How Smart Is Your Data?
Everyone is talking about data. While the calendar says 2012, those who have been in the industry for a while are very familiar with this four letter word. In fact, we have been talking about the seamless flow of information within the enterprise for at least the last two decades. Be that as it may, data continues to be a focus of key initiatives for organizations across the globe, a top agenda item for both business and technology leaders alike. In fact Forrester’s latest enterprise architecture (EA) trends research verifies that MDM and data governance once again rank among the Top Business Technology Trends EA Should Watch: 2012 to 2014.
The research identifies two key trends that, when dissected, reflect a change in approach that top organizations are starting to consider when tackling data quality and governance within the enterprise. For BackOffice Associates®, the guidance to avoid Garbage-In and Garbage-Out is something we have been shouting from the rooftops for years, and reflects our core competency of not just delivering Business-Ready Data™, but also enabling the required governance and data quality controls to ensure data is properly maintained over time. The trends clearly signal the need for an organizational paradigm shift that accepts data as an integrated piece of process design and system integration as opposed to an event-driven activity on a project plan, where success is measured against a baseline that is time and resource driven.
Trend One: MDM meets process data management
We’re all familiar with the old adage “A picture is worth a thousand words” – similarly, “All rows and columns from your structured data” give us deep insight into the health of an organization’s processes and supporting data. Our experts regularly point out disconnects between process designs and Data that simply does not support the end state the business is trying to achieve. Organizations are finally starting to catch up to the realization that it is impossible to separate processes and data, and that any solution must ensure complete end-to-end alignment of data with Business-Process Management (BPM) and targeted business processes to accomplish MDM or meet data quality and governance standards.
Trend Two: The business takes up Data Governance
For several years we have heard many stories of CIO’s failing when attempting to drive data governance initiatives. The most common reason for failure has been touted as the lack of appropriate business involvement – a realization that is now starting to take hold as leading firms recognize that data governance is a required precursor to the success of other initiatives such as BI, Analytics and CRM.
This evolving need of data governance is just that – evolving. The majority of data governance efforts are still primarily IT-driven, but there is a shift occurring as experience is gleaned from large scale enterprise initiatives such as BI transformation and business-process optimizations fail or under perform.
The requirement for businesses to own and prioritize the validation, cleansing and governance of data is critical if enterprise data and process initiatives are to succeed. The same of course holds true for ERP implementation or transformational activity, all of which are arenas where BackOffice consultants are recognized for their best in class methodology, CranSoft® toolset and exceptional solution delivery.
How to choose your Data Solution Partner? Look for the Hedgehog….
Those familiar with the body of work by Jim Collins, specifically Good To Great, will recall the quaint story about the fox versus the hedgehog. The fox is fast moving and can change directions very easily – always quickly bounding forward to attack the hedgehog. The hedgehog has but one simple defense of rolling into a ball of spikes to frustrate its opponent. Hedgehogs are not very exciting, just very consistent. This metaphor is at the heart of the concept whereby companies that consistently demonstrate great results to their customers typically have a core competency they are not only deeply passionate about, but also endeavor to be the best in the world.
For BackOffice Associates, our hedgehog is data. It’s what our team of experts do each and every day.
And yes, like the hedgehog, we can make your go-lives boring too. But that’s just another thing you’ll love about us.
Pedro Cardoso, Lead Consultant, BackOffice Associates, LLC
