Get your data in Alfabet FastLane

Up-to-date information is a key challenge to understanding the IT portfolio. One of the most important tasks is to capture your data in Alfabet FastLane so that you can begin using its powerful analytics. Alfabet FastLane recognizes that you may have various complex data sources across multiple files or even unstructured data. An agile data capture approach that allows you to initially import large amounts of data and update gaps manually at a later date decreases the initial workload and allows you to derive value quickly. Once you have imported the data that describes the objects in your IT landscape, you can begin to understand and align your IT portfolio with the business strategy.

There are two basic methods to get new data into the system:

Capture data via XLSX files: A user with the Portfolio Admin user profile can generate XLSX files to capture data and import those files back to Alfabet FastLane. You are not required to capture data for all object classes to begin working with Alfabet FastLane. You only need to capture data for the business questions and object classes that are relevant for you to start documenting and analyzing your IT portfolio. Once the most important objects in your IT landscape are captured, you can specify the relationships and dependencies between those objects. After the initial bulk upload is completed, you can continue to add more data or update your existing data whenever necessary to manage your IT repository and keep it up-to-date. The imported data will be available in the database and other users in your user community with relevant access permissions can further refine or complete the data input in the context of data workbenches

Capture data manually: Some data may be simple to add by users in the user community who manually input data in easy-to-use data workbenches. Users with the Portfolio Admin, Portfolio Manager, Application Manager, or Technology Manager user profiles can add and edit the data in data workbenches. This is an effective method if you have only a short and simple list of data to capture, data that needs to be updated periodically, or users with specific information who are required to fill gaps in the data.