Data Quality

The primary data asset that underpins Abacus is the Alliance Master File (AMF) with over 18 million UK households and 500 million transactions. The amount of data is important, as is the quality of the data because it ensures that we can provide our members with high performing selections.

Abacus has invested significantly in quality control systems that ensure data supplied by our members is verified and corrected before loading onto our central database. All address data is verified against the Postcode Address File (PAF) and only those records where we can match and return the PAF address are loaded. We ensure that the data is cleaned against the relevant suppression files and MPS.

As we deal with a large number of data supplies from many sources, it is more effective to invest the time upfront to ensure that the data is loaded correctly the first time and avoid the time consuming process of "fixing" data post load. We have also found it is better not to load incorrect data as any value it may add is outweighed by the negative impact it has on the performance of the AMF.

Abacus invest heavily in the "discovery process". New members' data supplies are analysed by our specialist Database Services team and documented fully, input counts are run and saved for future reference so they can be compared with subsequent supplies and the conversion code and metadata associated with the data is version controlled to help eliminate errors. Our team has a huge amount of experience (an average of 16 years each in the data industry) and use sophisticated tools such as IBM DataStage and Trillium to process our members' data.

The team works closely with our members to ensure compliance with Data Protection guidelines, for example all data must hold the appropriate permissions for mailing purposes.

These high standards allow for efficient, automated processes that can handle output requests and feed into the modeling process, ultimately resulting in quicker turnaround times for member's orders. 

Rigorous QC procedures are in place at every stage of the order process.