Data Warehouse Developer

These days, everything’s digital. Instead of CD collections, people have MP3 libraries. Instead of books on their bookshelves, they have e-books in their e-readers. Instead of recordings on their answering machines, they have electronic voicemails on their smartphones.

When you consider the mass digitization of media, it’s not surprising that businesses, too, have embraced electronic information. Because companies have a lot more information to manage than individuals, however, they require a lot more storage than you’ll find on an iPod or flash drive. In fact, they require a whole warehouse’s worth of storage.

As a Data Warehouse Developer, or Data Warehouse Architect, you build that warehouse, which isn’t a physical warehouse, but rather an electronic one that encompasses a company’s networks, programs, and data collection systems. Think of it like a really big digital filing cabinet: You build the filing system in such a way that storing, organizing, retrieving, and reporting information is as easy, efficient, and effective as possible.

To do this, a Data Warehouse Developer has got to be an expert in extract, transform, and load (ETL) software, which is software that extracts data from source systems, transforms it into the appropriate format, and then loads it into the data warehouse. Basically, it’s a Data Warehouse Developer’s job to design, build, test, and implement this software, then lead troubleshooting and training efforts.

Essentially, you’re a collector; instead of coins or comic books, however, you collect data, which you’re paid to store and organize for companies so they can use it to make decisions, analyze trends, forecast business performance, etc.