Data: The Critical Investment
In General, How Do We Look At the Task At Hand When It Comes To Data?
Most people that I have come in contact with believe that maintaining data is usually
someone else's job. Those same people usually complain about mapped information
never being right and the fact that there is not enough time in a day for good quality data
maintenance. Over the years I have often heard comments like “the maps are not right”,
or “the information I received is not correct”.
It also seems that, more often than not, people have the perception that implementing a
new system or technology will somehow make the data that they deal with on an
everyday basis better. There is no “silver bullet” or “magical process” that this author is
aware of that can make that happen. Technology can change several things, but it
cannot change or alter in any way the quality of existing base data.
The process to maintain truly high quality and accurate (content accuracy) data can be
very time consuming.
Who has the main responsibility for the data?
The answer to this question is really a very simple one. Everybody in the organization
has a responsibility in maintaining quality data. Even when people are not directly
involved in a data gathering effort they should always pay very close attention to the
data that they provide others. For example, when someone fills out a form they need to
check and double check it to make sure that they didn't transpose a number. This will
make sure that the person who receives the form will have correct information. When the
person in the field sees something that doesn't match the map they are looking at, they should note it and send the correct information to the mapping department or whomever
is responsible to correct the information. And so on and so on.
Is Data the Corporate Asset That We Keep Hearing About?
I say YES! Just as buildings, furniture, vehicles, or new computer systems are
considered to be corporate assets, data MUST be considered a similar kind of asset. It
needs to be taken care of and maintained in the best possible way to ensure its
longevity. Just like you change the oil in company vehicles or clean the buildings, data
needs good maintenance too. It costs a significant amount of money to gather data the
first time and I believe that if we treat it like an investment it will have a very long life and
help the computer systems yield the benefits we are expecting.
Additionally, so that the investment made in data can be protected, keep the following
points in mind:
- Determine How Data Will Be Maintained Before Starting Conversion
- Ensure People Are Aware of It’s Importance
- Provide the Proper Training
- Reengineer the Work Processes
- Analyze Data Quality Often
What Really Happens If The Data Isn’t Maintained?
Good quality and accurate (referring to content accuracy) data yields benefits for a
corporation in three major categories. Those categories are increased efficiency,
operational and strategic. The following provides some detail in each:
- Increased Efficiency
- The availability of accurate and up to date information.
- Resources required for map updating are reduced
- Mobile computing is more cost effective than providing paper copies of maps
- Operational Benefits
- Multiple departments will access and use the same geographic data.
- Information is available to management for decision-making purposes.
- Standardization of data.
- High quality data can support:
- Scheduling of maintenance activities.
- Maintenance requirements can be prioritized.
- Strategic planning studies.
- Etc.
- Strategic Benefits
- A corporate database can be built.
- Business processes can be optimized.
- Increased orientation to the customer's needs.
- Overall enhancement to decision-making processes.
If data is not maintained properly some or all of the above mentioned benefits will be
greatly diminished if not eliminated all together.
