The very definition of Data is the factual information (as measurements or statistics) used as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or calculation. [Source]
The data that I work with on a daily basis. The life blood of a company. Without data, no company can expect to make intellectual decisions that will affect their outcome positively. Without data, no C-level executive can have everything they need to make the decisions to move their company forward. With data though, a company that has less than nothing can become the next great company.
My every day goal is to put the right data into the right hands so that the project – and, therefore, company – objectives can be met. This can be done via many means. It could be as simple as a one-time pull from a single database table. It could be as difficult as multiple reports – that are sent automatically or pushed to a SharePoint site — being pulled through-out the day from several sources being combined into a single document that is combined and massaged and finally, sent to the C-level executives. Or even worse!
So, over the next several posts, I’m going to discuss a topic that is very near and dear to many people that work with data – Data Sources! What is a data source? Even more importantly, what is not a data source? What can be done with a data source? Why do we need data sources?
So until next time….