Data Comparison

  • How do you know that data in one system is the same as another?  They should be the same, but are they?  How do you know?

  • Is your vendor or business partner sending you the right data?  Do you agree with what they say is “truth” in data? 

  • When you determine that one of you or the other has the wrong data, how do you correct it?

With EmissaryTM , you will have the answers when these questions are asked by your boss, partner, auditor, shareholder, or other stakeholder.  Our comparison component can take in data of any type, in virtually any format, and from any number of sources, to compare based on rules that YOU define.

  • Not in the same format?  No problem!

  • The data from each source isn’t quite the same?  No problem!

  • But how do you compare them then?  That’s why EmissaryTM was designed!


Many people perform data comparisons using tools like Microsoft Excel or others that are user-friendly and familiar.  Part of the problem with leveraging tools like these is that they can be highly manual, not repeatable, and more often than not are completely unaudited.  This creates business risks in several key areas including risk of errors due to manual entry and key person risk as those that build these “user-developed systems” leave the company. Even a user-developed system that only does a data compare can suddenly become a critical part of a company’s process and operation. It is this type of activity that should live in a system that is known to the company, is governed appropriately, and its use can be audited.

The matching or comparing of data between systems, business partners, or internal groups has long been a key process in virtually every organization. It is a validation that results are accurate or that some intervention is needed to avoid problems and can span everything from business-critical financial results to simple inventory counts. But, just because a data comparison appears simple and straight-forward doesn’t mean that it should be uncontrolled, ungoverned, or its very existence completely unknow to the company. Data use needs parameters and oversight, for many reasons.

Fortunately, applications like EmissaryTM have been developed that provide non-technical users power and flexibility in performing data comparisons, while also limiting business risk exposure by governing and auditing the comparisons themselves.