** Real-Time Transactional Data Access Justification Guide **

A request for real-time data should address the following questions.

1. What Business Decision Requires Real-Time Data?

Describe the specific decision.

Examples:

• Open a course section.

• Close a course section.

• Approve a financial transaction.

• Release a registration seat.

• Authorize a refund.

• Initiate emergency response procedures.

Questions:

• What decision is being made?

• Who makes the decision?

• How frequently is the decision made?

• What data elements drive the decision?

2. What Is the Decision Window?

Identify the amount of time available between observing the data and acting upon it.

Questions:

• Is this decision made immediately?

• Is the decision made hourly?

• Daily?

• Weekly?

If a decision occurs once per day, real-time data often provides little additional value.

3. How Does Data Latency Affect the Outcome?

Demonstrate how delayed information would change the outcome.

Questions:

• What would be different if the data were 2 hours old?

• What would be different if the data were available only the next business morning?

• What negative consequence occurs because of the delay?

• Organizations should require evidence, not assumptions.

4. Can Historical Examples Be Provided?

Requests should include examples from previous operations.

Questions:

• When did delayed reporting cause a different decision?

• How often has this occurred?

• What was the operational or student impact?

• How would real-time information have changed the outcome?

Single Source of Truth

The College must balance timeliness with consistency.

A common reporting environment provides:

• Consistent information across departments.

• Shared understanding of institutional metrics.

• Reduced disputes regarding data accuracy.

• Support for executive decision-making.

Questions:

• Will real-time access create multiple versions of the truth?

• Could two users see different values solely because they queried the system at different times?

• Would this make decision-making more difficult rather than more effective?

A request should explain why intra-day variability is beneficial rather than problematic.

System Performance Considerations

Direct reporting against transactional systems may:

• Compete with operational processing.

• Impact registration performance.

• Affect payroll processing.

• Affect student services.

• Increase licensing and infrastructure costs.

Questions:

• Why is the reporting database inadequate?

• What is the expected query volume?

• How many users will access the data?

• What performance impact is acceptable?

Before approving transactional access, requester should evaluate alternatives.

Examples include:

More Frequent Data Refreshes

• Every 4 hours.

• Every 2 hours.

• Hourly.

• Event-driven refreshes.

Exception-Based Reporting

Alerts when:

• Enrollment reaches capacity.

• Enrollment drops below minimum thresholds.

• Wait lists exceed defined levels.

Specialized Dashboards

Restricted metrics updated more frequently than standard reporting.

Trend Reporting

Analysis of enrollment patterns over time rather than point-in-time snapshots.

These situations typically involve transactions where immediate accuracy is required.

Student Registration Receipt

A student must know immediately whether registration was successful.

Financial Payment Receipt

Payment confirmation requires current transactional status.

Class Registration Confirmation

Seat availability and enrollment confirmation must be accurate at the moment of transaction.

Current Course Schedule

Students require current schedule information when registering or making schedule changes.

Payroll Processing Validation

During payroll calculation and balancing activities, current transactional information may be required.

Trial Balances During Active Financial Processing

Financial staff may require access to current balances during closing or reconciliation activities.

Financial Aid Award Processing

Award and disbursement decisions may require current transaction status.

Absent compelling evidence, these activities are generally better served through the reporting environment.

Enrollment Monitoring

Monitoring section fill rates.

Strategic Enrollment Planning

Reviewing registration trends.

Course Cancellation Analysis

Evaluating under-enrolled sections.

Departmental Performance Reporting

Reviewing enrollment statistics.

Faculty Workload Analysis

Planning instructional assignments.

Executive Dashboards

Institution-wide enrollment reporting.

Trend Analysis

Forecasting demand and future enrollment.

These activities usually benefit more from consistent and comparable information than from second-by-second changes.

Requests for transactional access should answer the following:

1. What decision requires real-time data?

2. What action is taken based on the data?

3. What is the time sensitivity of the action?

4. What happens if the data is delayed?

5. How often does this occur?

6. Can historical examples be provided?

7. Why would a more frequent reporting refresh not satisfy the need?

8. Why is the business value greater than the performance, governance, security, and support costs?