Data Warehousing and Data Mining UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON-CLEAR LAKE Terry Lee Sandeep Udhani Tran Ngo Navin Negi

Organization details Ø Benchmark Financial brokers started in 1978 with one location, and has grown into a business with 45 locations. Ø Reputation built on providing sound financial advice to its customers. ØWeathering current economic climate by retaining customers and employing a moderate approach.

ØThe owner of this business understands that the temptation to try to get involved in the “quick money, sure thing” investments is high ØMaintains reputation by retaining tight control over its investments, and following a slow but steady growth formula Organization details

Business Description ØBenchmark Financial Brokers is an investment firm specializing in investments for retirement planning ØThe firm sells many different financial instruments including: certificates of deposit (CDs), mutual funds, bonds, and individual stocks ØThese various types of investments carry a varying amount of risk which must be communicated properly with the customer

ØThe performance of these investments must be tracked so that decisions can be made to ensure the financial stability of their customers’ retirement plans. ØBenchmark Financial Brokers has multiple locations throughout the southern part of the United States with branches in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. Business Description

Business Needs ØAbility to store all of the data about their investments and customers in a central location, and have the ØAbility to look at historical data and compare it to current data in order to provide a higher quality of investment advice to their customers.

Ø Ability to access useful investment information will greatly improve their service. Ø Owner would like to be able to monitor the various locations to make sure that none of his advisors are involved in making investments that could potentially harm his firm. Business Needs

Why Data Warehouse? ØThe idea of a data warehouse sounds very interesting. ØProvides the ability to collect data from the various locations, and investments, and store the data in a central location where it can be readily accessed by the owner and his management staff. Ø The business is growing and it is becoming very difficult for the owner and his staff to visit locations on a regular basis to monitor performance.

Ø Having access to various Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) functions will be very helpful providing the staff with the ability to monitor investments by region, or mutual funds which are declining and which locations have heavy investments in theses funds. Ø These are many reports that could be generated by the system, but the amount of useful strategic information that could be generated by this system is endless. Why Data Warehouse?

Business Facts  Revenue  Portfolio Growth  Return on Investment  Top Financial Advisors  Most Profitable Region

Business Dimensions  Product: Product type, company, price,…  Customer: Customer name, location, portfolio id,…  Portfolio: Customer id, current value, revenue  Company: Company name, address, revenue,..  Time: Time, day, week, month, quarter, year  Location: Street, city, region, state