CASE STUDY EMERSON AND SANOFI: DATA STEWARDS SEEK DATA CONFORMITY  MARY BRANDEL MARCH 15, 2004 HTTP://WWW.COMPUTERWORLD.COM/S/ARTICLE/PRINT/91146/DATA_STEWARDS_SEEK_CONFORMITY

AGENDA

• Introduction About Emerson About Sanofi Data Stewards Data Conformity and Quality

• Abstract • Problems in building a data warehouse• Solutions to build a desired data warehouse An Example• Summary• Qs & As

ABOUT EMERSON (CONT.)

• Emerson (NYSE: EMR) is a diversified global manufacturing and technology company.

• offers a wide range of products and services in the areas of process management climate technologies network power storage solutions

• Recognized widely for its engineering capabilities and management excellence

• Emerson has approximately 129,000 employees

• 250 manufacturing locations worldwide.

professional toolsappliance solutionsmotor technologiesindustrial automation.

ABOUT EMERSON• Emerson Reports Second Quarter 2010

Results 

• Second quarter sales up 1 percent, to $5.1 billion• EPS from continuing operations increased 10 percent, to $0.54• Strong operating cash flow of $632 million, up 27 percent• Full year EPS guidance raised to $2.40 to $2.55

For More Detail Please Visit: http://www.emerson.com

ABOUT SANOFI (CONT.)

•Sanofi-Synthélabo was a Paris-based pharmaceutical company formed in 1999, when Sanofi merged with Synthélabo. •Sanofi was created in 1973. •While Synthélabo was created in 1970. •Sanofi-Aventis was formed in 2004 when Sanofi-Synthélabo merged with Aventis.

ABOUT SANOFI• U.S. Employee Count: 15,000• Global Employee Count: 100,000• Global Operations: More than 100 countries• 2009 Global Sales: €29.3 billion• 2009 Global R&D Investment: €4.6 billion• Key Therapeutic Areas:

Cardiovascular DiseaseCentral Nervous System Internal MedicineMetabolic Disorders

• U.S. Web Site: www.sanofi-aventis.us• Global Headquarters: Paris, France• Global Web Site: www.sanofi-aventis.com

OncologyThrombosisVaccines

DATA STEWARDS• Definition :

Data steward refers to the lead role in a data governance project. Data stewards take ownership of the data and work with the business to define the programm's objectives.

• a data steward is responsible for the data quality• For data governance to be effective and successful in its

objectives, the right combination of processes, technology and people need to be in place.

• The role of a data steward is that of maintaining data control in data governance and master data management initiatives. Data stewardship is required for data implementation and data management to succeed.

• A Data Steward can also be given a Data quality budget for driving the data quality initiatives.

• A Data Steward should be positioned well in the organization in terms of levels and hierarchy. A Data Steward can be reporting to CEO, COO or to CFO.

DATA STEWARDS

The benefits of appointing a data steward can include: Consistent use of data management as an effective

resource Efficient mapping of data between systems and

technology Potentially lower costs associated with migration to

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)

DATA CONFORMITY & QUALITY

• Data Quality refers to the degree of excellence exhibited by the data in relation to the portrayal of the actual phenomena.

• The state of completeness, validity, consistency, timeliness and accuracy that makes data appropriate for a specific use.

• The totality of features and characteristics of data that bears on their ability to satisfy a given purpose; the sum of the degrees of excellence for factors related to data. 

• Data quality: The processes and technologies involved in ensuring the conformance of data values to business requirements and acceptance criteria

DATA QUALITY ISSUESROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS• Data quality issues in the legacy system arise

because of the following factors:

• Application Errors: These data errors creep in because of the inability of the legacy system to validate certain user inputs.

• Human Errors: This is a major source of dirty data in the legacy system. A major chunk of these errors can be attributed to the legacy system's inability to validate data, but some errors are logical in nature. For instance, consider a date field that refers to the purchase date for a particular piece of equipment. Now, the user may input a date, which can be valid but can be wrong from a business perspective (i.e., the user may enter a date in which the business never existed).

DATA QUALITY ISSUESROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Target system model definition: This can be a factor only when a legacy system data conversion and migration is part of the cleansing project.

• The target system model may dictate the data to be in a certain format, which cannot be found in the legacy system.

• Though this is not essentially dirty data, the need for conversion and migration makes it compulsive for the business to cleanse it. Alternatively, depending on the difficulty level of conversion required, it can be incorporated in the conversion process.

ABSTRACT (CONT.)

This article focuses on the practice of having data stewards in companies in the U.S.

Most companies recognize the importance of data quality, but many treat it as a find-and-fix effort to be conducted at the end of a project by someone in information technology.

Others casually assign the job to the business users who deal with the data head-on. Still others may throw resources at improving data only when a major problem occurs.

Creating a data quality team requires gathering people with an unusual mix of business, technology and diplomatic skills. It is even difficult to agree on a job title.

ABSTRACT

In the department of Nancy Rybeck of Emerson Process Management, they are called data analysts, but titles at other companies include data quality control supervisor, data coordinator or data quality manager.

At Emerson, data analysts review data and correct errors before it is put into the operational systems.

They also research customer relationships, locations and corporate hierarchies, train overseas workers to fix data in their native languages and serve as the main contact with the data administrator for requirements.

As the leader of the group, Rybeck plays a role that includes establishing and communicating data standards, ensuring data integrity is maintained and doing the logical design for the data warehouse tables.

PROBLEMS IN BUILDING A DATA WAREHOUSE

Attempted to build a data warehouse to store customer information from over 85 countries.

The effort failed in large part because the structure of the warehouse couldn't accommodate the many variations on customers' names. 

SOLUTIONS TO BUILD A DATA WAREHOUSE (CONT.)

Started to build a department with six to 10 full-time "data stewards"

dedicated to establishing and maintaining the quality of data entered into the operational systems that feed the data warehouse. 

SOLUTIONS TO BUILD A DATA WAREHOUSE

• data stewards in each business unit review data and correct errors before it's put into the operational systems.

• They also research customer relationships, locations and corporate hierarchies;

• train overseas workers to fix data in their native languages;

• serve as the main contact with the data administrator and database architect for new requirements and bug fixes.

AN EXAMPLE (PROBLEM)

We faced same problem in RABOBANK international.

French characters in Users’ name create problem.

Data Conversion from Lexis to CorrRisk.

AN EXAMPLE (SOLUTION)• Replace French Characters with English Alphabets• <Languages>• <Language id="French">• <alpha id="à">a</alpha>• <alpha id="Â">A</alpha>• <alpha id="ê">e</alpha>• <alpha id="Ê">E</alpha>• <alpha id="ÿ">y</alpha>• <alpha id="Ý">Y</alpha>• <alpha id="Œ">OE</alpha>• <alpha id="œ">oe</alpha>• <alpha id="Æ">AE</alpha>• <alpha id="æ">ae</alpha>• <alpha id="¿">?</alpha>• </Language>• </Languages>

AN EXAMPLE (SOLUTION)

Data types are mapped A data compatible conversion executed Data from Lexis received in Excel format A Data Transfer Utility (DTU) read data from

Excel files and moved the data into database.

SUMMARY

• This article focuses on the practice of having data stewards in companies in the U.S.

• For data warehouse to work properly, data has to be standardized.

• Companies are hiring data stewards who are dedicated to establishing and maintaining the quality of data entered into the operational systems that feed the data warehouse.

• Data stewards need to have business knowledge because they need to make frequent judgment calls.

• Data quality is a journey, not a destination.

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS (CONT.)

Q1. Why is the role of a data steward considered to be innovative? Explain.

Ans: Data steward are considered to be innovative. It’s a

very good idea to hand in the work to someone who knows how to deal with the data and improve its quality.

Data stewards establish and maintain the quality of data entered into the operational systems that feed the data warehouse.

Data steward can help the company to address the data problems before they become serious problems that may affect on the business work. The company should treat their data as other assets, they have to create a quality team from different departments and agree on a job title in all companies

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS (CONT.) Moreover, it is a non-traditional role that does not

fit clearly within any functional area (it’s not technical, but needs to know technology; it’s not functional but needs business knowledge).

While companies recognize the importance of data quality, it is treated as a succession of small projects rather than as an ongoing function.

Finally, the need for data stewards only appeared as companies started to cross-integrate information that was previously housed independently, which has happened only recently.

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS (CONT.)Q2. What are the business benefits associated with

the data steward program at Emerson?Ans: The business benefits associated with the data steward

are numerous. The main benefits are:

Standardization Accurateness Quality of data Reducing the duplication of data Transaction errors

At Emerson, data stewards make sure that data integrity is maintained during database conversions and do the logical design for the data warehouse tables. What this means for the Emerson is that their data is correct, up-to-date and maintained.

For example, Emerson’s customer records no longer have duplicated records, misspellings and fields with missing data.

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS (CONT.)

Also by having data stewards on staff, Emerson is engaging in preventative maintenance - meaning that because their data quality and integrity is consistently maintained and updated, they are preventing major problems from occurring in the data.

Data stewards integrate across business units and geographic locations, providing a clear picture of worldwide operations.

Data stewards also provide a single point of contact, streamlining communications and routing of new requirements.

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS (CONT.)

Q3. How does effective data resource management contribute to the strategic goals of an organization? Provide examples from Emerson and others.

Ans: Data resource management, a managerial activity

that applies information systems technology and management tools to the task of managing an organization's data resources.

It includes the database administration function that focuses on developing and maintaining standards and controls for an organization’s database.

Data administration focuses on the planning and control of data to support business functions and strategic organizational objectives. This includes a data planning effort that focuses on developing overall data architecture for a firm’s data resources. 

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS (CONT.) The examples could include:

* Management at Emerson is able to analyze who its customers are, where they are located, how much and which products are they purchasing, etc., which can lead to regional or global sales teams.

* Data stewards prioritize the allocation of resources to where they are most needed, in terms of the quality and accuracy of the data.

* Accurate and updated data leads to less transaction errors and returns, increasing customer satisfaction.

* For companies in certain industries, such as OneSource Information Services, who are in the business of providing information, effective data management is critical to its success and survival.

REFERENCES

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/91146/Data_Stewards_Seek_Conformity

http://datastewardsseekdataconformity.blogspot.com/2009/02/emerson-and-sanofi-data-stewards-seek_13.html

http://www.emerson.com• http://www.sanofi-aventis.us• http://www.sanofi-aventis.com

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE