Effective data integration is vital for business
success
In most businesses, IT departments take little notice of
data quality or ongoing data management. Senior management also
tends to under-estimate the need to focus on these
challenges.
According to a global data management study by PWC, 75% of
companies surveyed admitted that defective data impacted them
financially. And 33% were forced to delay or scrap new systems. One
company reported that data problems had caused it an £4.4m loss in
one year alone.
Gartner Group says data quality is a serious problem that is
imperilling business initiatives, future growth and long-term
survival. It has found that more than a quarter of critical data in
Fortune 1,000 businesses will continue to be inaccurate or
incomplete until 2007.
But why is keeping data accurate and the management of that process
such a big problem for so many companies?
Most firms purchase multiple data lists for numerous business
functions. The result is a number of disparate databases with much
duplication of data. While many companies are tackling this issue
by embarking on data integration projects, they give little thought
to the data itself.
Gartner says throwing technology at data quality issues does not
solve the problem. Clearly data integration is more than
integrating the framework or infrastructure that the data resides
within. Users need to optimise the data within each system. While
this may seem an easy task, it seems to stump many companies.
Data optimisation involves cross-checking, converting and combining
information into a consistent whole. This is difficult because the
data is peppered with errors. There are also anomalies in the way
data is entered, which makes deduplication difficult.
And using out-of-date information affects business productivity and
profitability. Imagine chasing a sale, only to find out later that
the company was actually bankrupt. The knee-jerk reaction to such a
problem would be to "buy a list" or a conduct a data cleansing
exercise. Don't be fooled, data management is a long-term,
methodical process that requires commitment and focus.
IT departments which recognise that data integration projects
should involve someone with a background in information will go a
long way to saving their projects from failure. Information experts
who bring a background in editorial content and research will be
able to introduce content optimisation processes and appropriate
data taxonomy.
Users cannot afford to ignore data quality. By investing now
businesses will reap rewards in improved operations and decision
making.
Paul Brown is vice-president of OneSource
Information Services UK
