prism Solutions, which he took public. In 1995 he founded Pine Cone Systems, which was renamed Ambeo later on. In 1999, Bill created the Corporate Information Factory Web site to educate professionals and decision makers about data warehousing and the Corporate Information Factory.
Further Bill Inmon was the creator of the Government Information Factory, as well as Data Warehousing 2.0. Mr. Inmon is a prolific author on the building, usage, and maintenance of the data warehouse and the Corporate Information Factory. His books include "Building the Data Warehouse" (1992, with later editions) and "DW 2.0: The Architecture for the Next Generation of Data Warehousing" (2008).
In July 2007 Bill was named by Computerworld
Computerworld
Computerworld is an IT magazine that provides information for senior IT leaders. It is published in many countries around the world under the same or similar names. Its publisher is International Data Group. Computerworld serves the needs of IT management via print and online...
as one of the ten people that most influenced the first 40 years of the computer industry.
Bill Inmon's association with data warehousing stems from the fact that he wrote the first book on data warehousing, he coined the original term, he held the first conference on data warehousing (with Arnie Barnett), he wrote the first column in a magazine on data warehousing, he has written over 1,000 articles on data warehousing in journals and newsletters, he created the first fold out wall chart for data warehousing and he conducted the first classes on data warehousing. Recent advances by Bill include the creation of DW 2.0 - the definition of the next generation of data warehousing. In addition Bill was the creator of the corporate information factory (the "cif") which describes the larger information architecture into which warehousing fits. More recently Bill has developed the technology for including unstructured textual data into the data warehouse - the world's first "textual ETL".
Publications
Bill Inmon has published more than 40 books and 1,000 articles on data warehousing and data management. A selection:- 1981. Effective Data Base Design. Prentice Hall, 1981
- 1986. Information systems architecture : a system developer's primer. Prentice-Hall.
- 1986. The dynamics of data base. With Thomas J. Bird, Jr. Prentice-Hall.
- 1988. Information engineering for the practitioner : putting theory into practice. Prentice Hall.
- 1992. Rdb/VMS: Developing the Data Warehouse. With Chuck Kelley, QED, 19921321abhish
- 1992. Building the Data Warehouse. 1st Edition. Wiley and Sons
- 1998. Corporate Information Factory. With Claudia Imhoff and Ryan Sousa. John Wiley and Sons
- 2000. Exploration Warehousing: Turning Business Information into Business Opportunity. With R. H. Terdeman, John Wiley and Sons
- 2007. Business Metadata. With Bonnie Oneil and Lowell Fryman. Elsevier Press 2007
- 2007. Tapping Into Unstructured Data. With Tony Nesavich. Prentice Hall, 2007
- 2008. DW 2.0 - Architecture for the Next Generation of Data Warehousing. With Derek Strauss and Genia Neushloss, Elsevier Press, 2008
External links
- Corporate Information Factory
- Bill Inmon Interviewed on CS TechcastCS TechcastCS Techcast: The Technology Information IT Professionals Need to Succeed is a technology podcast released every Monday that is hosted by Dana Warren, , , and ; all are authors, IT professionals, and avid contributors to the IT community at large...
- The Bill Inmon Channel
- InmonInstitute - Data Warehousing, BI and Data Vault Education On-Line