Which comes first – BizSource or TrueSearch?  It’s a bit like the chicken and the egg – without one you can’t have the other.  BizSource is the repository where all the information coming into Experian’s commercial database is housed.  This repository holds the information that’s essential for creating the credit story – trade payment, public record, collection experiences and firmographic information.  The true magic happens when TrueSearch, our search match engine, sifts through millions of records and assigns a unique identification number to each unique business found.

Each time a new identification number is assigned, we look to identify if the business is linked to other businesses within our database.  What do I mean be linked?  In this case I’m referring to businesses legally connected.  This connection is often referred to as Corporate Linkage.  The linkage may be simple – as in the case of a small business with three operating locations.  The linkage may be complex – as in the case of Experian which is made up of multiple linkage entities.  Rather simple or complex visibility into corporate family is essential. 

BizSource and TrueSearch are the foundation for all products and services we offer.  So let’s just say that like the chicken and the egg, both BizSource and TrueSearch are critical to delivering superior business credit data, which always comes first in my opinion.

In my first blog posting I mentioned credit reports were the credit story of a business.  In this posting I’d like to provide you with some insights on the raw materials that are brought together to become the chapters within the credit story.

You may think it’s simple to compile information to create the story.  However that’s far from the reality.   There’s no tool that easily links payment information, public record filings or collection experiences from thousands of suppliers.   There’s no magic tool that scrubs and standardizes all the information.   If you’ve ever tried to combine data from multiple customer databases where there’s not a common link you’ve experienced the painful reality of what it takes to create the story.   The story is in the data but putting it together is the challenge.

At Experian, a team of magicians (a.k.a. data analysts and technology experts) come together and create tools that sift through information.  Through these tools and a bit of magic we determine what can be brought together to begin the story for a new business or add a chapter for another.  At Experian this process occurs within our BizSource^SM database using our TrueSearch^SM matching engine.    In my next blog I’ll share my thoughts on these powerful tools.