These are the steps of an essential process for the management of corporate information. This process begins with the extraction of data found in different information processing systems in the company: costumer communication systems, accountability systems, planning systems, communication channels, etc. From this, all the information in the company, regardless its origin and format, is available in order to make an intelligent and integrated use of it. Then, as the information is set in different formats, a transformation is made for homogenizing data and thus allowing every possible combination, contrast and analysis that could be useful for decision making. Finally, the information already organized and homogenized is loaded in a data warehouse, where it remains available for the needs of the company.
These are the main benefits of this process:
– Removes mistakes and corrects missing data
– Provides documented measures of confidence in data
– Captures the flow of transactional data for safekeeping
– Adjusts data from multiple sources to be used together
– Structures data to be usable by end-user tools
(Kimball y Caserta, 2004).
In general, the ETL process is a requirement in the implementations of solutions for data analyses, such as Business Intelligence or Busines Process Management. Each company must seek for the more appropriate way of doing this process, based on the kind of information used and the analyses required.