Data
A data platform brings figures from several operational systems into one place with agreed definitions, so questions can be answered once rather than reconciled every time they are asked.
Context
Most reporting disputes are definition disputes. Until a business agrees what counts as an order, the tooling underneath cannot resolve the disagreement.
Choices
Every choice below has a reason attached. A stack without reasons is a logo wall.
The questions we work through before recommending anything in this area.
Recommending something everywhere is the same as having no opinion.
Where we apply it
Only when several sources and a growing set of questions make separate reporting unworkable. With two systems and a few recurring questions, well-defined reports are cheaper and faster to trust.
Almost always because they define revenue differently: different date, different treatment of refunds, different inclusion rules. That is a definition problem, and no platform resolves it for you.
A data platform brings figures from several operational systems into one place with agreed definitions, so questions can be answered once rather than reconciled every time they are asked.
Most reporting disputes are definition disputes. Until a business agrees what counts as an order, the tooling underneath cannot resolve the disagreement.
Two source systems and a handful of recurring questions: well-defined reports are cheaper and easier to trust; Where the underlying definitions are still disputed; a warehouse will encode the disagreement rather than settle it; and As a first step toward AI, when the actual requirement is access to a few specific documents
How many systems hold data the question needs; How often the question is asked, and by whom; and Whether anyone can state the definition of the metric today
Separates analytical queries from the systems running the business, so reporting cannot slow operations. Managed rather than self-hosted because maintaining a warehouse is a full-time job that produces no business value.
Most business questions are answered fine by data that is an hour old. Streaming multiplies cost and failure modes, and should follow a demonstrated need for freshness rather than precede it.
Connected
Bring the existing system and the constraints around it. We will tell you where this fits, where it would be the wrong tool, and what we would leave exactly as it is.
