Why data management is important

The realization that better collaboration and better processes are needed, for instance, led to DataOps. This relatively new discipline will play a vital role in big data analytics, artificial intelligence , machine learning, and many modern applications. Although data management exists for a long time, attention for the discipline has grown with the advent of big data , the increasing importance of analytics, and the evolution to a more data-driven digital economy in which data is a business asset.

Last but not least for now , data management has also become more critical and complex because our data age and what we do with very diverse types and volumes of data are more complex than ever. On that list of drivers, to summarize a bit:.

Time for a definition of data management. DAMA International , an organization of data management professionals, defines data management as follows:.

These topics are important for previously mentioned reasons, such as the fact that data really is what digital business and the digital economy are very much about. But more on that later. As promised, a few words on the differences between data and information management.

The management of data and information for various purposes goes back to the early days of information technology. IT management, data management, and information management are closely related and intertwined. Blue-Pencil can take care of your document destruction process for you.

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Learn more about our secure shredding services here. Data Management. What Is Data Management? Data management includes the following topics: — data security — data destruction — data reference and master data management — data warehousing and business intelligence management — document and record storage — records management — data governance — data architecture — database management — data quality management — contact data management systems If you need to build a data management plan, here is a great free resource from the University of California.

The Amount of Data Makes It Difficult to Manage The effective management of data within any organization has grown in importance in recent years as organizations are subject to an increasing number of compliance regulations, large increases in information storage capacity , and the sheer amount of data and documents being generated by organizations.

Good data management: Makes it easier for your employees to find and understand the information that they need to do their job. Allows your staff to easily validate results or conclusions they may have. Provides the structure for information to be easily shared with others Allows information to be stored for future reference and easy retrieval.

Data Management Will Give Your Business Operational Nimbleness Proper data management will help your staff access information faster The speed at which a company can make decisions and change direction is a key factor in determining how successful a company can be. Data Management Will Help Reduce Security Risks There are multiple risks if your data is not managed properly and your information falls into the hands of the wrong people. Data Management Will Reduce Data Loss A proper data management system will reduce the risk of losing vital information With a data management system and plan in place that all your employees know and follow, you can greatly reduce the risk of losing vital information.

Data Management Will Help You Make More Accurate Decisions Many organizations use different sources of information for planning, trends analysis, and managing performance. The High Risk of Having an Inadequate Data Management Plan The corrective costs of inadequate data management can be significant and can run into millions of dollars from a single occurrence.

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Data catalogs help manage metadata to create a complete picture of the data, providing a summary of its changes, locations, and quality while also making the data easy to find. Data warehouses are places to consolidate various data sources, contend with the many data types businesses store, and provide a clear route for data analysis.

Data governance defines standards, processes, and policies to maintain data security and integrity. Data architecture provides a formal approach for creating and managing data flow. Data security protects data from unauthorized access and corruption. Data modeling documents the flow of data through an application or organization. Why data management is important Data management is a crucial first step to employing effective data analysis at scale, which leads to important insights that add value to your customers and improve your bottom line.

Reliability Data management helps minimize potential errors by establishing processes and policies for usage and building trust in the data being used to make decisions across your organization. Security Data management protects your organization and its employees from data losses, thefts, and breaches with authentication and encryption tools.

Scalability Data management allows organizations to effectively scale data and usage occasions with repeatable processes to keep data and metadata up to date. Challenge 1: Increased data volumes Every department within your organization has access to diverse types of data and specific needs to maximize its value. Challenge 2: New roles for analytics As your organization increasingly relies on data-driven decision-making, more of your people are asked to access and analyze data.

Challenge 3: Compliance requirements Constantly changing compliance requirements make it a challenge to ensure people are using the right data. Establish data management best practices Implementing best practices can help your organization address some data management challenges and reap the benefits. Focus on the quality of data You set up a data management system to provide your organization with reliable data, so put the processes in place to improve the quality of that data.

Allow the right people to access the data Having quality data is half the battle. Proper data management actually means increased productivity. By having all of your data in one neat, organized place, anyone who needs access to it the sales team, the marketing team, the accounting team, etc. Having one safe, secure area where this data lives is essential to being able to protect this data for your leads and customers.

This means that valuable leads could be falling through the cracks and customer information could be getting lost, leading to both revenue loss for the company and frustration for people that you have no record of trying to buy from your company. Keep all lead and customer information safe within a data management system for any time they return to your business.