How to Profile Data

Before you analyze data, you should profile it.

Otherwise, your analysis may not be too broad, too narrow, or you may miss some important insights or errors.

This post is part of the Excel: Basic Data Analytic series.

Data profiling is developing a profile of your data, just as facial profiles of a person, taken from various angles, helps you size up a person’s nose, identify whether his chin is sagging, and how far apart the person’s eyes are.

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Conclusion: Audit Server Disappeared

In Case File: Audit Server Disappeared, I noted that a friend of mine learned that  IT had, on its own prerogative, wiped a server belonging to Internal Audit because “it never appeared to be used.”

Some of you already commented on some of the issues involved in this incident and the normal IT activities that should have prevented this incident (or at least alerted IT that something was wrong). Let’s review those comments and I’ll add some other details and comments.