FormatDAMA: 4

Appropriateness

The degree to which the format is suitable for use.

Created: 10/30/2025

Business Impact

Positive Impacts

•Seamless data processing and integration between systems due to suitable data formats.
•Reduced need for complex data transformations, saving time and resources.
•Improved usability of data for analytics, reporting, and automated processes.
•Enhanced interoperability with partner systems and industry standards.

Negative Impacts (if poor quality)

•Data processing errors or failures when formats are unsuitable for receiving systems or analytical tools.
•Increased development and maintenance costs for data transformation routines.
•Limited usability of data, hindering analytics, automation, or calculations.
•Difficulties in data exchange with external partners or compliance with industry data format standards.

Technical Description

Examples

Good quality vs poor quality indicators

Good Quality Examples

Logistics: Using a standard date format (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS) for all event timestamps allows for easy sorting and duration calculations.

Manufacturing: Storing temperature readings as floating-point numbers with a defined unit (Celsius/Fahrenheit) in metadata.

Marketing: Using a standardized country code format (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2) for customer addresses ensures compatibility with analytics tools.

Poor Quality Examples

Logistics: Storing numerical quantities (like TEU count) as text strings with embedded commas prevents direct calculations.

Manufacturing: Sensor timestamps stored as Unix epoch time without timezone information, leading to ambiguity in event sequencing across plants.

Marketing: Customer survey responses (e.g., 'satisfaction score') stored as free-text instead of a numerical scale, making aggregation hard.

Related Standards