There are no two ways about it, effective data analytics is simply impossible without good quality data.
Most data analytics projects include efforts to address data problems such as inconsistent formatting, duplication and inaccuracies.
Issues with data quality were cited as the most immediate concern for organisations in InformationWeek’s 2014 Analytics, BI, and Information Management Survey. Almost 60 per cent of respondents noted the challenge, far higher than for any other issue.
ComputerWorld used the example of the US Postal Service to highlight the cost of poor data management. According to USPS figures, 6.8 billion pieces of mail in 2013 were undeliverable due to incorrect addresses, resulting in an estimated US$3.4 billion in wasted expenditure.
No doubt a substantial percentage of those inaccurate addresses were spewed out of error-ridden company databases!
“[Data quality] is the most under-appreciated part of a project. It’s the part that takes the most time,” Moshe Kranc, CTO of Ness Software Engineering Services, told InformationWeek.
“Once you get the data normalised and all the bad records removed, and the incorrect records are cleaned, the rest of the project is doing the analytics and seeing the results. It’s the easier half compared to the 60 per cent [spent] getting data where you want it in a clean, normalised format.”
Building a business case for data quality
With up to three-quarters of organisations feeling that poor data quality is affecting their ability to deliver an optimised customer service (Research by Experian, 2016), having a well-defined data management strategy is essential. However, the same research found that a lack of knowledge and skills within organisations makes ensuring quality particularly challenging, leaving many floundering in a sea of bad data.
Having the right data management tools provided by expert BI consultants can bridge the data gap, with intuitive, user-friendly solutions and the guidance to get the most out of them.
Stellar Consulting has the experience to help businesses establish internal data governance and data quality improvement initiatives. Get in touch with us today, and ensure your business information is ready to integrate smoothly into your BI strategy.
