More and more South African companies are turning to business intelligence (BI) to address issues around legislation compliance, good governance or to cut costs. However, if BI solutions are to deliver vital and accurate information, they need quality, accurate data that is drawn not only from all the right sources, but also integrated to provide a clear picture of the business landscape.
Raw data in itself is meaningless but it forms the vital foundation for obtaining real business intelligence on which strategic business decisions can be based. The problem is that as long as there has been data, there have been errors. Bad quality raw data quite obviously will lead to distorted information.
To compound this, data is far more complex today than it has ever been. Back in the 1980s, there was much less information to be managed, with the main source of customer data probably being a delivery address and a billing address.
Nowadays, data pours in from numerous sources and consists of all kinds of information. In addition to keeping track of vendors, suppliers, inventory and financial records, companies are also tracking customer buying habits, preferences and much more.
This explosion of data and the myriad of different sources make BI very difficult to manage. This is because the quality of data that a company has will inevitably determine the reliability of the information its executives have at their disposal to lead with confidence.
The benefits of having squeaky-clean data are endless.
Annemarie Cronje, solutions architect, SAS Institute SA
The consequences of bad data quality can be catastrophic. Inaccurate or incorrect data can call into question the production of performance indicators, reduce the credibility of the information system and even lead to significant financial losses.
In fact, dirty data can damage every aspect of a business. On the customer-side, outdated information or an incorrect credit score could mean a failed marketing campaign or an angry customer. In the supply chain, poor product data can cause production bottlenecks and slow down delivery orders to retailers.
The benefits of having squeaky-clean data are endless. Clean data provides a solid information asset that can help companies identify and reduce inefficiencies, create tighter customer relationships and quickly respond to changing market conditions.
Just having accurate, up-to-date information on your customers can make a world of difference. Not only will it improve your service to them, but it reduces the risk of an expensive marketing campaign failing - not to mention opening up new opportunities to cross- and up-sell.
For South African financial services companies, data quality has become a major issue. In light of increasing fraud threats and new regulatory requirements such as the Fiduciary Intelligence Centre Act, all of the major banks are focusing on data quality so that the information they have is accurate and error free.
So what is dirty data and where does it originate?
Quite simply, bad data is information that is incomplete, erroneous, duplicated or obsolete - a misspelled name, an incomplete field or an out-of-date business address.
This bad data can come from a number of sources in a company`s management processes and systems. For instance, there may be a lack of up-stream control on information that is captured into the management system; there could be a glitch in the transfer of data in the information collection process or delays in the updating of information.
Manual spring-cleaning of data has become almost impossible as data volumes increase. Fortunately, technology allows companies to effectively deal with their dirty data.
In selecting a data quality solution, companies need to look for sophisticated matching and standardisation capabilities that enable users to analyse, clean and standardise data across all platforms.
There is no doubt that companies should not be cutting any corners when it comes quality-checking processes. If they aren`t keeping a check on quality - they are throwing money to the wind and probably won`t achieve true BI, which is a company`s most strategic weapon.
* Annemarie Cronje is solutions architect at SAS Institute SA.
SAS Institute sponsors ITWeb`s business intelligence, data warehousing and e-intelligence industry portals. These three resources provide a comprehensive overview of all the issues and challenges around leveraging information in its entirety across any enterprise.
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