I was at a party over the holidays, on Christmas Eve actually, and the kids had my neighbor’s laptop open all night, busily tracking Santa Claus’ progress delivering toys all over the world. And my neighbors were pretty excited about it, pretty geeked up about how cool it was that NORAD would do something like that for kids. Meanwhile, I was thinking that what these kids were really doing was using all the available data they had to put some transparency on their supply chain and how, in fact, their supplier (Santa) was using geospatial data to achieve just in time delivery.
It was pretty cool that Michele Obama was manning the phones when excited kids were calling up and asking questions about the data. And it really didn’t matter that the kids were essentially receiving bad data. You know, all that stuff about where Santa was and where he was going was just made up. As an educated man, I know for a fact that Santa is invisible to radar.
But it did get me to thinking that these kids were being primed to expect to be able to use data in their everyday lives, and by extension their business lives. Most of them had probably been driven to the party by someone using a GPS to get them there. So, by watching the adult at the wheel getting directions on how to get to the party, beyond tracking Santa, what we have here is an entire generation of future leaders who have come to expect good quality data at their fingertips to help guide them in their decision-making processes.
Unfortunately, the adult behind the wheel isn’t always getting the best data that they need to help them in their decision making processes. And that problem is multiplied by enormous factors when the adult relies on that data to guide a business, rather than just figuring out whether to turn left or right on Mist Hill Drive. In fact, Ovum, a global analyst firm, estimated “that poor data quality costs US businesses at least 30% of revenues—a staggering $700 billion per year.” That’s a combined number: Gartner puts that figure at about $100 million, annually, for most large US firms.
But this isn’t something we just have to shake our heads about. This is something we can fix. Unfortunately, fingers tend to point to IT. But IT doesn’t use the data and they don’t source it! We have to realize that responsibility for data quality is everyone’s job. IT distributes and manages the data, but those who enter and apply the data have to stay on their toes regarding data quality. Business leaders need to partner with IT and address the issues which are at the root of the poor data problem: business process, employee training, business-rule creation and enforcement.
We need business leaders that view data as a critical business asset and holds people accountable for the caretaking of data. Why? Improved business data results in more accurate decisions, lower operational costs, improved customer satisfaction and improved financial performance. And who doesn’t want all of that?
Take some time to read a white paper we’ve published on how to fix the problems that occur when strategic decisions are based on bad data. This paper, “Data Quality? That’s IT’s problem not mine” outlines how if you don’t fix those problems it can result in financial loss, negatively impact customer relationships and irreparably damage an organization’s credibility in the market. In short, it’s what business leaders should know about data quality.
Gartner. “Findings from primary research study: Data quality issues create significant cost, yet often go unmeasured.” 21 October 2010.
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