The challenge of maintaining high-quality data has been
around since the proliferation of the database, but it is still an
issue that affects a wide variety of businesses and the public
sector, writes Colin Ricard of DataFlux.
Analyst Gartner estimates that
25% of data
held by Fortune 1000 organisations is still inaccurate and not fit
for purpose. This can lead to a multitude of business problems
such as an inability to understand customers, problems with the
supply chain, and failure to meet legislation such as the third EU
Fraud Act and the
Data
Protection Act 1998.
To accomplish these goals, there must be recognition that data
is a strategic asset. Just like products, buildings and
intellectual property, data is key to the success of an
organisation.
Whose job?
But whose responsibility is it to guarantee the effectiveness of
corporate data?
Traditionally, the problem has rested with the CIO and the IT
department. After all, IT departments manage the systems through
which data is shared and moved, such as data warehouses and ERP and
CRM applications. However, in recent years there has been an
acknowledgement that data quality is a problem that requires IT and
the business users of the data to collaborate.
For example, if a company is managing large volumes of customer
data, it needs to involve business users from the marketing
department who fully understand how a customer record must look,
how it should be standardised or deduplicated and which data fields
are most applicable to the objectives of the organisation. In other
organisations the IT department may have to work closely with the
procurement team to define rules to manage supplier and product
data.
Data stewards
This challenge has resulted in a proliferation of new job
titles, and it's now common to see organisations appointing
data stewards to define business rules to ensure data is fit
for purpose. There is now a recognition by many sectors that
garbage in will result in garbage out.
Data management is an end-to-end process rather than a case of
replacing an inappropriate database or application. Data must be
investigated at every point of entry to the company, and end-users
must be aware of, and adhere to, data policies centrally defined by
key business stakeholders.
Colin Rickard is managing director for west and north Europe
atDataFlux
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