You have been assigned as the consultant to Third Star Financial Services and have been given the task of developing an analysis of the current state of Third
Star’s enterprise data management capabilities, along with providing recommendations for improvement where appropriate.
Your submission will focus on design and implementation of an architecture that meets the needs indicated in the following scenario:
Third Star Financial Services, an alternative banking organization, was developed from the purchase of several money transfer operations in various parts of the
United States starting in 1969 through 1996. The company has grown with the advent of a more transient population and caters to the portion of the population
that is called the “un-banked.” Third Star offers money transfer and related services in over 3,000 locations in the United States, over 2,000 locations in Canada,
and over 10,000 locations in other countries. Customers can transact business through an agent, or directly with Third Star through its online facility. The online
facility was developed in 2009, and is not connected to its agency systems. Each agent can use one of several agent systems, since the company grew from buying
small agent-based money transfer companies, and did not integrate its systems. Third Star is aware of the move to mobile banking solutions and would like to
enhance its online presence with mobile applications.
The company does not have a single source of customers, nor does it know how many customers it has. Agents are assigned to a region, and Third Star sales
representatives are responsible for addressing agent issues. Many agents complain about the poor quality of the current systems, including the level of the
quality of customer data in some transaction systems. There is no single source of agent data for the entire company, and much data about agents and customers
is repeated in the various source systems.
Third Star’s technical platform is a collection of several technologies. The company has database management systems from Oracle and MS SQL Server, operating
systems in various flavors of UNIX/LINUX and Microsoft Windows, and hardware supplied by HP and IBM. Many locations, including the headquarters, experience
network and bandwidth issues due to a lack of a robust network architecture. The IT department is staffed by people acquired through successive mergers and
experiences high staff and management turnover.
The company has attempted to build several data warehouses, by line of business, but did not undertake an enterprise / integrated approach to the architecture
or design of a data warehouse. The various data warehouses produce many reports, but most of them are operational and not used for decision making. The
company uses Cognos for reporting, but does not use the product’s data mining or dashboard capabilities. There is no common report library, and every business
unit creates its own reports.
There is no common understanding of the need for governance of data across the organization, and many mid-level managers in business units have developed
separate small groups of technical staff since the IT department is not considered to be extremely competent. There is no common management of data
definitions and no management of business rules or other forms of metadata management.
Third Star management has experienced high turnover in the past 5–7 years, due to many factors. Most decision-making is performed with instinct and not
through data analysis, since there is no reliable source of analytical data available.
Third Star Financial has experienced severe competition in the marketplace from more robust and better-organized companies, and has lost market share over
the past several years. It has dropped in market share from a high of 24% to a current state of 18.1% from 2008–2011. One large competitor has raided several
Third Star executives and others have left for positions in other financial services organizations.
Third Star Financial has recently hired a new position, Chief Enterprise Architect. This person has been tasked with the responsibility to develop and implement
an enterprise architecture for the organization. One aspect of an enterprise architecture is the creation of an enterprise data / information management strategy
and plan. The end-goal is to modernize and streamline the company’s operations, allowing them to have a single version of the truth while simultaneously
supporting new applications, both internally and externally.
You have been selected to serve as the consultant for the enterprise data / information management strategy and plan.
In this assignment, you will create an analysis paper that evaluates the current state of Third Star’s enterprise data management, based on the DAMA-DMBOK
framework, and recommend a plan for improving the current state.
Specifically, you must address the critical elements listed below. Most of the critical elements align with a particular course outcome (shown in brackets).
I. Introduction: The introduction should act as a concise road map guiding the audience (in this case, the executives relying on your consultation report)
through the report and summarizing the expectation and goals of the report. Remember that this is a professional report, and should be concise, well
articulated, and considerate of audience.
II. Current State Assessment
a) Summarize the current architecture employed by Third Star. [DAT-515-01]
b) Provide an evaluation of the current tools and data management components in comparison to the DAMA-DMBOK. [DAT-515-02]
i. What components of standard enterprise data management does Third Star have currently that are not performing at a level to support
the needs of the company?
ii. What components of standard enterprise data management does Third Star not have? Be sure to reference the DAMA-DMBOK in your
evaluation and consideration.
c) How does the current state of enterprise data management affect the operations of Third Star Financial Services? [DAT.500.01]
