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Are there any standard formats to document (or rather describe) the reports we generate from our DW?

Question: An auditor advised us to document (or rather describe) the reports we generate from our DW. Are there any standard formats we could use to do this?

Evan Levy's Answer: I don't know of any specific standards that represent a description of a report for auditing purposes. Most tools have their own format for data and report representation. If the goal is to represent reports in a graphical or illustrative manner, a file utilizing either PDF or XML might be sufficient.

Some of my clients have established their own descriptive format for retaining information about a report because their audit needs exceeded the details contained in typical tool-based XML content. The details they identified include:

  • The specific data elements required to display the results illustrated within the report.
  • The process elements required by the report that aren't displayed (this may include aggregate or filter details). One example of this type of element would be "state" in a report that reflects the top five districts by revenue for the state of Florida. (The column "state" isn't displayed, but is necessary to generate the query and filter the results.)
  • A business definition of the data elements contained in the report.
  • The actual query (if available) that was used to generate the report.
  • The processing details associated with the specific data elements (aggregation, filtering, ranking, etc.).
  • The data sources used to generate the report.
  • User metadata details (owner, data created, etc.).

Evan Levy is a partner and co-founder of Baseline Consulting Group, a multivendor systems integration and consulting firm. As the partner in charge of Baseline’s largest practice, Levy leads both executives and practitioners in delivering technology solutions that help business users make better decisions. He has led strategic technology implementations at commercial and public sector organizations and advises vendors on their product development and delivery strategies. Levy has been published in a wide array of industry magazines and has lectured on a range of technology delivery experiences at leading conferences and vendor events. He has been a featured speaker at the Marcus Evans Analytical CRM symposium, DCI’s Data Warehousing conference, the CRM Association, DAMA International, the AMA and the Data Warehousing Institute. His current work involves delivering and lecturing extensively on the topic of data integration. You can contact him at evanlevy@baseline-consulting.com.

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