Most organisations create asset registers, which vary in detail; most organisations also forget to register data. The forgotten asset is a critical problem since it permeates every facet of the organisation.
Considering the ease with which data is collected by modern technology systems, it is not surprising that volumes of it have been collected in stores throughout organisations. What organisations now need is a means to sift through it all and use what they need. That is because data describes, regulates and measures all of the other assets an organisation possesses, including human, fixed and consumable assets.
Measurement is at the root of all management and data is at the root of all measurement, which puts it squarely at the centre of the universe.
Business is driven by the bottom line. But while it is a fine effort to sell goods from behind the counter, you still need to know how much you sold, when you sold it and to whom. Without at least basic information the business cannot grow, cannot develop and cannot adapt to the market. That places data directly alongside HR as one of the most critical assets of the business.
Measurement is at the root of all management and data is at the root of all measurement, which puts it squarely at the centre of the universe.
Mervyn Mooi, director of Knowledge Integration Dynamics (KID)
The problem businesses must overcome to integrate data into the asset register and recognise it as one of the most important assets is integration and standardisation. The data is out there in disparate forms and the various sources must be collated to enable one, consolidated truth. This is where business intelligence (BI) systems play their role, with their roots in data management.
Data management is a discipline that verifies, coordinates, validates, integrates and controls data requirements. Metadata management is a component of data management. It defines and describes data and processes. Any definition that relates to data or processes is metadata and must be centrally managed. This results in business processes and data standardisation.
A company I worked with has procurement and distribution roles across multiple divisions. The differences start with reporting hierarchies that don`t match across the divisions. That means the company simply cannot analyse certain aspects of its business. The business must conform and apply standards consistently. Metadata management would help that company track the differences and any duplication of data and business process standards.
Another organisation I was involved with had a product-centric focus that did not facilitate the customer experience or the business processes. That organisation needed a single view of the customer and that required a common ID or name which makes metadata management key to that business.
To achieve good metadata management, the organisation must develop an information management strategy that regulates the manner in which data is captured, stored, transformed, presented and processed. It`s a combined business and IT function. The information strategy rests on strategic business imperatives that must permeate the organisation downwards in the form of process documents.
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