Master Data Strategy

Master data management (MDM) offers competitive advantage in a global business environment that increasingly required organizations to do more with less. MDM offers the potential to manage one master list of customers, one list of products, or one list of marketing efforts; and allows you to make strategic decisions rather than dwelling on the quality of the data in your operational systems.

Additionally, quickly identifying customer behavior across multiple areas of your business can allow you to cross sell more effectively and provide better customer service. How an enterprise MDM solution is achieved goes beyond just buying software off a shelf or asking your Information Technology (IT) department to start working on a custom solution. A successful enterprise MDM solution requires strong executive leadership, data governance, and technology architecture decisions. Lacking any of these attributes could lead to a very costly and non-functional solution. Illumination Works has the technical and process expertise to assist your organization in driving Master Data Solutions throughout your business, see our Accelerators to learn more.

Data Quality

Modern enterprises of all sizes and lines of business produce and consume data from a myriad of sources. With the ubiquity of web services, organizations can share their data, or use data published by others, over the Internet. The quality of the business decisions made from this information is directly related to a variety of factors: Is the data timely? Is it complete? Is it accurate? Is it consistent? Does it come from an authoritative source? Is it precise? This fact checking step is often ignored, sometimes with disastrous results. Typically, this will be due to the perception that these questions are too hard or too expensive to answer in a meaningful way.

To addresses this gap, a basic set of concepts and tools are required to allow any organization to understand and implement their own data quality management programs. Illumination Works has helped numerous government and commercial entities determine if their data is “fit for use”, as well as put in place the strategy, processes and tools for ongoing data quality efforts.

ETL Support

Illumination Works has decades of experience in Extract Transform and Load and data integration technology. ILW has strategic partnerships with Informatica and SAP and can also provide expertise with ABInitio, Data Stage and SSIS. ILW utilizes best of breed software along with industry recognized best practices in the data integration work space.

Database Performance Tuning

Proper tuning of a database allows for improved application performance and increased capacity without additional capital expenditure. Tuning can be performed on a number of different levels, including physical database implementation and parameters, data model, and application code. All of these can be done either prior to implementation or in post-production release. Properly tuning the database can help you deliver the most bang for your buck.

Enterprise Architecture Services

Enterprise Architecture

Illumination Works’ enterprise architecture development processes are based on industry and DoD best practices, along with years of practical application and experience delivering comprehensive Enterprise Architectures and Information Support Plans to acquisition program offices.

 

Enterprise Architecture (EA) artifacts are the crucial source of information for ISPs. Illumination Works architects are conversant with all aspects of the 1.5 and 2.0 versions of DoDAF. Illumination Works recommends using the views defined by DODAF 1.5, as they are better supported by both commercial and government tools, though the selection of the architecture framework will ultimately be determined by each customer.

Broadly speaking, the EA artifacts to be developed may be categorized into four areas: Summary, Operational, Systems, and Technical/Standards Views. Illumination Works leverages an Integrated EA and ISP Development Process. These phases are appropriate for iterative delivery of EA and ISP products throughout the acquisition lifecycle and applicable for Automated Information Systems (AIS) or Weapons Systems.

Illumination Works has the process, architecture and standards know-how to develop complete and accurate EA and ISP artifacts from their foundations through all of the acquisition milestones and can fully support your efforts.