Monthly Archive for September, 2009

The Rx for healthy data

Published on September 10, 2009 in Data Governance and Data Quality. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Health care is certainly front and center in today’s news. Without taking sides on the issues in Washington, I’d like to share some of the learning we’ve done at Pitney Bowes regarding health care – and how I think it relates to data and data quality.

Organizations – Pitney Bowes especially – define their employees as company assets; and they make major efforts to increase the value through productivity. 

For example: Pitney Bowes makes a considerable investment in preventive healthcare for its employees, providing onsite monitoring and treatment for those with chronic conditions; and onsite care when employees are feeling under the weather. As a result, employees are better about getting the treatment they need:  they start treatment sooner, and typically feel better sooner too.  It’s a win-win: employees benefit; and productivity improves.

Every corporate decision and operation has reliance on the underlying data. In other words, good quality data is as much an asset to the organization as a hard-working employee. It’s time for businesses to recognize that data quality isn’t a place to cut corners. In fact, by taking a page out of the healthcare book and performing good preventive maintenance on data and quick treatment when data-quality issues arise – data quality will be better, and productivity will increase.

A few weeks ago, we talked about how data governance is everybody’s business.  Just as employees stay healthier when it’s easier to do so, we can expect that employees will do a better job of keeping data quality high if they recognize the value and find that its easy to do so.  I think one of the challenges is to make the process of data governance meaningful and straightforward.

The Business Case for Data Quality

Published on September 8, 2009 in Data Quality and Data Stewardship. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Two recent studies highlight the significant cost of inadequate data quality.

Last month, we wrote about the State of Data Quality, an Information Difference research survey in which one-third of respondents rated their data quality as “poor at best.” A full 63% of organizations had no idea what poor data quality may be costing them.

This month, Gartner quantifies that cost.

In the latest Gartner study, participants estimated that poor data quality cost their organization an average of $8.2 million a year.  22% of respondents calculated their annual losses at $20 million or more.  And while losses of millions of dollars are significant, Gartner analysts believe these figures understate the true financial impact on most organizations.

A recent article in Tech Target added that much of this loss is due to lost productivity among workers who, realizing their data is incorrect, are forced to compensate for the inaccuracies or create workarounds when using both operational and analytic applications.

Tackling the challenges of data quality, however, requires not only an investment of time and money-but also a commitment from management. Given today’s economic pressures, it is more critical than ever for organizations to build a business case for data quality.  Yet that is easier said than done.

As data quality impacts every facet of your organization, calculating its impact can be a daunting task.  Consider for example, what is the value of: 

  • Stronger customer relationships
  • Improved targeting and higher sales
  • Streamlined billing and order processing
  • Compliance with state and federal regulations
  • Lower cost of communication and postage
  • Consolidated workflow processes
  • Better management decisions
  • Timely, accurate service

Fortunately, you can learn how to overcome these challenges and build the case for stronger data quality in your organization. On Friday, September 18th, Andy Hayler, the President and CEO of The Information Difference, will share his insights on what it takes to make a business case for data quality.  Using real-world stories that illustrate both successes and failures, this interactive webinar can help you gain the executive support you need to make a difference.

Best of all, as a guest of Pitney Bowes Business Insight, you can participate in this informative webinars at no cost to you.  You just need to register today.

Transforming Raw Data into Strategic Assets

Published on September 8, 2009 in Data Governance. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Earlier this month, my colleague Dean Wiltshire gave a webinar to a number of our customers in the financial industry titled “Good Data, Smart Decisions”.

The feedback from attendees was so positive, I wanted to post a link to the archived webinar so you could view at your convenience.  Here’s a brief synopsis:

Data governance is proving to be one of the more difficult aspects of data management, although it is the only way an organization can know that data compliance and accountability requirements are being met. In addition, key stakeholders often have different perspectives on the state of their data, which can lead to incorrect assumptions and ultimately affect data quality. Now you can gain a shared view of enterprise data with integrated profiling, analysis and management reporting in one data governance solution.

Dean talks about hidden data quality issues, best practices and provides a thorough overview of the end-to-end data quality process-along with a close-up look at the suite of Data Governance solutions available through Pitney Bowes Business Insight.   If you have the time, this webinar is definitely worth a look.