I recall when I took a family vacation and we were aboard a cruise ship. At one point I was out on deck with my oldest daughter, and while I looked out a the massive ocean stretching out before us I quoted a line from a famous poem titled The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, that line being, "Water, water everywhere, Nor any drop to drink."
….Large-scale desalination typically uses large amounts of energy as well as specialized, expensive infrastructure….
Ultimately the Data Warehouse is a tool used by business to supply information necessary for informed decision making. Information is distinct from data. Information is data that has been intelligently processed via a Data Warehouse to allow it to be used for key business decision making. These characteristics are common to all data warehouses, but not all Data Warehouses are the same, they simply share common characteristics, both technically and in the business. These characteristics include the desire to use analysis of performance to drive the decision making process and identify areas to improve efficiency and gain a competitive advantage.
I really like the analogy of water and data. One of the key is to use water wisely to advantage as oppose to wasting it. Similarly using data wisely as information is the key. Walmart does a great job of using data wisely because they are smart merchandizers. The key is the way we use the data, like water, that we have as oppose to wasting it.
Not managing water properly can also cause a flood. I bet most of use have been flooded with data.