Leaders and Innovators

Chapter 1The Analytical Data Life Cycle

Like all things, there is a beginning and an ending in every journey. The same can be said about your data. Thus, all data have a life cycle—from inception to end of life and the analytical data life cycle is no different. In my interactions with customers, they tend to relate to four stages (data exploration, data preparation, model development, and model deployment) as the framework for managing the analytical data life cycle. Each stage is critical, as it supports the entire life cycle linearly. For example, model development cannot happen effectively if you do not prepare and explore the data beforehand. Figure 1.1 illustrates the analytical data life cycle.

Figure 1.1 Analytical data life cycle

Each phase of the lifecycle requires a specific role within the organization. For example, the IT's role is to get all data in one place. Business analysts step in during the data exploration and data preparation processes. Data scientists, data modelers, and statisticians are often involved in the model development stage. Finally, business analysts and/or IT can be a part of the model deployment process. Let's examine each stage of the analytical data life cycle.

STAGE 1: DATA EXPLORATION

The first and very critical stage is data exploration. Data exploration is the process that summarizes the characteristics of the data and extracts knowledge ...