November 2011

Sponsored by Teradata, Inc.

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This paper proposes seven fundamental traits of data structure, composition and use that enable IT professionals to examine existing and new data sources and respond to the opportunities and challenges posed by new business demands and novel technological advances. 

Abstract

We live in a time when data volumes are growing faster than Moore’s Law and the variety of structures and sources has expanded far beyond those that IT has experience of managing. It is simultaneously an era when our businesses and our daily lives have become intimately dependent on such data being trustworthy, consistent, timely and correct. And yet, our thinking about and tools for managing data quality remain rooted in a traditional understanding of what data is and how it works.

This paper proposes seven fundamental traits of data structure, composition and use that enable IT professionals to examine existing and new data sources and respond to the opportunities and challenges posed by new business demands and novel technological advances. These traits can help answer fundamental questions about how and where data should be stored and how it should be protected. And they suggest how it can be securely made available to business users in a timely manner.

Using the Data Equalizer, a tool that graphically portrays the overall tone and character of a dataset, IT professionals can quickly evaluate the data management needs of a specific set of data. More generally, it clarifies how technologies such as relational databases and Hadoop, for example, can be positioned relative to one another and how the data warehouse is likely to evolve as the central integrating hub in a heterogeneous, distributed and expanding data environment.