During the end of the year there seems to ALWAYS be a slow down on projects. Maybe it is because people are taking all their vacation, or maybe the budget has been cut and projects are stalled until after the first of the year. No matter what the reason is, THIS IS THE PERFECT TIME TO ORGANIZE the data models and the database tables to get ready for action in 2013. I think this year I will tackle the following:
- Analyze whether we need a database for data profiling. We could use the business intelligence staging area, but really we do profiling for master data and other integration projects. So, I think the answer is to create a specific data profiling database to be used by the data analysts, data architects and data modelers.
- Clean up the data model. This will require a compare (table to table/entity) from the data model to the database. If there are discrepancies, some analysis will be required before I can delete something out of the data model OR the database. I will need to include looking at what job(s) update those tables, etc.
- Look at the projects on hold and those waiting in the wings. Will we need more resources to handle the workload? Better start looking now for "data people." They seem to be few and far between (at least in my neck of the woods).
- Consider your procedure and guidelines. Are they easy enough for a new person to understand quickly? It is not very often we can find a new person who can hit the road running!
Well, I guess that will keep me pretty busy for the next month or so.
