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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Data lakes in business intelligence: reporting from the trenches

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Abstract The data lake approach has emerged as a promising way to handle large volumes of structured and unstructured data. This big data technology enables enterprises to profoundly improve their Business Intelligence. However, there is a lack of empirical studies on the use of the data lake approach in enterprises. This paper provides the results of an exploratory study designed to improve the understanding of the use of the data lake approach in enterprises. I interviewed 12 experts who had implemented this approach in various enterprises and identified three important purposes of implementing data lakes: (1) as staging areas or sources for data warehouses, (2) as a platform for experimentation for data scientists and analysts, and (3) as a direct source for self-service business intelligence. The study also identifies several perceived benefits and challenges of the data lake approach. The results may be beneficial for both academics and practitioners. Further, suggestions for future research is presented.