What is the main purpose of data warehousing in BI?

The main purpose of data warehousing in Business Intelligence (BI) is to serve as a central repository for data collection and analysis. A data warehouse integrates data from different sources, allowing organizations to consolidate their information in one place. This centralization facilitates the ability to perform complex queries, analytics, and reporting across a comprehensive set of data.

By having this centralized structure, businesses can analyze historical data and derive insights that drive decision-making processes. The design of a data warehouse supports the efficient handling of large volumes of data, which is essential for accurate reporting and analysis in BI contexts.

The other options focus on more narrow aspects or functions that do not encapsulate the primary goal of data warehousing. Storing only financial information does not represent the wide-ranging potential of a data warehouse, which encompasses various data types. Providing secure access for external stakeholders is a capability that relates to data sharing but not the core purpose of a data warehouse. Executing business transactions, while crucial for operational systems, is not the central focus of a data warehousing strategy, which emphasizes data analysis rather than transaction processing.