Data Quality

Lets explain the logo

A database is a decoupling point

The Blue triangle is a symbol used in logistics. It represents a buffer between two processes.

The process on the left of the buffer can push products into the buffer.

The processes on the right of the buffer can pull products out of buffer when they need them.

The first process never has to wait until the second one needs it product. And vice versa, the second process never has to wait until the first is finished making the product. The Buffer decouples both processes. The two processes can merrily do their thing without being aware what is happening in the other process.

A one to many relationship between projects.

The one arrow in represent the one project that creates the database.

The three arrows out stand for three or more projects that use the data from the database.

The creator process on the left that build the database does not know which processes on the right will use it. Consequently the creator can not put the data in a format that is optimal for the user. Even if it did know what format was optimal for a particular user, it can do little with that knowledge. There are many users, each user has its own optimal format. The database creator can not please everyone.

Focus on data quality .

So what format will the creator use for storing data? What is a good way to do the storing? The only good thing the creator can do is focus on data quality (e.g. do the data accurately reflect the current state of the world, are some facts stored more than once - if so are both version of the same fact consistent with each other -).

The big Q in the blue triangle stands for quality. The data are optimized for data-quality not for ease of use by the consuming processes.