Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) — Question 1166

An organization has decided to build a data warehouse using source data from several disparate systems to support strategic decision-making. Which of the following is the BEST way to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the data used to support business decisions?

Answer options

• A. The source data is pre-selected so that it already supports senior management's desired business decision outcome.
• B. The source data is from the current year of operations so that irrelevant data from prior years is not included.
• C. The source data is modified in the data warehouse to remove confidential or sensitive information.
• D. The source data is standardized and cleansed before loading into the data warehouse.

Correct answer: D

Explanation

Option D is correct because standardizing and cleansing the source data ensures that it is accurate, complete, and suitable for analysis in the data warehouse. Option A is flawed as it may introduce bias by pre-selecting data based on desired outcomes. Option B limits the dataset unnecessarily and may exclude valuable historical insights, while Option C does not address the fundamental issue of data quality and integrity.