Zansa › Answers › Fundamentals
Why is documentation important in business analytics and data projects?
Documentation records what data exists, how it is transformed and what each metric means, so the system can be understood, trusted and maintained by someone other than its creator. Without it, the business depends on one person's memory and every change is risky.
Useful documentation covers:
- Source systems and how data is extracted
- Data model and table descriptions
- Metric definitions and business rules
- Refresh schedules and known issues
- How to add or change reports
It need not be long. Short, accurate and kept up to date beats exhaustive and stale. Treat documentation as a deliverable with an owner, rather than something written if time remains at the end.
Want this applied to your business? Zansa builds dashboards and forecasts for small and mid-sized companies worldwide. Start with a free intro call.
Book a call