Most organisations today generate monthly, weekly or even daily reports on topics such as sales figures, production figures and bills paid. However, this valuable data often remains on mainframe systems and greenbar reports or in a plethora of client-server applications because each data repository has its own unique way of formatting, storing and interpreting data.
Extracting the business-critical information from these disparate data sources into required databases and file formats needed for consolidated business analyses is never simple and never easy. Data conversion of this magnitude requires a lot of time, money and skill, and because of its complexity, data errors often go unnoticed.
There are, however, reliable and innovative Web-based report mining tools available to organisations to easily gather data locked away in legacy reports, databases and business applications, without having to understand the complex database schemata or program logic.
Once such product is Datawatch`s Monarch Data Pump available locally from software integrator, Astral Datatech Solutions.
Monarch Data Pump is a versatile data conversion tool that allows organisations to map, extract, convert or migrate specific data in ASCII and ANSI report files residing in almost any data system.
"There is really a gap in the market for a product that easily gathers data from periodic reports in disparate systems and sources on a regular basis. Monarch Data Pump leverages off the application reporting tools businesses already have in place, and extracts and transforms the data out of legacy systems into a variety of file formats," says Santa Pieterse, MD at Astral Datatech Solutions.
What makes this product stand out is its platform independence. With Monarch Data Pump information can be extracted from virtually any system and any database including enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and exported to applications such as Access, Excel, FoxPro, Lotus and multiple text formats.
"Monarch Data Pump provides a practical shortcut for acquiring, transforming and propagating vital data without complex programming. Every step of the conversion process is error-logged to notify and pinpoint problems to administrators before they arise, rather than having to search through the faulty data line by line," says Pieterse.
Once the data is extracted, Monarch Data Pump allows users to transform the data before loading it into consolidated data marts and reports. Users can change fields, convert dates, filter and clean data, subtotal and summarise data, perform complex string manipulation, and apply statistical and mathematical functions to the data.
With Monarch Data Pump, users can combine different reports together from disparate databases based on common data, or exclude specific reports and data to create 'reports from reports`.
Monarch Data Pump can be programmed to monitor computer systems for specific reports and to automatically extract selected data from these generated reports as soon as it is produced on the host system. Once the data is extracted, it can be periodically e-mailed to multiple recipients and then be loaded into spreadsheets or desktop databases for analysis.
Monarch Data Pump Personal Edition is based on technology from its Monarch`s high-end server-based Data Pump. The Server Edition is a multi-threaded data propagation tool that populates and refreshes data marts and data warehouses. It also includes ODBC data connectivity features and network administrative features that are not included in the Personal Edition.
Monarch Data Pump forms part of Datawatch`s Monarch|ES solution, a Web-enabled software suite that provides live multi-dimensional data analysis, storage, and paperless administration and distribution of reports documents and forms.
Eaton, a manufacturer or electronic controls, automotive parts and other products, uses the Datawatch software to gather information from monthly accounts-payable reports generated by the company`s mainframe. The software pulls data from the reports and loads it into spreadsheets for analysis, and purchasing managers use the findings to negotiate better prices for suppliers, raw materials, and services.
"Data conversion tools save IT programmers and businesses an enormous amount of time and expense when attempting data conversion projects from separate data sources. Monarch Data Pump helps businesses unlock and transform legacy data for analysis, to make informed business decisions based on the findings," Pieterse concludes.
For more information on Monarch Data Pump and Monarch|ES, surf to www.astraldatatech.co.za.
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