Reporting Principles – TOGAF

This post was kindly contributed by Blogging about all things SAS - go there to comment and to read the full post.

On one of the projects we have been working on we were required to define some reporting principals using the TOGAF style.

I had never used this style/methodology before, but found it great as it forced us to focus on describing these principles in a very succinct (saasinct way.

We also found there was a wealth of information publicly available on the internet that helped us define and refine these (while of course tailoring them to the customers unique business environment and needs)

So the principles we defined were:

• Continuous Improvement
  The reporting environment and capabilities should be continuously improved with the goal of moving the organiation up the reporting maturity model.
• Consolidated Capability
  A single integrated capability will be utilised unless it cannot meet a key business requirement.
• Build vs. Buy
  Where possible packaged or out of the box components should be implemented, rather than custom built solutions.
• User Self Service based Reporting
  Users will access the information they require via Self Service reporting capability.
• Single Integrated Business Intelligence Capability
  All reporting interfaces will be delivered via a single integrated Business Intelligence suite to provide a primary authoritative system avoiding confusion through duplication and reducing the cost of integration.
• Reporting Interfaces fit for purpose
  All reporting interfaces will be fit for purpose, matching the majority of the user’s requirements for a given task.
• Role based security
  Reports will be secured and access granted based on users role.
• Single Consolidated and Trusted Data Repository
  All reporting data will be accessed via a single consolidated data repository. The EDW will be the single source of truth for operational, time series, management, analytical, strategic and externally reported orgamisational data.
• Published Reporting Metadata
  Metadata describing the business rules that are used to transform data will be published in a format readily accessible by business users.
• Source applications data integration
  Source applications data will be easy to access and integrate.
• Data Cleansing
  Data will be cleansed at source.

Then the expanded TOGAF style of a principle:

Name:	User Self Service based Reporting
Statement:	Users will access the information they require via Self Service reporting capability
Rationale:	The ability for users to access their own reports and content reduces the cost of IT having to develop and deliver this content. In addition it decreases the time to serve for reporting content.
Implications:	All users have targeted tools available that deliver the functionality they require, when they require it Users will be able to create their own reports if so inclined, minimising the need for specialist IT intervention Templates will enable easy reuse of reports and layouts, ensuring efficiency Reports will be published to a common area for subscription rather than directly sending reports to users. Users will be provided access to, and appropriately trained in, the reporting environments that will help them do their jobs Online eLearning will be available for relevant staff for relevant tools.

As you can see a simple but informative way of defining the principal, its intent and its impact!

This post was kindly contributed by Blogging about all things SAS - go there to comment and to read the full post.