A Smallnet client who is a leading Insurer and Reinsurer has gained great success from the usage of IBM Information Server (IIS) tooling for Data Cataloguing and Data Lineage across the business data and reporting layers thereby providing a ‘TRUSTED’ source of data to the business and regulators.
As a result the client is now, with SmallNet expertise and Know how, confidently expanding the usage of the IBM Data Governance product portfolio including the Data Profiling and Data Quality components across 3 legal Entities and country businesses to create a COMMON DATA Quality platform across the enterprise.
This means there is NO disparity in the Data Quality rules being applied across the business and these are all aligned to the data governance policies, catalog/glossaries that they centrally agree as standards, thereby providing a common set of rules they can all use.
This platform however also allows each country and or legal entity to augment the common rules with their own specific rules unique to them or their businesses but all feeding of the COMMON DATA Quality platform.
As specialist in the areas of Data Governance, Data Quality and Data Profiling SmallNet were engaged to been asked to propose an initial pilot engagement to implement the initial, Data Quality Platform, using IBM Information Analyzer and IGC, which is now being rolled out across the enterprise (COMMON DATA Quality platform)
The approach by SmallNet was to work with the client’s infrastructure team to setup and configure Information Analyzer for the pilot project. This included the base data Repository and Engine configuration, Patch application, setup and connectivity to source systems where needed.
Using the specifications provided by the client along with our experiences in the field and a joint consultation, SmallNet designed and built the Information Analyzer Data Rules and Data Quality Metrics for a specific use case. The consultants worked closely with the client’s business analysts to understand the rule definitions. This initial analysis will include a data profiling exercise of the intended source data to get a closer understanding of the data content and the suitability / viability of the rules.
Once created Smallnet used a proven methodology to ensure the solution met with clients testing and verification of the rules, which in turn created a best practice approach for creating the rules for adoption, these rules are then logically organized into an appropriate folder hierarchy and linked to relevant catalog items such as Business Terms and Data Policies.
To ensure that the Pilot could be delivered within a reasonable time frame and because the rules specifications are potentially likely to continue to change we deployed a time boxed approach. This helped focus the delivery but still delivering something demonstrable in a reasonable time frame.
Once agreed and the running of the successful Pilot Smallnet worked with the client’s BI developers and analysts to help them identify the information required for their reports and creation of company-wide Dashboards plus a roll out process that allowed them to gain skills and knowledge transfer to be self-sufficient.
So from one small Data Catalog project grew out to encompass strong Data Quality rules and policies that will hold them in great strength and confidence in quality based solutions.
