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.

Filed under:

Business Intelligence