Page 22 - Methodology for inter-operator and cross-border P2P money transfers

11.3.1 Team Naming 11�4 Naming and formatting conventions for data
For data processing, consistent naming over all objects
data sources of primary importance as it is used to In order to facilitate efficient and error-free trans-
combine data, and errors will lead to incorrect KPI fer of data between file media and databases, the
evaluation. following conventions must be met:
The following assumptions/prescriptions are made:
• Column names in data files (e.g., Excel®) shall only
• A DFS operator is identified by, in this order, the contain alphanumeric characters; shall not begin
network name and the country name. Examples: with a numeric character, and shall not contain
MTN Rwanda; Airtel Uganda; Vodafone Ghana. whitespace characters.
• Team names shall be chosen accordingly, i.e., the • Date and time shall be given in one of the stan-
team name should be the same as the operator dard formats. Formats shall not be mixed within
name. the same column.
• A team operates a “logical group” of one DFS • In particular for time information, data integrity
device and one Observer device (see Test scenar- has to be maintained over the whole processing
io under consideration). chain. In particular, this applies to decimal point/
• There are only two permitted types of device/ comma and delimiters in general. Also, it is known
function allocation: that millisecond formats can be troublesome. It
is highly recommended to run tests before going
a) One device is fixedly assigned to the DFS into full-size data processing.
role (i.e., is set up for a particular DFS opera- • A proven method to enhance conversion robust-
tor), and the second device is fixedly set up ness is using “decorated” elements. For instance,
for the Observer role. if a timestamp shall be given with milliseconds, in
b) Both devices are set up for both roles, but the can be written with a preceding fixed-size string.
DFS operator on both devices is the same. In that case, it will be imported as a string (e.g.,
nvarchar) to the database. Once in the database,
If configuration b) is used, data taken by the MSW substring/cast/parsing operations can be used to
and network performance background testing are convert this element to a datetime element again
treated as equivalent with respect to the generat- without the risk of loss of information.
ing devices.

The word “team” has historic origins. In consequence, 11�5 Local log sheets
the team name represents, and stands for, a partic- There are two variants of log sheets. The FTL assess-
ular DFS operator. In this sense “team” is a logical es the given situation and decides which variant is
entity rather than meaning a group of people. to be used, and which information is pre-printed and
Therefore, a team can be represented by a single which has to be entered by the teams. This decision
person. It is possible that a single person or a group is based on the level of skill and experience of teams,
of persons operates multiple devices, or switches and expected frame conditions in a given location.
between different set-ups. In that case, the docu-
mentation described in subsequent sections (TAL) • A rather explicit Location Log Sheet which has
needs to list each configuration where the DFS oper- fields for basic scenario and set-up related infor-
ator changes as a separate team with the respective mation, and provides a detailed check list for
time window information. elements to be checked periodically (on a prox.
This is because there must be absolute clarity (i.e., 2-hourly schedule).
at all times) in the relation between the Observer • A short-form Session/Location Log Sheet which
device/data ID’s (multistopwatch and background also collects information essential for measure-
testing) and the DFS operator under test. ment data allocation, but has a simplified status
check section which just asks for a general con-
firmation that operating conditions are still within
valid parameters.

It is good practice to use actual file names which
contain a reference to the project or campaign they

20 Methodology for inter-operator and cross-border P2P money transfers