What is the qualitative difference between the traditional manner that data quality tools are used for data cleansing and master data management? The answer is related to the way that business application owners have specified their needs for consistency and synchronization of the critical data assets for both consolidation and use. - Read the rest of this entry »
I just read the best blog. Victor Fehlberg’s Tech Postings has a great walk-thru of the DataFlux product suite. As Victor said DataFlux does some really cool things. - Read the rest of this entry »
When I look at the almost every issue associated with data I almost always end up at the same starting point. Metadata. Don’t you hate that word? When I first heard it all I could think about was 60 shades of grey. I got the usual definition - you know the “data about data” one. I struggled with that so I started to break it down into smaller pieces. In the end I came to one fundamental question. “When it comes to data, does the user know what it means?”. If I fail that test then surely the rest may as well not matter. It’s like languages. The people of the world speak many languages all of which are formally defined. Having formal definition makes it understandable. - Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve watched companies invest a lot of time and money in business intelligence. They hire experienced BI staff, identify some key business problems that can be addressed with integrated data, and deploy some new reports. It’s all good.
But then the branches / stores / warehouses / regions don’t use the new reporting capabilities. Companies like this usually have sales-driven cultures. The indicator: executives at headquarters are loathe to impose new policies or standards on their field staffs. - Read the rest of this entry »
Well, I am off to Aruba for a long-awaited vacation. I gotta get away! I found out today that the data for one of our main clients has some issues. Issues meaning:
Let’s chat through each of the issues, and hopefully you can help me out.
Do you remember the old Abbott and Costello skit of Who’s on First? It created a misunderstanding on what baseball players were on specific bases. The confusing conversation went on for quite a while, and in the end no one knew who was on first! - Read the rest of this entry »
Fashion is fickle, and today’s fabulous frock can quickly become tomorrow’s housecoat. I once owned a pair of gauchos. For you readers born after 1970, gauchos are a short version of bell-bottoms, or a long version of culottes, or — never mind. Suffice it to say that on a good day I could look positively de rigueur. And there was that Indian-themed poncho, circa 1975, complete with fringe. At the time I was mainstream chic. But if I wore it today in a public square I’d be stoned to death. - Read the rest of this entry »
I am not being facetious – really! But, I find it amazing that as we step down our path of successful data management, we learn more and more about our data every day. Here is what happened! The other day, as we were loading data for another client, all was well - or so we thought. The data loaded into the data warehouse just fine, and the data was loaded into the data mart. Life went on- until the customer got on the system, and looked at their reports! It was determined that the percentages were incorrect. - Read the rest of this entry »
Well, it’s a Sunday afternoon, and I am at the airport waiting for a flight. Yes, yes I know I said I wasn’t going to travel anymore. But, what I meant was NOT EVERY WEEK. I am going to Texas to gather requirements from a customer. I am not sure what requirements I am gathering, nor do I have a hotel room. The owner of the company where I do consulting is traveling with me, and I guess he knows what we are doing, and where we are staying. So, I am going to concentrate on what I know about gathering requirements. - Read the rest of this entry »
We have a lot of clients who are launching data governance programs right now. It’s actually pretty exciting to watch, particularly since no two data governance programs are exactly the same. - Read the rest of this entry »
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