One of the very basic functions you can offer as a data quality vendor is to validate data against the local postal services. With this validation, the postal service is saying that it has tested your software and it agrees that your product can effectively cleanse local data. The customer of said products then become eligible for postal discounts and save money when they mail to their customers. The US, Canada, and Australia have their own way of testing software to ensure results.
I took a look at the Australia Post web site to who was ON the latest AMAS (Address Matching Approval System) list and who was missing. It's interesting to note that, as of this posting, only two of the major enterprise software vendors (those in the Gartner Magic Quadrant 'leaders' section) now support AMAS.
According to the AMAS list, only Trillium Software and Business Objects (FirstLogic) support the Australian postal system with software certified by Australia Post.
Sure, a good data quality solution should have connectivity - it should integrate well with your systems. It should be fast, and it should support the business user as well as the technologist. It should have many other features that meet the needs of a global company. However, postal validation for global name and address data is basic. It helps the marketing department hit their targets, it helps the billing department's invoices reach the customer, and it keeps revenue flowing into an organization.
1 comment:
That's interesting. I wonder why IBM QualityStage is missing from the Australia Post list. The IBM QualityStage address DPID module uses the Hopewiser address engine (that is on the Australia Post list). It's good to see the big data quality players paying some attention to Australia.
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