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Virtues

Data Export From Visualisation Tools

urn:js:virtue:aspire:principle:35.1

TL;DR

Data exported from visualisation tools is not to be used foroperational reporting, export usage will be monitored to measure adherence. Processes built around exports are not supported. Export is prohibited for PII data.

Rational

  • Export is only for Adhoc activities – not to build operational reporting
  • Monitoring export usage to ensure right processes are adopted
  • Any process that is built around extraction is not supported by the Dev teams. It would have to go through the relevant change process to be part of support wrapper outside of best endeavours
  • Limiting the users and processes around who gets access to what

  • Export functionality will not be enabled for data that is PII, with the existing processes remaining in place

  • The use cases for Excel contained in this presentation are just based on the experiences of one individual with one years experience in each of Fresh Supply Chain & Supply Chain Strategy. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of use cases, but just to provide indicative examples of how Excel is used to make critical data-driven operational and strategic decisions
  • The different use cases have some different relationships to the necessity of Excel being the tool of choice
    • Some involve collaboration with external parties, who themselves use Excel (it is the “lingua franca”, as it were)
    • Some could in theory by done in R/Python etc. but those responsible for doing the work don’t (and are not expected to) have coding skill, but are expected to solve analytical problems
    • Some could in theory be done in MSTR, but it would
      1. involve massively upskilling hundreds of people to advanced levels of ability in MSTR
      2. it would make recruitment and on boarding extremely challenging as we recruit from an internal and external talent pool that has facility with doing analytical work in Excel
  • All the use cases in the presentation fall under the category of “ad hoc analysis” as opposed to “reporting”. We fully agree that Excel should not and must not be a reporting tool or be part of our data infrastructure
  • It is our view that this also has implications for what option is chosen in order to facilitate export of data into Excel, which is explained at the end

Implications

MSTR Export vs Excel Plug-In

  • The ideal solution, in our view, not only makes it easy for our users to access the data they need to do ad-hoc analysis, but also does not encourage them to use it in a perverse way
  • We also, as far as we can, want to encourage MSTR to be used to its full potential, and for our users to become familiar with how to use it as fast as possible For these reasons, we believe that enabling the Export function is preferable to the use of the Excel plugin The key feature of the plugin – to enable automatic refresh of data – would be very important if we wanted to use Excel for ongoing processes, this is exactly what we want to avoid
  • For the vast majority of use cases, automatic refresh of data is (in our view) not necessary
    • Even if data does sometimes change, the key is not whether a piece of ad-hoc analysis is now “out of date” or “wrong”, but whether it has resulted in an incorrect business decision
    • In those use cases where automatic refresh is necessary (e.g. reporting and ongoing repeatable processes), our opinion is we should be looking to productionise them using the proper tools
  • Even if the user journey eventually ends up in an Excel export from MSTR, the user will have had to at least started off
  • In contrast, the user journey of the plugin doesn’t involve learning how to master MSTR at all, and could encourage the wrong behaviours
  • We do have some reservations about the relative functionality of the plugin that I am sure can be resolved with development work, however we would much prefer to spend development time making the MSTR environment a good user experience that encourages the use of MSTR
  • I fear the reality of the plugin is we will get a lot of user demand to improve the functionality of the plugin, which is not advancing our strategic data goals

Appendix

Migrated From Confluence

link Original author: Lotz, David