Awareness of data warehousing and data mining in the commercial banking sector of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Being a survivor III today's competitive business world, where information has become the most important asset, is indeed a colossal task, in itself. Many industries worldwide have taken forward strides by investing heavily in data technology. The banking industry in Sri Lanka is one industry which is highly information centric. This study is focused on measuring the awareness of Data Warehousing and Mining, within the local banking sector and finding out the factors that affect awareness. Data was initially gathered through interviews. A questionnaire was also given out to a sample of commercial bank employees from both the public and the private sectors. The questionnaire measures awareness levels in Data Warehousing and Mining as well as the factors that affect the awareness; which .are Knowledge. levels. .of employees, Business Requirements, Influence by higher management which affects the socio technical aspects and cross industry awareness, of Data Warehousing and Mining. The results of this study indicate, that, in terms of business requirements, basic knowledge and industry knowledge; awareness in the local commercial banking sector is high. It was also found that business practices and management initiatives have a significant impact on the awareness. Socio-technical aspects affected awareness, only where there was a data warehouse already implemented. The study concludes with a list of recommendations that the researcher sees, as suitable for the commercial banking sector in Sri Lanka to adopt, in order to improve awareness and improve usage of Data Warehousing and Mining and thereby improve on the service provided.