The Best Data Vault Books

Apart from making New Year resolutions, January normally starts with the problem of what to do about unwanted Christmas presents.

Socks have been the staple gift for generations – well for men – for family members stuck with what to buy someone for Christmas, and are unlikely to go away.

You may have been lucky to hear that time-honoured phrase “I kept the receipt if you want to change them.”

Otherwise, you may have been lucky to have landed some vouchers to spend on something to “treat yourself.”

Luckily, one of the many benefits of the growth of Amazon in the last decade is that they do gift vouchers – and sell books.

So if you are working in the field of data analytics and business intelligence – and have been pondering how to increase your knowledge of Data Vault 2.0, or searching guidance on changing or creating a data enterprise platform – some reference reading material will be very handy as we work our way into 2021.

The Datavault team has put together a shortlist that might help – you can purchase them from Amazon in different currencies – and there is usually a Kindle version for those that prefer a digital read, although the books do make good props to have in the background for your Zoom/Team meetings!

Building a Scalable Data Warehouse with Data Vault 2.0 by Dan Linstedt and Michael Olschimke

The go-to text for anyone working in Data Vault today… learn the best practices from the creator of the method.

The book covers everything you need to know about how to build a scalable data warehouse with modelling examples utilising techniques for beginners’, intermediate and advanced users.

As well as hands-on instruction it covers best practices and everything you need to get started in Data Vault 2.0.

Better Data Modeling: An introduction to Agile Data Engineering Using Data Vault 2 by Kent Graziano

Kent Graziano also known as the Data Warrior is Chief Technical Evangelist at Snowflake – the increasingly popular cloud data platform company, recently floated on the New York Stock Exchange.He is on a mission to spread the word about data modelling, data warehousing and data architecture, having written dozens of articles and given hundreds of presentations during his 30-plus years in the industry.

Kent gives a brief introduction to agile data engineering for an enterprise data warehouse (EDW) – and Data Vault 2.0 with the basics for constructing one using Dan Linsted’s methods. He also shows how to build a virtual information mart using Data Vault 2.0 architecture.

The Elephant in the Fridge: Guided Steps to Data Vault Success through Building Business – Centered Models by John Giles

The next addition to the essential Data Vault reading list comes from John Giles, first published in 2019.The vastly experienced Australian has worked in the IT industry since 1969. His mantra is: Success with a Data Vault starts with the business and ends with the business.”

He sees the business context as central to creating a Data Vault solution that will deliver value over the long term.He advocates a top-down modelling approach and the importance of an enterprise ontology.

This is a very accessible read with practical advice on getting a Data Vault project under way and avoiding costly mistakes along the way.

Patrick Cuba – The Data Vault Guru: a pragmatic guide on building a data vault

The latest book in the world of Data Vault, was published by Patrick Cuba, just a couple of months ago.

Patrick surveys the modern architecture of a Data Vault, including some of the latest thinking and covers everything from the automation and coding with sample models.

It shows how to build automation patterns on top of a Data Vault and even offers an extension that will create automated timeline correction and variations to provide audit trails.

Everything you need to know about metadata control and integration with agile delivery tools is covered by Patrick, who has worked across a number of financial sectors in South Africa, the UK and Australia.

He works as a Data Vault Coach and has a strong understanding of data warehouse concepts and marketing automation, as well as data modelling and integration.

All these books are available for sale on Amazon!