2.

An effective financial data repository is one that serves the broadest possible variety of use cases across the entire organization. The ideal is a strategic repository that acts as single source of truth for every department—not a patchwork of small-scale, tactical solutions that address the narrow use cases of individual departments.

However, accommodating distinct definitions of the same underlying financial data is very hard to achieve in a single financial data repository. This can lead to the organization attempting to enforce a single set of data definitions across all departments. In such cases, end users will reject the solution because it fails to address their specific operational reporting requirements.

It will only be at this stage—and after the project has accumulated significant costs—that the business will discover that they have built a solution that fails to address all user requirements.

It will only be at this stage—and after the project has accumulated significant costs—that the business will discover that they have built a solution that fails to address all user requirements. At this point, the business may abandon its plans to build a single, strategic data repository, and opt instead for multiple, tactical solutions designed to solve individual departmental requirements. As we shall see in point five, the tactical approach also causes substantial difficulties.