Book Image

Turning Spreadsheets into Corporate Data

By : Bill Inmon
Book Image

Turning Spreadsheets into Corporate Data

By: Bill Inmon

Overview of this book

Spreadsheets are a popular way to store and communicate business data, but, although they are easy to create and update, they are not reliable enough to be used for making important corporate decisions. With this book, you can gain insight into how to maintain spreadsheets, how to format them, and then convert them into a database of reliable and useful information. Turning Spreadsheets into Corporate Data starts with a quick history of spreadsheet usage. You’ll learn the basics of formatting spreadsheets, including how to handle special characters and column headings, and how to convert the spreadsheet first into an intermediate database and then into corporate data. You will also learn how to utilize the mnemonic dictionary that is created along with the intermediate database. The later chapters discuss the immutability of data and the importance of organizational and political considerations during the data transformation. By the end of this book, you’ll have the skills and knowledge needed to convert your spreadsheets into reliable corporate data.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)
Free Chapter
1
Introduction
14
13: Case Study
15
Glossary
16
Index

The Spectrum of Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets can be arranged on a wide spectrum, starting at very informal non-recurring spreadsheets and ranging to very formal recurring spreadsheets.

When it comes to creating corporate data, the vast majority of spreadsheets do not warrant the care and work that is required to create corporate data. Some of the traits a spreadsheet must have to be a viable candidate for corporate data include:

  • The spreadsheet is formal, rather than informal
  • The spreadsheet is recurring
  • The data on the spreadsheet is useful to a large audience

Examples include spreadsheets that will be used for inter-corporate communication and transferability of data.

Figure 2.2 shows which portion of spreadsheets may be good candidates to be turned into corporate data.

Figure002.jpg

The transformation of spreadsheets for the purpose of creating internal corporate data (called public data), is a little different than the case of creating...