2. The data warehouse serves as a consolidation and distribution center, collecting the raw materials in much the same way that any data warehouse does.
3. Instead of the user (the consumer) going straight to the data warehouse, though, the data warehouse serves as a wholesaler with the premise of “we sell only to retailers, not directly to the public.” In this case, the retailers are the data marts.
4. The data marts order data from the warehouse and, after stocking the newly acquired information, make it available to consumers (users).