As an end-user of business intelligence or analytics, how much should you have to know about preparing the data to get your actionable business insights? Ideally, you should be able to use different datasets as and when you need them. This dream world is possible, but only with suitable data harmonization. Disparate data sources and their structures must be made compatible with one another, to allow them to be correctly joined and analyzed together. Proper harmonization is also vital to get meaningful, consistent results.
Compatibility between data sources rarely exists at the start. Different people or organizations collect data in the way that suits them and usually don’t know about any specific requirements you have. Consequently, the harmonization of data from different sources requires work from you, from your IT department, or from some other resource.