( 1 Vote )
I've just read with interest the following post by Jerome Wendt at the Analysts DCIG http://symantec.dciginc.com/2010/03/data-insight-seeks-to-answer.html

My first thought on this was "what a useful tool", but then started to question myself. Firstly it maps user access to data. When I run our Unstructured Data Analysis tool over client systems I regularly find 80%+ of data is inactive and hasn't been used or modified since creation or migration so any automated process is going to miss these large chunks. My next concern is that whilst a technically sophisticated product this is another example of IT giving leading answers to business decisions. Strong corporate information management is about IT assisting a business unit get rid of the '000s of spreadsheets stored and implement a better business process, not assume the process isn't broken. I agree that data ownership is a significant problem and many are shying away from it. I also think the product will have some success as it offers a way to mask the underlying issue, an unfortunate and costly trend in modern data management, however IMO the answer is to process map organisational data flows from the department down not the data up. An analogy, a vet (IT) driving round a safari park would see whether the animals are well or not but  have to assume they are all in the right place. Only the keepers (depts) would really know.


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http://www.centiq.co.uk/attachments/101_data-profiling-sample-report.pdf

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