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July 26, 2006
A Timely Reminder
To measure the quality of any data item we need to understand its definition. Without that, we might totally misunderstand what we're looking at and if we're using the information as the basis for making an important decision the consequences can be dire.
Sometimes it's the presentation of the data that is at fault - take this example:
Date: 07/04/23
What is the date? The 4th of July or the 7th of April? And is the year 1923 or 2023?
If we were dealing with a customer database and the field was defined as the customer's date of birth I think we could safely assume that the year was 1923, but spot the same value in a field defined as a mortgage repayment date and the decision could go the other way. As to resolving which is the day and which the month, we probably all jump one way or another based on what we're used to. The problem is that the presentation of the date is ambiguous and without a clear definition it is open to misinterpretation.
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Copyright © 2006 Steve Tuck - All Rights Reserved
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Posted by Steve Tuck at 3:15 PM
It Can Happen to Even The Best of Us
Did you know that I'm the secretary of the IAIDQ's UK community of practise? No, I thought not - and you probably don't know what the IAIDQ is either, eh?
The International Association for Information & Data Quality was established in 2004 to "cultivate information excellence" and "help transform organizations and society, improving the quality of life everywhere." Blimey I think that's the first time I've read the vision statement - big or what? I really look forward to seeing improvements in the quality of life EVERYWHERE!!!
My main objective in joining the association as a charter member (and then getting involved in some of its organisational challenges) was to facilitate a forum for people struggling to improve poor data quality. The association has had very limited success in doing that to date (it's less than 2 years old, after all) and I have to admit to finding the name itself amusing (Information and Data are both included and I'll leave the anoraks to debate the difference between the two), but one thing that's clear is ...
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Copyright © 2006 Steve Tuck - All Rights Reserved
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Posted by Steve Tuck at 1:45 PM
July 1, 2006
CDI - is it just another TLA (three letter acronym)?
I sometimes wonder if there’s substance behind the new catchphrases that the IT industry loves to throw about. Take CDI, or Customer Data Integration, for example - is this some new, bright, shiny technology? Or is it the cynical re-branding of something we already thought we had?
There is considerable confusion between CDI and that much-loved TLA (Three Letter Acronym) CRM – Customer Relationship Management. CDI promises a single, 360 degree view of the customer - didn’t CRM promise the same thing? I don’t blame anyone for being confused as, at it’s inception, I can remember myself thinking of CRM as an approach rather than a piece of technology and the single view of the customer was at the heart of it. The truth is that, whilst CRM may have postulated the vision of a single customer view, the CRM vendors failed absolutely to deliver it.
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Copyright © 2006 Steve Tuck - All Rights Reserved
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Posted by Steve Tuck at 7:45 AM
