Customers demand ever more, and business insights need to keep pace. It’s no longer enough to keep a record of the current state of your data, constantly updating the same records over and over as the world changes. Modern organizations must be able to answer two key questions:
When did my data change?
When did I learn that my data changed?
Traditional databases typically answer (1) very well, but they fail to answer (2). As an example, consider an organization that must keep customer addresses on file. Customers sometimes change addresses, and the organization usually learns of the change after it has happened in the real world - that is, after the customer has already moved. Providing outstanding customer service for this organization requires knowing both when the customer moved and when the organization learned that the customer moved since any actions taken between those times may have been missed or incorrect due to the mismatch between the day that the customer moved and the day that the customer informed us of their move.
Sophisticated storage solutions are even mandated in some regulated industries. For example, consider the regulations governing electronic storage of broker-dealer records:
SUMMARY: The Securities and Exchange Commission is publishing its views on the operation of its rule permitting broker-dealers to store required records in electronic form. Under the rule, electronic records must be preserved exclusively in a non-rewriteable and non-erasable format. This interpretation clarifies that broker-dealers may employ a storage system that prevents alteration or erasure of the records for their required retention period. (emphasis ours)
This regulation - and others like it - have driven some large organizations to build bespoke solutions. Unfortunately, time spent building and maintaining software outside of your business’ core competency is time not spent serving your customers.
Next: learn more about how bitemporal data can help your organization in our case study.
