Saturday, December 12, 2009

Understanding Delivery of Data

The BI solution's ability to collect the right information for reporting and analysis is essential if it is to deliver value to organizations. Although identifying the data required is time-consuming, it is the backbone of BI. Additionally, determining how data will be delivered, what the appropriate data cleansing activities should be, and whether the data is to be delivered in batch or in real time, should all be defined in advance. If data is not cleansed or delivered when needed, then the front-end BI tools will not provide the proper value to the organization. BI solutions impart value through the analysis of data, so it is essential that data arrives when required, in the proper format, and at the right time.

In addition to extract, transform, and load (ETL) tools, data quality and data cleansing need to be inherent aspects of the delivery of BI within the organization. In reality, short of an organization-wide master data management (MDM) initiative, the responsibility of providing accurate data will fall on the shoulders of the business units implementing BI.

Some organizations are misguided and think that their BI solution will provide the tools to fix their data problems. BI solutions can provide ongoing data quality processes, but these are not innate to software offerings. Some vendors' BI tools include enhanced data quality and integration features, and other vendors assume this responsibility should fall to the organization. Organizations should implement data management structures to minimize frustrations that result from data issues.

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