Four keys to mapping data quality success

Although nobody knows the precise date for certain, cartography has been a part of human history for about 8 000 years. One of the earliest known maps is Turkish, and others were used extensively by the ancient Egyptians, the Romans and all the other civilisations and great empires.

This is for one plain and simple reason: people need to know where they are going, how to get there and what to expect en route.

The same holds true for data quality (DQ) projects. Organisations cannot conduct DQ projects unless they know where to start, where they're headed and the extent of the journey.

Critically, organisations will discover how long projects are likely to last and how much they will cost. Time and price are critical factors that will become known if organisations first map projects.

The DQ territory consists of three critical regions that must be addressed for a successful journey. People, ideas and technology unite to result in success or failure. DQ is not just about technology, which is where many projects in the past have focused and therefore failed.

Technology does not solve business issues; it automates what already exists. If the business processes and the methodology are good, then the appropriate application of technology will ensure they occur quickly and reliably. But if they are poor, then technology will only exacerbate the problem.

Travellers on a DQ journey include data owners, data stewards and data governance representatives. It is imperative to get these people aboard and empower them before they can communicate and facilitate the cultural shift necessary for successful DQ projects.

IT is not a separate division in the business. It is not the exclusive domain of technophiles. It is not the private army supporting a new political power in the boardroom. IT must nurture business information so that it becomes a useful contributor. And it must consider the entire organisation when it does so.

Most importantly, it must communicate its journey with its travellers. Empowering data owners, data stewards and data governance representatives is aimed squarely at achieving just that.

Technology does not solve business issues; it automates what already exists.

Mervyn Mooi is a director at Knowledge Integration Dynamics.

Route planning is familiar territory for every seasoned traveller. No DQ projects have even the remotest chance of success without good strategies. They are the roadmap to the future.

Strategies collect the key principles, critical success factors and the related skills and resources to achieve two goals only: optimise the business and its employees and improve customer service.

Planning routes also ensures management can do what all good management should: measure progress and report it to stakeholders.

People drive vehicles, not vice versa, and so technology is the vehicle for delivering DQ success. The vehicle should contain the generic features of all DQ technology and some appropriate to specific organisations. While many employees need access to basic data, some need access to refined data analyses. At all levels it empowers them to become more efficient and it makes them aware of the impact that data has on their roles, the overall organisation and customers.

While the vehicle should be able to be deployed across the business, it should also cater to silos within the business, according to industry. As with all IT projects, the need to customise a solution slows the process and increases the expense, so it is imperative that it support a great deal of functionality in its standard form.

Knowing where to go, how to get there and what to expect en route will deliver organisations embarking on DQ projects multiple benefits. Without it they wander aimlessly in a wilderness of expense and lost time.

* Mervyn Mooi is a director at Knowledge Integration Dynamics.