SAS Unit Updates Data Quality Tools

Designed as a set of tools for both cleansing data and integrating data, the new release makes it easier to share business rules across multiple sets of data, essentially making business rules extensible across multiple applications.

According to Dataflux CEO Tony Fisher, the ability to extend business rules will be followed up next year with a release that adds support for Web services, making it easier to integrate Dataflux data management tools with a broader array of applications. In the meantime, customers are using wrappers around the core Dataflux client/server architecture to integrate with Web services-based applications.

The Dataflux tools, which are also included in SAS Software applications, are designed to provide a level of data integration above application integration tools.

Industry analysts said that ensuring data quality is a crucial component for any integration project.

"You really need to know the quality of the data in order to anticipate problems," said Rob Lerner, an industry analyst with Current Analysis in Sterling, Va. "Bad data can really blow out the time it takes to do the project, add costs and even destroy the project."