Databases & Data Storage
Data Mart
Definition
A data mart is a subset of a data warehouse that is focused on a specific business line or team. It is a smaller, more manageable version of a data warehouse that is designed to serve the needs of a particular department.
Why It Matters
Data marts make it easier and faster for a specific department (like Marketing or Sales) to access and analyze the data that is relevant to them, without having to navigate the complexity of the entire corporate data warehouse.
Contextual Example
A company's main data warehouse contains data from all over the business. The marketing team creates a "Marketing Data Mart" that contains only the customer, campaign, and web analytics data they need for their reports.
Common Misunderstandings
- A data mart can be created by extracting data from a central data warehouse, or it can be an independent system.
- It helps to provide a "single version of the truth" for a specific business area.