Data preparation is the act of manipulating raw data into a form that can readily and accurately be analysed, e.g. for business purposes.
Extract Transform and Load (ETL) is the general procedure of copying data from one or more sources into a destination system. This system then represents the data in a different format which is visually compelling to the user.
To improve integrity the data undergoes a process of normalisation and cleansing, whereby duplicates are removed, and missing information is completed. The final improved data set is then loaded into a single source database system, often referred to as a Data Warehouse.
Business Intelligence Analysts use this single data source to prepare business insights in the form of reports and dashboard views.
As data accumulates, managing it can start to become quite complex. Traditional methods of discovering patterns in large data sets, such as Data Mining, can make the analytical process slow, unreliable and subject to inconsistency.
As a business leader you need to have absolute confidence in the data insights you are presented with. The future of your business depends on well informed decisions. Analysts providing the insights to you also need to be confident that the data is accurate.
Disparate data sources create problems when trying to spot overall data trends. For example; customer contact data in a CRM system may be separated from the data related to their purchasing behaviour, which is held in an accounting system. This can result in a disjointed overview of those customers.
Today’s Business Intelligence solutions provide a ‘self-service’ data preparation model. This is beneficial because it reduces the burden on your IT department. It also ensures that security and governance are at the core of your data process.
Filler
Provide users with powerful analytical insights without the need for IT support
Improved quality right from the beginning of the process
Immediate value from your data by creating business specific standards and formats
reusable transformation rules increase efficiency
Automating this lengthy and manual process saves you time and money