We all know that Anaplan is allowing business users to make fact-based decisions quicker and faster than ever before, but we consistently hear from customers that their data quality is not up to par. “Garbage in, garbage out” or “dirty data” are phrases you’ve probably heard. I hate to be so blunt, but data will never be perfect. At Spaulding Ridge, we view data quality not as the end result but as an ongoing process. If you manage your data quality consistently and regularly, you will find that the overall cleanliness of the data improves—allowing you to better understand where gaps exist and to confidently rely on your data to make sound decisions. Here’s the good news; Anaplan allows you to manage data quality without having to spend months fixing source systems! We’ve taken advantage of this to develop processes and techniques in Anaplan to manage data quality—also known as Load, Validate, and Correct (LVC).
A key step in reducing data errors is ensuring the data fed to Anaplan is loaded correctly from the start. Follow these steps for each data import:
After data has been imported into a data hub, how do we go about validating the data? And what kind of information can we provide to business users to assist in this very important process? These are all important questions to address.
Confirming that the data within a data hub and model ties out to previously reported data is a critical component to the success of build and implementation. The early focus on data validation is very impactful to how thorough the final data is and how end users can utilize the integrated tool. End data—including information displayed on dashboards, as well as exported data—is only as useful as the original data is accurate, making it vitally important to place a focus on validation from day one.
One of the beauties of Anaplan is that you don't have to go back to source systems to correct data. Anaplan shines a light on data and exposes data-quality issues. Correcting the data should include the following techniques:
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It is never too late to start building data quality management processes into your Anaplan solutions. Remember, LVC (Load, Validate, Correct) and data quality issues will not slow you down.
For more information or to discuss your organization’s current challenges around data quality, contact us at info@spauldingridge.com.
Alyssa Fraelick, AssociateSpaulding Ridge, LLC Associate Alyssa Fraelick is an experienced Anaplan model builder. A lover of data, Alyssa strives to provide the utmost valuable solutions to her client to help bring them to the forefront of Connected Planning.
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