Customer Data Integration: Reaching a Single Version of the Truth

DATA QUALITY: THE MOVIE

The title of this chapter represents a veritable refrain from business users worldwide. Indeed, it’s part of a larger scenario playing out in businesses across the world on a daily basis. (This is a “blended” story, meaning the names have been changed to protect the guilty.)

FADE IN:

INTERIOR: CORNER OFFICE OF A CORPORATE EXECU-TIVE—DAY.

Reclining in a black mesh office chair behind a glass desk, hands clasped expectantly is Ray, the vice president of customer service for a home décor company. Luis, the company’s vice president of merchandising, walks in and takes a seat.

RAY: Hey, Luis.

LUIS: Hey. Listen, Ray . . .

RAY: Luis, I know what the problem is.

LUIS: Ray, you have no idea. My guys . . .

RAY: No, Luis, listen. We figured it out. Our customers thought they were ordering individual floor tiles, but the system thought they were ordering boxes of tiles.

LUIS: Ray, the catalogs have gone out. They say “units.” Our customers think a “unit” is a “tile.”

RAY: No. It’s a box of tiles. That’s a dozen tiles per box.

LUIS: So here’s what’s happening. When my customer orders 50 units, he thinks he’s getting 50 tiles, but he gets 50 boxes. That’s 600 tiles, Ray. My phone is ringing off the hook!

RAY (agitated): Your phone? Do you know how many more inbound calls we’re getting? We’ve got a ticket backlog and my CSRs are swamped!

LUIS: Your CSRs? Our distribution center is getting 12 times the volume that it should be handling! And guess who has ...