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PROFILE

PROFILE provides a simple but powerful way to enhance data. Whilst being a generic data tool, it is particularly suited to profiling and optimising data prior to analysis. It reads data from one or more sources, performs a series of transformations on it as it flows through the tool, before then directing it to the output of your choice. The entire process is visible to you, easy to configure and repeatable.

Raw data coming from operational databases is very often unsuitable for analysis. It may contain codes and IDs rather than useful labels, it may not have the category fields you need, or the contextual information you need for it to be truly useful. This is where PROFILE comes in. With a few clicks you can create a process to enhance your data into exactly the shape you need, a process that can then be run with a single click - whenever you wish.

The transformations available cover a wide range of uses, and can be used in combination with each other, data flowing through each in turn. You can read data in from a database, flatfile or excel spreadsheet. You can join other sources to it, define which fields to include, rename fields at will and change their data type as needed. You can add calculated fields, or scored fields where a value is derived on the outcome of a test. You can apply complex filtering too, with no need to know SQL! When you have a process defined that you are happy with, you can even schedule it to run automatically, with no intervention required from a user

As you would expect, PROFILE integrates tightly with LINK our Data Analysis offering. As a means to generate quality data for LINK analysis, PROFILE is the ideal partner product.

Profile - Features & Benefits

	Multiple source types, so that you can read data from any ODBC compatible database (for example Oracle, SQL Server), from textfiles or from Excel.
	Pull multiple source tables together or add extra fields using the Join tile.
	Schedule your tasks to run automatically at a set time, or kick them off manually whilst using the software.
	Score your data, to add a value to a field based upon the values in other fields.
	Multiple output types, and a single process can output to multiple databases in a single run.
	Add calculated fields to your data as it streams through the tool.
	Filter specific rows in or out based upon complex criteria using the superb Filter tile.
	Full control over the shape of the data, the fieldnames and the datatypes at each stage of the process.

PROFILE enables data to be enhanced quickly and easily, and in an automated fashion. We believe the key benefits are..

Ease of use

PROFILE has been designed to make data handling and transformation as simple as it can be. Technical or non-technical users will be productive very quickly indeed. The interface uses a very straightforward three level treeview to define the process, with a HTML based information panel alongside at all times to keep you informed.

Speed

Whilst not being a fully fledged ETL package, PROFILE handles most data tasks very rapidly indeed - often in similar timescales to much larger and more expensive solutions. Add to that, the speed of use and we believe that for many common data uses - PROFILE is a very rapid solution.

Reduced costs

Because any PROFILE user can take on much of their data manipulation tasks using PROFILE, rather than involve your IT or MIS teams, we remove a significant cost from your business whilst also enabling your senior planning staff to become more efficient.

Reduced risk