Hopes and dreams for the Cornell
Office of
Data Architecture & Analytics
(ODAA)
Current state of data usability at Cornell:
(How bad is it??)
As an analogy, ponder a library system with hundreds of
libraries, each with unique catalog systems (if any), each
requiring esoteric knowledge about how to access
information, each dependent on specialists—none of
whom speak to other specialists across campus, and
each library having varying and unpublished rules about
who is allowed in.
Traditional “BI”
Traditional central IT role is as a creator of
reports – “BI” as a specific response to an
*administrative* reporting need
Aging data governance
ODAA
Formed to support Cornell’s mission by
maximizing the value of data resources
Act as a catalyst / focal point to enable access to
teaching, research and administrative data
Acknowledge limited resources – cannot and will not
attempt to forge a monolithic structured “library” but will
attempt to maximize value from existing resources…”
Governance and Collaborative
Strategy
Rethink governance: access as the norm, restrictions
only as needed?
Broad campus involvement in data management –
“freeing” of structured / unstructured data
Stop arguing over tools: OBIEE vs Tableau, etc.
Form user groups” - get the analysts talking
Service Strategy
•Expand Institutional Intelligence initiative: create focused
value from a select corpus of administrative data
(metadata, data provenance, governance, and
sustainable funding)
•Cost recovered reporting and analytics services
•User groups
•Consultants
•Catalog and promulgate administrative and research
data resources
Resource Strategy
•
•
Infrastructure (IaaS)
Applications (P/SaaS)
• Reallocate savings
• Skilled data & analytics professionals (direct and
contracted resources)
• Modest investment in legacy tool refresh (ETL
tools, etc.)
Measures of Success
•
•
•
•
•
ODAA becomes a known and trusted resource
Cultural evolution – open not insular
Data becomes, actionable, self-service
Broad campus involvement in data management –
“freeing” of data
Continued success of legacy services