SunTrust Banks on Stratature +EDM for Master Data Management

2006-5-11

Stratature, the leading provider of master data management software, today announced that SunTrust Banks, Inc., one of the largest commercial banks in the United States, has successfully completed their initial implementation of the Stratature +EDM product.

Focused on the management of the Chart of Accounts and Cost and Revenue Centers for enterprise reporting and budgeting, SunTrust conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the master data management market. The Stratature +EDM product was selected as having the most holistic approach to managing and modeling a wide array of dimensions, master data and business rules in a single, standardized environment. The licensing decision was based largely on a comprehensive proof of concept and a cross-functional procurement process involving Enterprise Information Services and Finance.

"We focused on two key evaluation threads," commented John Milani, Senior Vice President of Management Information. "First, we wanted to ensure that we could successfully implement our first two financially-focused dimensions. Secondly, we wanted to ensure that we selected the master data management software that could scale with our organization and eventually include other dimensions and enterprise reference data, such as Products, Customers and Employees, in the future."

SunTrust needed an enterprise-scale master data management platform to support its current and future requirements for systems integration and change management workflow. SunTrust is using +EDM to connect analytical reporting and budgeting tools with its PeopleSoft ERP system. Currently, SunTrust is centrally managing its Center dimension, containing over 15,000 centers, and its Chart of Accounts dimension, containing over 5,000 entries. Systems integrating with +EDM include Applix TM1, Oracle / PeopleSoft, and SunTrust's Enterprise Data Warehouse.

More info about data, please visit TMC Net.

Illegal data traders may face jail

2006-5-12

Jail terms of up to two years should be introduced to tackle the "widespread" illegal dealing in confidential personal records, a Government watchdog has said.

Information Commissioner Richard Thomas said sanctions were needed to halt the growth of an industry dedicated to the buying and selling of private records including ex-directory numbers, bank account details and personal addresses.

Mr Thomas is using special powers under the Data Protection Act for the first time to present Parliament with a report because of his "deep concern" over the issue.

The report called "What Price Privacy?", says private investigators and "tracing agents" are the main suppliers of the confidential information. They use methods such as the bribing of staff or the impersonating on the phone of officials or victims to get hold of the private data.

Victims of the trade often include celebrities and others in the public eye but can also affect everyday working people, the report says. The buyers of the information include journalists, financial bodies, local authorities wishing to trace debtors, estranged spouses and criminals.

Suppliers can charge the buyers thousands of pounds for their services, according to the report. One investigation found an agent billing a customer up to ￡120,000 a month for tracing activities.

But Mr Thomas said the current penalties were so low that criminals were rarely being deterred, sometimes receiving conditional discharges in the courts. The illegal buying and selling of personal information currently carries no custodial sentence.

Mr Thomas said: "Low penalties devalue this serious data protection offence in the public mind and mask the seriousness of the crime, even within the judicial system. They do little to deter those who seek to buy or supply private information that should remain private.

More info about data, please visit Guardian.

Always gloomy, Zimbabwe inflation data now a mystery

2006-5-11

The mystery over Zimbabwe's latest inflation data deepened on Thursday as officials said they still had no information when the number -- expected to top 1,000 percent -- would be released.

Zimbabwe's Central Statistical Office (CSO) had been due to release the April inflation figure on Wednesday, with analysts saying it would likely show a country near collapse due to an economic meltdown critics blame on President Robert Mugabe's government.

That release was abruptly cancelled, however, and on Thursday CSO officials said they could not say what had caused the delay and when the figures would be issued.

"Let me just say we will let you know when we are ready," a senior official said, declining to give details.

Mugabe's government has admitted inflation, already the highest in the world at 913.6 percent as of March, is one of the biggest hurdles in its efforts to reverse an economic slide which is raising fears of popular protest.

Economists said authorities might be afraid of causing shockwaves by putting out a new figure showing the situation getting even worse.

"I think it (the postponement) shows the authorities are panicking," said Harare-based economist James Jowa.

"It could be that the rate has gone up drastically and they are trying to see how best to handle the situation because if it is too high -- as indications show on the ground -- then it could cause a shock in terms of the inflation outlook," he said.

More info about data, please visit Reuters.