data-repository

Central Data Repository

With the trend towards the use of ‘best of breed’ systems it has become apparent that many systems within a company require access to the same information. A typical example of this is the overlap bewteen ERP and CRM systems. Often these systems are selected by one department without considering the interaction with other departments. Before too long it becomes clear that there are two sets of data which require constant synchronization, a non-trivial problem.

The Adaxa Suite adopts a more logical approach by adopting an architecture which centralizes the storage and maintenance of data. An example centers around the storage of information about a ‘business partner’. Business partner is a collective term for customers, suppliers and employees. Associated with each of these business partners is data related to their demographics, trading and much more. This information is necessary for the operation of the following systems:

 

  • Logon authentication
  • Enterprise Resource Planning
  • Point of Sale
  • Customer Relationship Management
  • Business Intelligence
  • Document Management
  • Inbound/outbound Telephony

 

Benefits of a centralized data architecture

In adopting this centralized approach, an organization achieves several benefits:

 

  • Cost Savings – by eliminating silo-management of security reference data, a single point of entry is introduced for data feeds. This allows changes from data vendors to be implemented once, rather than in multiple instances. Additionally, with data management centralized, costs attributed to vendor relationships are better controlled, minimizing any redundancy in market data contracts and their associated costs.
  • Decreased Risk – with centralized data management, all edits and manipulations to core data are housed and stored centrally. This model allows for staunch controls, detailed audit trails, and enables business users to access consistent data.
  • Data Consistency – when data feeds are managed in a central repository, an organization can achieve consistent data management and distribution throughout its global offices and internal systems. Once data is brought into the data repository, the data can then be scrubbed, validated, and readied for distribution throughout an enterprise.
  • Data Quality – a data-centric approach enables the establishment of a data standard across an enterprise, allowing organizations to make better business assessments.
  • Operational Efficiency – when one business unit controls an organization’s data centrally, the resources previously devoted to data management can be redirected back to core business needs. Additionally, organizations can eliminate manual processing of data, which in turn reduces the risks of making poor business decisions.