Taking it and using it: Data extraction, cleaning, transformation and loading
There are lots of different information management solutions. In order for data warehouses, data marts and other analytical applications to give the maximum return on your investment, you and your company need to understand your data.
This will help you develop Extract, Clean, Transform and Load (ETCL) processes for your enterprise’s information which are both efficient and effective. It’s these ETCL processes which are used to gather your business’s data from the siloed and fragmented sources where it can often be found.
ETCL processes can account for up to 50% of the resource in a data warehouse project, so it is vital to use best practice and make sure investments are made carefully.
Our information architects will work with and guide you through understanding the critical data needed for an application or business process.
We pay particularly close attention to understanding your business’s needs as well as the consistency and validity of data. Once these have been established, the ETCL process can be designed and put into place.
In general, this is how the process works:
Extract data from the source system and make it accessible for further processing. The ‘Extract’ step’s main objective is to access the source data as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Clean the data to ensure its quality. The ‘Clean’ step will also make sure that the data is subject to basic unification rules, such as making identifiers unique and validating it with third-party resources.
Transform the data from the source to the target. The ‘Transform’ step converts measured data to common dimensions. This enables the data to have all kinds of processes worked upon it later.
Load the data to make sure the loading process is performed correctly and in full. The ‘Load’ step also maintains the data’s integrity through ETL processes and tools, which keep it consistent.
Why is data extraction, transformation and loading important?
A robust ETL process means your company will be able to take advantage of data you previously thought you’d lost. There’s valuable information hidden out there: netlogx will help you unlock its potential.