What is a Mashup?
In technology, a Mashup refers to web applications that combine data and information from different sources to create a new integrated tool. These applications can be portals that combine RSS feeds and various types of content to create a personalized 'product' that presents unique value-added content to the user.
Different technology providers develop web-based applications that display integrated content. Still, this display is limited as it creates a collage-like arrangement of images without further processing the knowledge.
In the BI world, several providers allow the integration of applications and content without going through an intermediate ETL or DWH stage. For the end user, who enjoys greater accessibility to data and information, this invisible action improves how they examine and use the information.
Currently, a leap forward in combining different content is possible - end users can create their combinations by selecting dedicated content for integration that hasn't been mapped before and by importing their content and combining it with content available on the platform. This is a new level of self-service that the user is in charge of, and great power is given to them. Due to the classic information management philosophy, many people express concern about entrusting such power to users. This philosophy advocates that the organization's IT department should serve as the gatekeeper through which information flows. This approach, with its advantages, cannot fully meet users' needs, limits them, and burdens IT departments with unnecessary change requests.
In this review, we will examine the advantages and disadvantages of Data Mashup compared to the classic method of transferring data to a data warehouse.
Data Mashup versus Classic Data Transfer
The question arises as to why there is a need for Data Mashup and whether the IT department cannot meet all the users' knowledge needs before they occur.
The obvious answer is that it's impossible to predict all the needs that users will raise.
Another answer is that users find it difficult to document all the needs they require and will require at the requirements-gathering stage, and it's unrealistic to ask them to consider all possible information sources and data structures, some of which users are not routinely exposed to.
Although users usually don't know what they don't know (you can't know the unknown), BI provides the flexibility that will allow businesses to answer ad hoc questions.
Beyond its ability to provide a central place where data is presented, the BI solution allows different types of employees to explore the information, ask questions, learn, and thus drive the organization forward more efficiently.
Advantages of Data Mashup
Flexibility and diversity - When the user leads the content integration, versatility stems from involving different factors in the thinking process. In contrast, when all responsibility lies with the IT department, a 'single truth' can be created—a fixed perception of the situation that doesn't necessarily reflect the user's will and needs.
Prevention of bottlenecks and reduction of workloads - The mashup transfers responsibility to the user, while classic data transfer creates bottlenecks originating from the load on IT departments. It increases the actions that the end user performs independently on their BI tool and reduces the handling load resulting from change requests, administrative overhead, and special reports.
Improved implementation ability - The user's ability to experiment with the tool leads to more effective requirements gathering later on, as the user understands their needs more accurately and clearly. Improving the needs identification process saves time and eases the workload.
Cost savings - Manpower, decrease in the number of employees, reduction in placement costs, and productivity growth obtained from existing resources.
Disadvantages of Data Mashup
Project overload - The mashup can create an overload of BI projects that sometimes the organization doesn't need. In this situation, the absence of a centralizing body may create duplications with projects that have already been carried out without a supervising and prioritizing body.
Lack of standardization - When each user or group of users creates their platform, there may be a lack of standardization in data, work processes, and the platform used.
Making mistakes - When implementing a mashup, it's impossible to prevent users from manipulating information or making mistakes, such as incorrect formulas or fields. A partial response from IT is to limit users' capabilities. However, this is a worthless attempt because once a user has copied the data to an Excel file or presentation, the information can be mirrored in countless places simultaneously.
Advantages of Integration
Users' needs are infinite, and trying to meet them all in real-time is almost impossible.
The advantages of mashup, as presented in this review, are prominent and allow organizations and users to achieve the competitive edge they seek. However, the ability to benefit from the IT department's experience and prioritization capabilities is a central incentive to combine the independence derived from the mashup with the use of IT as a connecting link between users and their needs.
Another challenge faced in a BI project is the mistakes users make as part of the free hand given to them. The bottom line is that users can be restricted to a certain point, beyond which they must be trusted to use the data wisely. If a particular business doesn't trust its end users to use information wisely, it should prevent them from accessing the data in the first place and minimize mashup capabilities.
In conclusion, through integration, the end user enjoys the mashup's IT experience and supervision flexibility, thus increasing their satisfaction. When IT is integral to responding to the user's technological needs, response times may lengthen, but past mistakes may be avoided. To improve satisfaction and better implement the project among users, allowing them to experience additional aspects of the project is recommended. This increases familiarity with the tool and directly increases satisfaction and, subsequently, the adoption of the solution and its use.
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