Data matching is a complicated process that requires a lot of computing power. However, not everyone who works with data matching understands exactly what it is or how to determine whether they’re working with a great system. Read on to learn what to look for in data matching solutions.
What Is Data Matching?
At its simplest, data matching is a way to identify records that connect to the same data point. Most of the time, your solution searches information from several data sets to find patterns. The solution may find exact matches of duplicate data, but it may also uncover matches with more grey areas.
For instance, if your data matching solution finds “James Graham” and “Graham, Jim” in two different data sets, will it view those names as a set of duplicates? Data matching solutions cannot simply consider exact matches but must have the intelligence to interpret data that fall into that grey area.
What Data Sources Can the Software Ingest?
When choosing a data matching solution, consider the data sources that the solution can take in. Different industries may require a variety of data sources, including web pages, documents, and databases. If you know you’re sourcing data from multiple places, make sure your solution can handle that.
What Languages Are Covered?
Not all data sets will share a common language. The best solutions can account for this when data matching—you don’t want to miss a swath of duplicate data because your solution couldn’t translate it correctly.
How Thorough Is the Solution with Possible Record Matches?
One great solution reduces the need for human intelligence by contextually identifying matches. The “James Graham” example mentioned above is the perfect way to think about this scenario. Can your solution identify nicknames or even typos? Without a hyper-intelligent no-code platform, you’ll be stuck with inaccurate results.
Now that you know what to look for in a data matching solution, contact the maker of your data matching solution and ask them these questions about their product. If their solution can’t achieve these points, it may be time to find a new one.