data loss

Shoehorning into Oblivion: The COTS System Strikes Back

When I was first getting started in the business of Information Technology there were’t many Commercial, Off The Shelf (COTS) systems out there. Systems were written in-house to automate business processes, resulting in a pretty good alignment between the business’ view of their data, and the way it was stored. Reporting needs where usually basic, consisting mostly of what we now call operational reports.