As we move further into the age of information, database management becomes more important than ever. This style of management involves a series of practices that aim to maintain the quality of an organization's data. At most organizations, a data management team or data steward is responsible for managing said data. Of course, errors are inevitable, but they can lead to serious consequences.
Fortunately, it's possible to fix many data management issues by adopting a proactive approach. Focusing on prevention and continual process improvement can help you clean up your data and push your business to the next level.
Let's take a look at the potential impacts of a poorly managed database and what you can do to improve your practices.
Improperly managing data can harm every level of an organization, regardless of its size. Some of the most common consequences of poor data management include:
While data management issues can be difficult to solve when they arise, they're mostly preventable.
The best way to prevent data quality issues is to change your company's mindset from reactive to proactive. By anticipating the problems your organization may face, you'll be able to keep issues to a minimum and protect your data.
A data steward is a member of your organization who engages directly with data to effectively manage it. These employees are responsible for duties like:
If your organization doesn't yet have a designated person to fulfill data management responsibilities, you should think about hiring a data steward or assigning someone in the organization to take on that role.
An incorrect or incomplete source material will result in corrupted data. There are several ways you can fix that data:
While a data breach may seem like a one-time event, it's often a symptom of a larger problem. Take a step back from the incident at hand to assess how your organization usually handles its data. Look out for patterns in your processes.
Because your data stack is a crucial part of your company's infrastructure, you should treat it like so. Evaluate your current data technology. Is it able to keep up with your company's current demands? If not, it's time for an update. Replacing your old legacy tech with new data architecture can both improve the quality of your data and save you money in the long run.
Having high-quality data is the backbone of any organization. Factors like accuracy, completeness and consistency determine the quality of a data set. Additionally, you need to make sure the data you collect is relevant to your organization's needs — you could have the highest quality data in the world and still not be able to use it because it doesn't make sense for your situation.
Here are some tried-and-true methods your business can use to clean up your data:
The term "data governance" refers to processes involved with maintaining good data quality. It consists of the following practices:
The result is better, stronger data that can help improve processes and assist in the digital transformation of your business. A data governance strategy can help you combat the inevitable human error of data entry and streamline the data cleansing process.
Using data governance strategies, you can create a master set of data for your organization. Your organization will refer to this set from now on.
The important thing now is to maintain that master set. You'll want to protect this one most heavily since it's your most accurate data, and prevent more bad data from entering the set. That's why master data management is a crucial part of data governance.
Examine the customer-generated data you normally collect. The chances are high that you've compiled a significant amount of data your organization can't use.
Solve that problem by cleaning up your forms — make all relevant fields mandatory if they're still optional and remove any fields that contain data you don't normally use. By streamlining your data generation strategy, you can prevent bad data from cluttering up your storage space.
When you improve your data quality, you'll be able to take on operations with increased efficiency and stability.
Take the first step today to push your organization to the next level.
Do you need help getting started? Technology Partners' database performance solutions can create and implement a manageable system for your organization. Better data management means your company will enjoy increased efficiency, security, revenue and competitiveness.
Contact us today to learn how we can help you maximize your organization's technology.