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Road Map

This is a draft version of the new Database Answers Road Map, which is also available in in Arabic, Chinese and French.

The first table on this page shows the five Stages in the Road Map.
The second Table shows some Questions that will hep you assess which Stage of the Road Map is appropriate for you.
Of course, different parts of your organisation might be at different Stages at the same time.

Stages in the Road Map

There are five Stages and the Information Catalogue in the Road Map

Stage 1	Data Sources and Database Design
Stage 2	Data Integration
Stage 3	Data Marts
Stage 4	BI and Performance Reporting
Stage 5	Data Governance
Stage 6	Information Catalogue

Self-Assessment to determine your Stage in the Road Map

These Questions help you go to the right Stage for you

Do you need to design a new Database ?	Stage 1
Do you need to produce documentation for an existing Database ?	Stage 1
Do you need to handle multiple languages ?	Stage 1
Do you use multiple types of Database, such as SQL Server and Oracle ?	Stage 2
Is Data Quality an Enterprise Issue ?	Stage 2
Do you have a Single View of the Things of Importance, such as Customers ?	Stage 2
Do you have Master Data Management (MDM) in place ?	Stage 2
Can you verify the derivation of all data (the 'Data Lineage’) in your Reports ?	Stage 3
Do you want to combine Excel data in your Reports ?	Stage 3
Is it difficult to meet all your Chief Exec's Report requirements ?	Stage 4
Is anyone using Mashups in your organisation ?	Stage 4b
Do you have a top-down view of Data Management in your organisation ?	Stage 5
Does your organisation have a Data Governance function ?	Stage 5
Do you have a Information Catalogue, Data Dictionary or Data Repository in place ?	Info Cat

Self-Assessment Snapshots to determine your Stage and Maturity Level in the Road Map

These Snapshots will help identify the Stage and Maturity you are at

STAGE	BASIC	AVERAGE	IDEAL
1) Data Sources	Knowledge in the heads of individuals	Top 20 Applications known, with list of Data Sources and Owners	Agile development with refactoring techniques
	No Data Models and poor documentation of links between code and databases	Basic Data Dictionary in place	Data Models and sign-off by DBA on all changes
			User access and sign-off for Information Catalogue
2) Data Integration	Ad-hoc integration using bespoke SQL Scripts	Some Templates established and comemrcial Tools in use	MDM approved, data owner sign-off, Data Quality is an Enterprise Issue
		Software Tools linked to the Information Catalogue	Clear and reconciled top-down and bottom-up views of data
			Data Architectures and Data Models for Sources and Targets
	Nobody understands Master Data Management (MDM)	MDM is planned	MDM is in place
2) Data Quality
DQ Level -	Could be improved	Sufficient	Accurate, valid and relevant
DQ Policy -	Under consideration	Under implementation	Established as an Enterprise Issue
3) Data Marts	No understanding of Data Marts	One Data Mart in place for a limited range of Reports	Generic and Specific Data Marts designed and in place
4) BI+Perf Rpts	One-off, often independent Reports, with Departmental spreadsheets	Independent Maps, KPIs and rill-down to detailed Reports	Integrated Maps, KPIs and drill-down for senior management
4b) Internet Mashups	None	Isolated developed	Users aware
5) Data Governance	None	No End-to-End agreeement	Procedures published, Roles and Responsibilities agreed and Sign-off in place
Information Catalogue	None	Records major Applications, Databases,Tables, Attributes and so on.	Online Catalogue used to control and track all changes.