Business Data Analysis: How to Use It to Solve Problems?
A Data Detective in Action: A Conversation with Darek About Daily ETL Work and Business Data Analysis
Have you ever wondered how data affects your business? What stories are hidden within numbers and tables? In this interview, we talk to Darek, an experienced ETL expert who, much like a detective, discovers the secrets of data and uses them to solve business problems. We explore the secrets of his work, the challenges he faces, and his vision for the future of ETL.
Why Data Analysis? Why Data at All?
Dariusz creates automated migration processes and handles data migrations. As he puts it, his job involves analyzing data, preparing it, and building an automated system that transfers it from one system to another. However, his role doesn’t end there. The work of an ETL developer is primarily about insightful analysis, reliable information gathering, and tailoring solutions to specific business needs. Instead of hunting down criminals, he analyzes data, searching for gaps and inconsistencies. This is a crucial stage in the data migration process, ensuring both data quality and security.
Darek, what does your daily work look like? What do you do?
I create automated migration processes and handle data migrations. But the processes themselves are just the “cherry on top.” My daily work is more like that of a detective. Working with ETL is mainly about analyzing data and preparing it, and only then building the automated system that transfers this data-whether from one system to another or from an external source, like a file or anything else.
Given your extensive experience, do you really believe that data can solve business problems?
They can definitely make them easier to solve because they show us the actual picture of the company. Whether it’s production data that shows our efficiency and how much we’ve produced, or financial data that allows us to monitor the company’s finances or any other data we can present to the end-user via reports-data can absolutely help solve problems and show us what is really happening in the system. You can’t fool data. If something is wrong in the system, it will show up in the data immediately.
You’ve already partially answered my next question, but could you provide some concrete examples of what you manage to achieve through your work with data?
That’s a good question! If we’re talking about what it takes, it’s definitely patience! I’m not sure if that’s exactly what you were asking, but you really have to be patient. And what does working with data give you? Certainly satisfaction, because it’s often an uneven battle. The data isn’t always of good quality, so obtaining clean, clear data takes a lot of time and hard work. But once we manage to build an automated system that works 100% correctly and is resistant to all kinds of human factors-which, unfortunately, is where most errors come from-it brings a lot of satisfaction!
How often do you encounter problems strictly related to data quality? How serious are those issues generally?
When it comes to quality issues, that’s my daily reality, unfortunately. These are various problems: from a simple lack of data-where, for example, we don’t have certain information in the source and have to obtain it from somewhere, or “dig for information” to find out where to get it or ask someone to complete it-to things like the wrong data format. The format must be correct so that the data can be migrated or processed in any other way. It is very common that the quality leaves much to be desired.
What is the most painful part of working with data? What do you struggle with?
Definitely the lack of data that arises due to quality issues, where I really have to hunt for it. I get a task to migrate specific data to a specific source, but in the process, it turns out that the data is missing. You have to search, look around, ask questions, and meet with people. It’s not as simple as it might seem-like just taking one source, extracting data, and moving it to another system. It doesn’t look that bright, unfortunately. So, the lack of data causes me the most problems.
As a “data detective,” you probably follow industry trends. Could you share your thoughts on the future of ETL and how it will evolve in the coming years?
I think that, like everything related to IT, it will be connected to Artificial Intelligence. Although, in my opinion, this is one of the few departments that will not be 100% replaced by Al. At least, not because of this need for investigation and ensuring data quality. Al will take data from one source and move it directly to another; maybe it will process it along the way. But will that data be 100% accurate? I don’t think so. The human factor is essential here, so I think Al will definitely appear in some capacity, but I hope it won’t replace us, as some predictions might suggest.
Data analysis reveals the truth about a company
Data is not just numbers. It is a treasure trove of knowledge about a company, its productivity, finances, and customers. Well-analyzed data can help solve problems by revealing inefficiencies, errors, and areas for optimization. In other words, data becomes a tool for showing the real picture of the company. Dariusz emphasizes that “you can’t fool data,” which makes it an incredibly valuable source of information for business. Based on data, you can influence production efficiency, control finances, and make informed decisions. And that is just a fraction of what can be achieved.
However, working with data is not just about successes. The most common problem is low quality, and often, a complete lack of data, wrong formats, errors, and inconsistencies. This requires extra effort and commitment to get the data into the right state. Only then is the entire process effective and capable of bringing real benefits to the organization.
If you want to learn more about working with data, we invite you to follow Dariusz on LinkedIn, where he shares his knowledge on an ongoing basis:
Go to Dariusz’s LinkedIn profile
Or contact us to conduct an effective data analysis for your business
Jego specjalizacja obejmuje projektowanie i wdrażanie procesów ETL, automatyzację migracji oraz tworzenie systemów raportowych, które w jasny sposób prezentują kluczowe informacje.
