I always looked forward to report cards as a kid, seeing them as validation that I'd accepted the challenge of doing well in school. It helps that I enjoyed school and learning in general and if it had paid better, I'd have stayed in college forever :)
Now I'm in the database world and while I have regular reviews from an employer, it's not the same. However it is a report and I have almost always gotten positive ones in my career. And apparently I'm doing better than the FCC. In the linked article, the US GAO has issued a report on the FCC (another government department), criticizing their data management and controls, saying it's unable to even determine what is wrong. As you might expect, the FCC says the report is based on old information and they've made changes.
But how would any of you like to get a report like this about your performance in the data world?
I'm actually not sure what to make of this. The report doesn't say that the FCC as an organization is doing a bad job, but rather that there isn't enough information collected, or properly collected to determine if work is being done properly. It's a similar complaint that I hear about Connect in that comments aren't always being properly used when items are closed.
It seems that a lot of what the FCC isn't doing is properly controlling and using their data. There aren't the feedback looks, checks, reports, and other tools in place that allow this organization to determine how well they are meeting their goals.
In other words, I think they're missing some Business Intelligence type reporting and alerting that would analyze the data.
I'm haven't been a proponent of the BI-hype, mostly because I think it's difficult, especially when I see many DBAs struggling with the simpler database engine, it's expensive (even though it's cheaper with SQL Server), and it requires a long term investment. My feeling is that most companies with a quarter-to-quarter or yearly view will struggle with a multi-year BI system investment.
However in this case, with profitability not an issue, a long term mission, and the need to be accountable for their actions, a strong BI solution would be a great asset to this, and many other, governmental institutions. Hopefully the FCC is working on this and the next time I hear about them it will be a success story in achieveing their goals.
Steve Jones
The Voice of the DBA Podcasts
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