The Data Vault Handbook - Concepts and Applications

The primary purpose of the Business Vault is to facilitate the efficient cre- ation of end-user structures in the Information Delivery layer. By leverag- ing the Business Vault, organizations can generate query assistance entities, precompute calculated fields, and apply reusable business logic, all of which streamline the population of Information Marts in the Information Delivery layer. The Business Vault is optional and can be virtualized when possible, depending on the specific needs and architecture of the organization.

A Business Vault is not a copy of your Raw Data Vault

Build only necessary Business Vault entities that ease the creation of end-user structures

A key feature of the Business Vault is its flexibility compared to the Raw Data Vault. While the Raw Data Vault is designed to maintain strict auditability and historical accuracy, the Business Vault does not have to adhere to these stringent requirements. This allows for the creation, modification, and de- letion of Business Vault entities as needed, and being able to recreate them from the Raw Data Vault when necessary. Entities within the Business Vault are typically created only when necessary for business operations, reducing unnecessary complexity and storage overhead. Common entities found within the Business Vault include Point-In-Time (PIT) tables, Bridge tables (Section 3.3), Computed Satellites, and Exploration Links. These entities play a crucial role in optimizing query performance, storing computed data, and establishing connections between Hubs that were not linked in the Raw Data Vault. Additionally, the Business Vault can be used to host business logic that filters out outliers or applies other data quality criteria before the data is consumed by the Information Delivery layer.