CIF:
A corporate information factory is a database model designed for long term implementation and easy implementation of new data into the database. Typically, a CIF will gather the information or data and will then convert the data into a repository for distribution
into the data marts. The benefits of a CIF include its ease of addition for new data and its construction makes for easier administration of the database as a whole. Some of the difficulties associated with a CIF is the investment to create this structure is substantial, it is very time consuming to be developed, and merging data from other data sources is very complicated considering the amount of tables created in a CIF.
Dimensional:
A dimension or data warehouse takes data and separates it into two separate categories,
facts and dimensions. The fact is the overarching deliverable and the dimension is the attribute associated with the fact. Data warehouses are extremely common for their convenience offered to the end user as understandable information. Data warehouses are also extremely efficient in query's and can work very fast. Some downfalls of a data warehouse typically reside with combining data sources as it can be very complex to merge data in this format with the connections made between the dimensions and facts.
Data Marts:
A standalone data mart is an independent stand-alone system with no association to a data warehouse. A standalone data mart is quick to make and is intended for one subject or area of focus instead of having a wide spread catalog. A user will query information directly to
the data mart to then be distributed to the user through the use of a query tool. Some benefits of a data mart is its ability to be built quickly and work efficiently since its information is limited to one subject. However, data marts are not good for widespread use on an enterprise level system that requires various subsystems. Additionally, there is a high chance that data is duplicated and the information stored becomes very sloppy due to the lack of connections between the marts.
