Independent GCP data engineering
Data warehouse requirements template and checklist
Free data warehouse requirements template for small businesses: scope sources, KPIs, freshness, quality, security, BigQuery costs, owners, and acceptance criteria.
Frequently asked questions
What should a data warehouse requirements document include?
It should include the business decision, priority reporting workflow, source systems, grain, KPI definitions, freshness, reconciliation, quality checks, security, ownership, phase-one boundary, acceptance criteria, and handover expectations.
How detailed should requirements be for a small business data warehouse?
They should be detailed enough to deliver and verify one important workflow without becoming an enterprise specification. The document should name real sources, owners, rules, checks, and acceptance evidence.
Should BigQuery be selected before requirements gathering?
Not necessarily. Start with the decision and data requirements. If GCP is preferred, add BigQuery-specific cost, access, environment, orchestration, and operating constraints without forcing the platform when a simpler option is sufficient.
Who should approve data warehouse requirements?
At minimum, the business owner, each material source owner, and the technical owner who will operate the solution. Finance should approve reconciliation rules for finance-facing outputs.