Companies often find themselves squeezed between outdated business infrastructure, a shifting regulatory environment and the advanced technology of tomorrow. This regularly occurring situation leads many companies to question and lose confidence in the validity of their data because there are so many external and technological variables influencing the collection and measurement of data.
Data is essential to develop informed, customized business strategies that improve performance. In order to capitalize on the countless benefits of data and overcome skepticism, enterprises must establish data confidence by improving their data management capabilities. Without confidence in the data, business leaders tend to resist using analytic analysis to support business decisions and revert to instinct and experience.
The internet revolution has sparked a data evolution, and businesses are struggling to cope with the volume, velocity and variety of data. Adding to this burden are the market’s expectation for increasing speed in process execution and evolving regulatory standards.
Customers and investors expect immediate responses for every information request, and they are becoming more aware of their personal use of data and how that data is used and shared by companies.
For example, one common complaint is, “Why can’t your company do this if these large corporations have been doing it for years?” Customers are expecting enterprises to know them better than ever, yet customers also have high expectations about the level of control they should have over their personal data and security. Regulators in many countries and across all industries are also taking an interest in data. They are setting expectations on where it is stored and how it is used as well as establishing penalties if data is compromised.
The key to establishing data confidence is through successful data management. Without data confidence, businesses will not be able to comply with the demand for customization, especially with increasing security concerns and regulatory requirements. For businesses to thrive in the digital age, they must achieve optimal data management levels that far exceed previously accepted standards.
The data confidence roadmap has two major pathways – 1) the pathway to operational excellence and 2) the pathway to unlocking the hidden value within the data.
To accomplish optimal data management, it’s essential to first bring three basic operational elements together — data stewards, data management and data technology.
