We’re constantly told that we need massive data sets to do quality analytics; the more data sources, the merrier. But when there are a gazillion silos full of mismatched, mysterious data, where do companies begin combining it? How do they parse it, analyze it, and decide what to keep and what to throw out?

They start with a “clean room,” according to Michael Noel (pictured, left), managing director of applied intelligence at Accenture LLP.

“Having this concept of a clean room that allows you to take your various aspects of a business and combine it from a data point of view, a business metrics point of view, and a business process point of view — this one source helps you consolidate and streamline that so you can see that integrated view across your new business model,” he said.

The foundation for a clean room is a single platform for all usable data.

Noel and Akhtar Saeed (pictured, right), vice president of solution delivery at Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits LLC, spoke with Rebecca Knight (@knightrm), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the AWS Executive Summit in Las Vegas. They discussed the companies’ partnership and the steps to organizing messy data on one platform. (* Disclosure below.)

Cultural and tech hurtles to landing on one page

Combining multiple data sources for analytics and business intelligence is tough within the same company. When two companies merge, marrying two alien data collections together is an even more difficult challenge. Southern Wine & Spirits of America and Glazer’s Inc. began working with Accenture to prepare for their merger in 2016. The now-merged company, Southern Glazer’s, has taken the crucial first step and gathered all its data together with services from Accenture Insight’s platform running on Amazon Web Services Inc.

“That’s the hardest part,” Saeed said. “Data is going to be very important, so you have to take the first step saying, ‘How do I get a better handle on the data?'”

Photo: SiliconANGLE