CASE STUDY

EMERSON AND SANOFI: 
DATA STEWARDS SEEK DATA CONFORMI
TY 
MARY BRANDEL
MARCH 15, 2004
HTTP://WWW.COMPUTERWORLD.COM/S/ARTICLE/PRINT/91146/DATA
_STEWARDS_SEEK_CONFORMITY
AGENDA
• Introduction
 About Emerson
 About Sanofi
 Data Stewards
 Data Conformity and Quality
• Abstract
• Problems in building a data warehouse

• Solutions to build a desired data warehouse

 An Example

• Summary

• Qs & As
ABOUT EMERSON (CONT.)
• Emerson (NYSE: EMR) is a diversified global
manufacturing and technology company.
• offers a wide range of products and services in the areas
of
 process management professional tools
 climate technologies appliance solutions
 network power motor technologies
 storage solutions industrial automation.

• Recognized widely for its engineering capabilities and

management excellence
• Emerson has approximately 129,000 employees
• 250 manufacturing locations worldwide.
ABOUT EMERSON
• Emerson Reports Second Quarter 2010 Results 
• Second quarter sales up 1 percent, to $5.1
billion
• EPS from continuing operations increased 10
percent, to $0.54
• Strong operating cash flow of $632 million, up
27 percent
• Full year EPS guidance raised to $2.40 to $2.55

For More Detail Please Visit:

http://www.emerson.com
ABOUT SANOFI (CONT.)

•Sanofi-Synthélabo was a Paris-based
pharmaceutical company formed in 1999,
when Sanofi merged with Synthélabo.
•Sanofi was created in 1973.
•While Synthélabo was created in 1970.
•Sanofi-Aventis was formed in 2004 when
Sanofi-Synthélabo merged with Aventis.
ABOUT SANOFI
• U.S. Employee Count: 15,000
• Global Employee Count: 100,000
• Global Operations: More than 100 countries
• 2009 Global Sales: €29.3 billion
• 2009 Global R&D Investment: €4.6 billion
• Key Therapeutic Areas:
 Cardiovascular Disease
Oncology
 Central Nervous System
Thrombosis
 Internal Medicine
Vaccines
 Metabolic Disorders
• U.S. Web Site: www.sanofi-aventis.us
• Global Headquarters: Paris, France
• Global Web Site: www.sanofi-aventis.com
DATA STEWARDS
• Definition :
Data steward refers to the lead role in a data governance
project. Data stewards take ownership of the data and work with
the business to define the programm's objectives.
• a data steward is responsible for the data quality
• For data governance to be effective and successful in its objectives, the
right combination of processes, technology and people need to be in
place.
• The role of a data steward is that of maintaining data control in data
governance and master data management initiatives. Data stewardship is
required for data implementation and data management to succeed.
• A Data Steward can also be given a Data quality budget for driving the
data quality initiatives.
• A Data Steward should be positioned well in the organization in terms
of levels and hierarchy. A Data Steward can be reporting to CEO, COO
or to CFO.
DATA STEWARDS
 The benefits of appointing a data steward can include:
 Consistent use of data management as an effective resource
 Efficient mapping of data between systems and technology
 Potentially lower costs associated with migration to Service Oriented
Architecture (SOA)
DATA CONFORMITY & QUALITY
• Data Quality refers to the degree of excellence exhibited by
the data in relation to the portrayal of the actual phenomena.
• The state of completeness, validity, consistency, timeliness
and accuracy that makes data appropriate for a specific use.
• The totality of features and characteristics of data that bears
on their ability to satisfy a given purpose; the sum of the
degrees of excellence for factors related to data. 
• Data quality: The processes and technologies involved in
ensuring the conformance of data values to business
requirements and acceptance criteria
DATA QUALITY ISSUES
ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS
• Data quality issues in the legacy system arise because of the
following factors:

• Application Errors: These data errors creep in because of the

inability of the legacy system to validate certain user inputs.

• Human Errors: This is a major source of dirty data in the

legacy system. A major chunk of these errors can be attributed
to the legacy system's inability to validate data, but some
errors are logical in nature. For instance, consider a date field
that refers to the purchase date for a particular piece of
equipment. Now, the user may input a date, which can be
valid but can be wrong from a business perspective (i.e., the
user may enter a date in which the business never existed).
DATA QUALITY ISSUES
ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS
• Target system model definition: This can be a factor
only when a legacy system data conversion and
migration is part of the cleansing project.
• The target system model may dictate the data to be in a
certain format, which cannot be found in the legacy
system.
• Though this is not essentially dirty data, the need for
conversion and migration makes it compulsive for the
business to cleanse it. Alternatively, depending on the
difficulty level of conversion required, it can be
incorporated in the conversion process.
ABSTRACT (CONT.)
 This article focuses on the practice of having data stewards in
companies in the U.S.
 Most companies recognize the importance of data quality, but
many treat it as a find-and-fix effort to be conducted at the
end of a project by someone in information technology.
 Others casually assign the job to the business users who deal
with the data head-on. Still others may throw resources at
improving data only when a major problem occurs.
 Creating a data quality team requires gathering people with an
unusual mix of business, technology and diplomatic skills. It
is even difficult to agree on a job title.
ABSTRACT

 In the department of Nancy Rybeck of Emerson Process Management, they

are called data analysts, but titles at other companies include data quality
control supervisor, data coordinator or data quality manager.
 At Emerson, data analysts review data and correct errors before it is put into
the operational systems.
 They also research customer relationships, locations and corporate
hierarchies, train overseas workers to fix data in their native languages and
serve as the main contact with the data administrator for requirements.
 As the leader of the group, Rybeck plays a role that includes establishing
and communicating data standards, ensuring data integrity is maintained
and doing the logical design for the data warehouse tables.
PROBLEMS IN BUILDING A DATA
WAREHOUSE
 Attempted to build a data warehouse to store customer
information from over 85 countries.
 The effort failed in large part because the structure of the
warehouse couldn't accommodate the many variations on
customers' names. 
SOLUTIONS TO BUILD
A DATA WAREHOUSE (CONT.)
 Started to build a department with six to 10 full-time
"data stewards"
 dedicated to establishing and maintaining the quality of
data entered into the operational systems that feed the
data warehouse. 
SOLUTIONS TO BUILD
A DATA WAREHOUSE
• data stewards in each business unit review data and
correct errors before it's put into the operational systems.
• They also research customer relationships, locations and
corporate hierarchies;
• train overseas workers to fix data in their native
languages;
• serve as the main contact with the data administrator and
database architect for new requirements and bug fixes.
AN EXAMPLE (PROBLEM)
 We faced same problem in RABOBANK international.
 French characters in Users’ name create problem.

 Data Conversion from Lexis to CorrRisk.

AN EXAMPLE (SOLUTION)
• Replace French Characters with English Alphabets
• <Languages>
• <Language id="French">
• <alpha id="à">a</alpha>
• <alpha id="Â">A</alpha>
• <alpha id="ê">e</alpha>
• <alpha id="Ê">E</alpha>
• <alpha id="ÿ">y</alpha>
• <alpha id="Ý">Y</alpha>
• <alpha id="Œ">OE</alpha>
• <alpha id="œ">oe</alpha>
• <alpha id="Æ">AE</alpha>
• <alpha id="æ">ae</alpha>
• <alpha id="¿">?</alpha>
• </Language>
• </Languages>
AN EXAMPLE (SOLUTION)
 Data types are mapped
 A data compatible conversion executed

 Data from Lexis received in Excel format

 A Data Transfer Utility (DTU) read data from Excel files

and moved the data into database.
SUMMARY
• This article focuses on the practice of having data
stewards in companies in the U.S.
• For data warehouse to work properly, data has to be
standardized.
• Companies are hiring data stewards who are dedicated to
establishing and maintaining the quality of data entered
into the operational systems that feed the data
warehouse.
• Data stewards need to have business knowledge because
they need to make frequent judgment calls.
• Data quality is a journey, not a destination.
CASE STUDY QUESTIONS (CONT.)
Q1. Why is the role of a data steward considered to be innovative?
Explain.
Ans:
 Data steward are considered to be innovative. It’s a very good
idea to hand in the work to someone who knows how to deal
with the data and improve its quality.
 Data stewards establish and maintain the quality of data entered
into the operational systems that feed the data warehouse.
 Data steward can help the company to address the data problems
before they become serious problems that may affect on the
business work. The company should treat their data as other
assets, they have to create a quality team from different
departments and agree on a job title in all companies
CASE STUDY QUESTIONS (CONT.)
 Moreover, it is a non-traditional role that does not fit clearly
within any functional area (it’s not technical, but needs to know
technology; it’s not functional but needs business knowledge).
 While companies recognize the importance of data quality, it is
treated as a succession of small projects rather than as an
ongoing function.
 Finally, the need for data stewards only appeared as companies
started to cross-integrate information that was previously housed
independently, which has happened only recently.
CASE STUDY QUESTIONS (CONT.)
Q2. What are the business benefits associated with the data steward
program at Emerson?
Ans:
 The business benefits associated with the data steward are numerous.
 The main benefits are:
 Standardization
 Accurateness
 Quality of data
 Reducing the duplication of data
 Transaction errors
 At Emerson, data stewards make sure that data integrity is maintained
during database conversions and do the logical design for the data
warehouse tables. What this means for the Emerson is that their data is
correct, up-to-date and maintained.
 For example, Emerson’s customer records no longer have duplicated
records, misspellings and fields with missing data.
CASE STUDY QUESTIONS (CONT.)
 Also by having data stewards on staff, Emerson is
engaging in preventative maintenance - meaning that
because their data quality and integrity is consistently
maintained and updated, they are preventing major
problems from occurring in the data.
 Data stewards integrate across business units and
geographic locations, providing a clear picture of
worldwide operations.
 Data stewards also provide a single point of contact,
streamlining communications and routing of new
requirements.
CASE STUDY QUESTIONS (CONT.)
Q3. How does effective data resource management contribute to the
strategic goals of an organization? Provide examples
from Emerson and others.
Ans:
 Data resource management, a managerial activity that applies
information systems technology and management tools to the task
of managing an organization's data resources.
 It includes the database administration function that focuses on
developing and maintaining standards and controls for an
organization’s database.
 Data administration focuses on the planning and control of data to
support business functions and strategic organizational objectives.
This includes a data planning effort that focuses on developing
overall data architecture for a firm’s data resources. 
CASE STUDY QUESTIONS (CONT.)
 The examples could include:
* Management at Emerson is able to analyze who its customers
are, where they are located, how much and which products are they
purchasing, etc., which can lead to regional or global sales teams.

* Data stewards prioritize the allocation of resources to where

they are most needed, in terms of the quality and accuracy of the data.

* Accurate and updated data leads to less transaction errors and

returns, increasing customer satisfaction.

* For companies in certain industries, such as OneSource

Information Services, who are in the business of providing information,
effective data management is critical to its success and survival.
REFERENCES
 http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/91146/Data_Ste
wards_Seek_Conformity
 http://datastewardsseekdataconformity.blogspot.com/200
9/02/emerson-and-sanofi-data-stewards-seek_13.html
 http://www.emerson.com

• http://www.sanofi-aventis.us

• http://www.sanofi-aventis.com
THANK YOU FOR YOUR
PATIENCE