Creating Sustainable Systems
The conclusion of an analytic research project results in a clear understanding of the problems to be solved and the actions required to implement and sustain change. Moving from the analytical to the operational requires building a system to supply accurate, useful, and current information to a wide spectrum of users whose actions and real-time decisions require guidance. It must be adaptable to changes over time to the data relevant to organization, jobs, technology, people and markets.
There are four basic objectives:
1. Building the data warehouse
- Capture and merge valid data from the right sources
- Build a set of processes that ensures data integrity
- Transform data into information that is easily understood and acted on
- Distribute information quickly to users in a form that supports their decision making
- Embed the information into the systems that support the daily operations of the end user
2. Making it understood
- Document and distribute how that information was constructed so that users trust the information, know what is available and how to use it to perform their jobs better.
3. Dealing with change
- Maintain the data feeds from the constantly changing source systems
- Meet the expanding needs of the company as new analysis defines new requirements
- Cope with the changing needs of the end users
4. Protecting and securing that information from misuse
Over the years we have developed a logical architecture to support these objectives. How it is physically realized depends on the technology currently in use at the company.