Cleanse Any Data
Applaud can easily identify and correct data quality problems such as missing data, invalid data, inconsistent data, duplicates, orphans, failures in data relationship rules, invalid integrity constraints, parent/child issues, and essentially any other data quality problem. Applaud's data cleansing solutions may be easily deployed at any time during the project, may be embedded in any other Applaud component, and may be quickly adapted and enhanced as the rules change.

Applaud also includes comprehensive name/address cleansing tools. Among many other capabilities, Applaud's name/address matching capabilities provide the ability to equate names, words and abbreviations (Bob = Robert = Rob = Robt, etc.); ignore "noise" words ( Company, Co, Corp, Corporation, Inc, Ltd, Limited, LLC, etc.), and phonetically encode names/words to find duplicates that may have misspellings (Parsippany Wholesale = Parsipany Wholsale, etc.) Applaud uses these tools to automate the process of identifying the "hard to find" duplicates.

Applaud's duplicate matching features are not limited to only name and address data. Applaud's tools for word replacement, "noise" word elimination, phonetic encoding and duplicate identification are equally valuable in identifying duplicate records in any type of data including products, inventory, services, contracts, assets, etc. For example, the same tools used to match Bob = Robert = Rob = Robt may also be used to equate units of measure, product abbreviations, asset names, services names, etc. The same phonetic encoding tools can be used to match misspellings in any type of data, not just name and address data. Literally the full suite of matching tools may be used for any type of data. Complete flexibility is provided to support the most challenging data cleansing requirement.

Consolidate - Combine Related Data
Applaud's Rapid Application Development tools make it easy to combine selected data from matched records into a single record and eliminate duplicate/redundant data. Data is extracted into Applaud's Data Repository for analysis and consolidation. Staging tables are constructed where various elements of data may be quickly examined and consolidated. Applaud speeds this process, providing a thorough analysis of the results for the client to examine.

Confirm - Manual Approval of Consolidation
These capabilities enable users to confirm (or reject) match candidates identified during the processing. For example, Applaud can produce a spreadsheet (or spreadsheets) containing candidates for consolidation. The client can then use the spreadsheet to specify which items are to be consolidated (or which should not be consolidated). Applaud then processes the spreadsheet as specified. Applaud facilitates client direction at any step in the process.

Enhance - Correct Data Content/Structure
Invalid data values must be corrected and missing data must be calculated or otherwise provided. This often involves complex transformation rules and additional data sources containing crosswalk/lookup tables to compute the values for selected data elements. Third party data may easily be appended and applied at any step of the process. Applaud makes this process easy with its ability to quickly insert complex transformation logic and the ability to easily add any number of crosswalk/lookup tables to any component.

Certify - Standardize Name/Address Format
In addition, Applaud's comprehensive name/address cleansing offers the ability to determine if addresses actually exist, correct addresses to postal standards, and obtain CASS certification. Applaud includes the ability to compute Zip+4 codes, postal codes, county names, geocode addresses (compute longitude and latitude) and provide other address-related information.

Capture - Manually Enter Additional Data
Further, Applaud includes the ability to quickly construct "instant" data entry screens (with comprehensive data validation). These screens can be used as needed to capture data changes. Data changes are then used to either load cleansed data back into the source system or "override" appropriate data values at the "go live" date.

Manual Cleansing - Control Batches of Data for Cleansing
Applaud can also interface with Excel for manual cleansing projects. Applaud can build “batches” of data in Excel spreadsheets for manual cleansing and can provide comprehensive validation upon re-importing the data after the cleansing. Controls can be provided that report the status of each batch of data to ensure that every batch is correctly processed. Ongoing features may be constructed that monitor subsequent changes during cleansing and report any issues that may cause problems.

Standardize - Format Data Consistently
In the end, all data must be formatted consistently according to system rules. Applaud makes it easy to standardize the data to ensure a consistent format throughout all records. For example, this might include the normalization of phone numbers, tax ID numbers, part numbers, product information, etc. Every project has its unique challenges. Applaud makes it easy to solve the most complex cleansing requirement.

Results Analysis - Ensure Cleansing is Complete
Applaud's four styles of report generators and advanced analytical tools are designed to be able to analyze the results of cleansing as well as the original data. This makes it easy to ensure that all data issues are fully corrected and resolved. Applaud analysis components may be run at every test date to confirm that the cleansing is successful, and identify any new issues.