FREE DM Review Site Registration!
Sign-up today and access DM Review on the Web!

Your FREE registration entitles you to:
FREE email newsletters

FREE access to all DM Review content

FREE access to web seminars, resource portals, our white paper library and more!

   

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?

Clay Rehm's Answer: There are probably many but you could create your own template as long as the following information at a minimum is included:

  • Report Name
  • Report Description
  • Who requested report
  • Who created report
  • Date report created
  • Who was the report designed for
  • Who is using the report
  • Who is not using the report anymore and why
  • Data sources
  • Business rules/derivations/ alculations in report
  • Technology (software product) used to create report
The benefit of performing this exercise will show to you and your users any report and data overlap, thus providing the opportunity to streamline your operations.

Clay Rehm, CCP, PMP, is president of Rehm Technology (www.rehmtech.com), a consulting firm specializing in data integration solutions. Rehm provides hands-on expertise in project management, assessments, methodologies, data modeling, database design, metadata and systems analysis, design and development. He has worked in multiple platforms and his experience spans operational and data warehouse environments. Rehm is a technical book editor and is a co-author of the book, Impossible Data Warehouse Situations with Solutions from the Experts. In addition, he is a Certified Computing Professional (CCP), a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Science and a Masters Degree in Software Engineering from Carroll College. He can be reached at clay.rehm@rehmtech.com.

For more information on related topics, visit the following channels:



Industry Vendors