Model Partnership

Summer in the data management industry is a slower time—as it should be. This makes it more challenging to generate conversation and see action on matters of interest.

This week, I'd like to highlight Certent, a software solutions provider focused on management of valuations data supporting the issuance of options. Certent announced a partnership last week with Vena Solutions, which centralizes data generated as part of corporate performance management efforts.

This data news item falls a bit outside the operations functions Inside Reference Data typically covers, but addresses the kind of challenge we hear about regularly: centralizing data. Even though there is a back and forth about whether Excel spreadsheets are appropriate to use if one expects to centralize data, Vena's offering works with Excel, and its makers point to Excel's "flexibility and unmatched computing power."

With Vena's output working with Excel, Certent is giving users of its Disclosure Management platform the ability to use that data in Word and PowerPoint documents, connecting parts of the data reporting process. Moreover, Certent's platform lets users collaboratively review, edit and comment on financial disclosure data using XBRL coding and HTML code.

Service providers are bound to exaggerate the features of their products or the novelty of their ideas. That may or may not be the case with the development of Certent and Vena's partnership. Aspects of this particular offering, however, seem like the ideal that firms' data executives frequently wish for—data management that is all done under one standard, in this case XBRL, which will produce consistency, and without scrapping the ubiquitous Excel spreadsheet tool. Whether you are in the market for something to improve your handling of valuations data for options, or not, it could be a problem-solving approach worth looking for, or considering.

Trivial Pursuit

On rare occasions, I've found people in the data management or financial technology ranks with strong opinions on pop and rock music. So, if there are more of you out there, you might be interested in the "33 1/3" series of books from the Bloomsbury company. These pocket-size books focus on a single album, either how it was made or giving a critique about it, or a combination of the two. I'm a big fan of the series.

Each year, the publisher holds an open call for proposals to write one of the next year's 10 to 15 titles in the series. The series appears to be growing because this year saw 604 proposals, listed here—about 200 more than last year. And the proposals are lengthy affairs, including an analysis of the publishing market and a sample chapter. If you scroll down this list, you'll see one for an album by Genesis. That was my submission, labored on for the better part of two months. If nothing else, the list is food for thought for about what constitutes a great album—or an album worth writing about.