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content/blog/euc-management-system/index.md
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End User Computing (EUC) applications are unavoidable - the challenge is not to erase them, but to embrace automated approaches to EUC management that will identify, clean, secure, backup, and integrate EUC data with full auditability, ownership, and approval.
<h2>The Much-Maligned EUC</h2>
EUC applications such as Excel, Access Databases, and locally executed programs, are often targeted as the source of a myriad of risks - such as financial misstatements, internal fraud, incorrect models, and potential for business process disruption. The rationale being that business developed / owned applications are not subject to the same access controls, development &amp; testing standards, documentation and release management processes as can be found over the "IT Fence". Whilst this is probably true, the inherent flexibility of EUCs that can be quickly updated without service desk requests, project codes, or lost arms &amp; legs - means that EUCs are, regardless, here to stay.
The challenge is to find a way to shine a light onto this "Shadow IT", and provide a framework by which EUC data can be extracted in a simple, safe, secure, scalable, and auditable fashion. <a href="/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/DC-UML-Use-Case-Diagram-EUC.png"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1008" src="/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/DC-UML-Use-Case-Diagram-EUC.png" alt="EUC Use Case Diagram" /></a>
<h2>EUCs can be Controlled</h2>
The 'war on EUCs' cannot be won - it simply isn't practical to ban them, or to migrate / redevelop every closely held and highly complex legacy VBA application. Until alternative solutions for Citizen Developers to build Enterprise Apps (such as <a href="https://sasjs.io">SASjs</a>) become mainstream, simple measures / controls on the EUCs themselves must be implemented - such as version control, readonly attributes, embedded documentation, peer review etc. In the meantime, a management system for EUCs is the ideal place for capturing the requisite metadata needed to monitor, audit, and secure the data therein. Such a management system should have, as a minimum, the following attributes:
The 'war on EUCs' cannot be won - it simply isn't practical to ban them, or to migrate / redevelop every closely held and highly complex legacy VBA application. Until alternative solutions for Citizen Developers to build Enterprise Apps (such as <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://sasjs.io">SASjs</a>) become mainstream, simple measures / controls on the EUCs themselves must be implemented - such as version control, readonly attributes, embedded documentation, peer review etc. In the meantime, a management system for EUCs is the ideal place for capturing the requisite metadata needed to monitor, audit, and secure the data therein. Such a management system should have, as a minimum, the following attributes:
<h3>EUC Data Quality at Source</h3>
The ability to run data quality routines at the point of data upload (from EUC to secure IT environment) provides instant feedback to EUC operators that will allow them to make corrections and avoid costly post-upload investigations, re-runs, or worse - incorrect results. As part of this process, it should be easy to create and update those Data Quality rules. A longer discussion of Data Quality can be found <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/zen-art-data-quality-allan-bowe/">here</a>.
The ability to run data quality routines at the point of data upload (from EUC to secure IT environment) provides instant feedback to EUC operators that will allow them to make corrections and avoid costly post-upload investigations, re-runs, or worse - incorrect results. As part of this process, it should be easy to create and update those Data Quality rules. A longer discussion of Data Quality can be found <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/zen-art-data-quality-allan-bowe/">here</a>.
<h3>EUC Data Review (4 eyes)</h3>
After EUC data is submitted, it should be reviewed before the target database is updated. It should be possible (but not mandatory) for this check to be performed by a different individual. When performing that check, it should only be necessary to review new / changed / deleted records. For changed records, the reviewer should also be able to see the original values. If the data is approved, the target table is updated. If rejected, the staged data can simply be archived.
<h3>Roles &amp; Responsibilities (RACI)</h3>