Lies, Damned Lies and “Eventual Consistency”

Reporting is a clear example of a case where it is acceptable to users to make decisions based on out of date data, and businesses function perfectly well on these "incorrect" decisions.

How important having up-to-date data is depends very much on the type of decision being made, and the expected impact of not being consistent.

Consistency should be carefully considered from the business perspective before deciding what level of consistency is best, and these choices should be communicated to business so they can take them into account when making decisions.