Data has become a very valuable resource for organizations, but this is only really the case if an appropriate data management strategy is carried out. Data management requires correct planning and organization of tasks, processes, policies and actions, in addition to constant innovation in information systems.
What is indisputable today is that companies need data management solutions that allow them to get the most out of information and use it as a powerful weapon of productivity, competitiveness and efficiency.
What Is Data Management?
Data management consists of collecting, storing, maintaining, using and managing data effectively, securely and profitably. It is the central axis that connects all phases of the information life cycle.
Its function is to ensure that an organization’s entire data system is clear and coherent, easily accessible and properly protected.
Your company must define a data management strategy by designing a roadmap that guarantees all the activities of its users and administrators, the use of data management technologies, and compliance with legal requirements, as well as meet the needs of the company to make its data profitable.
Data alone has no value. However, with a good data management system, they can become a very valuable intangible asset that provides broad benefits.
What Problems Do Companies Encounter When Managing Their Data?
The biggest challenge that companies face with respect to data management derives from the accelerated pace in which businesses are immersed and the exponential increase in the volume of data. The diversity, speed and quantity of data, together with the constant innovation of information technology, push organizations to seek flexible, efficient and effective data management systems that adapt to their changing needs.
However, data management and optimization still take some organizations by surprise, and today, they are still not clear about how they should structure and manage information effectively.
Some of the problems that companies encounter in terms of data management are the following:
- They have not identified the data they have.
- They have difficulty maintaining performance as the volume of information grows.
- They find it difficult to adapt to regulations, which are constantly changing.
- They don’t know how to reuse the data to give it new uses and get more performance out of it.
- They have difficulties integrating information from different sources.
Benefits Of The Application Of Data Management
There is a large amount of data constantly travelling through different digital infrastructures, and organizations have to become aware of its value to transform their sophisticated management.
Excellent data management provides companies with the ability to measure, control and predict almost any event or trend that may occur in the market. Therefore, you have to work with perspective and planning from a general business point of view.
The benefits of data management for companies are these:
- Increase business productivity
- Structure data so it is easily shared
- Facilitates decision-making
- Avoid duplication of data
- Reduces the risk of losing information
- Allows information to be readable and understandable
- Optimize smart advertising
- Increases computer security and reduces data vulnerability
- It promotes automatic learning of systems and thus promotes continuous improvement
- Allows easy data edits
- Save time and money
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Functions Of Data Management In The Organization
According to the International Data Management Association, data management comprises ten basic functions:
Data Governance: Data governance is at the heart of many other data management disciplines. It is focused on organization, processes and roles. In other words, it has control of the data, and that is why it is related to all disciplines among themselves.
Data Development: It consists of the development of databases and information modelling.
Database Operations Management: It involves the management of operational databases in which information is stored. Its key objective is the orientation towards real-time operational functions, that is, its elements can be added, modified or deleted immediately.
Data Security Management: It consists of the ability to protect data from misuse or loss due to attacks or system failures.
Reference & Master Data Management: It includes the management of master and reference data to ensure that information is created correctly for classification, use and analysis.
Data Warehousing & BI Management: Allows adequate visualization of data through Business Intelligence platforms.
Document & Content Management: It deals with the management of DMS document management systems and CMS content management systems.
Meta Data Management: Metadata is data that describes other data. Metadata management affects other functions, such as Data Warehousing & BI Management.
Data Quality Management: It involves the management of processes that guarantee the quality of information through optimization techniques such as “data cleaning”.
Data Architecture Management: It is the function in charge of defining how data is related, organized, stored and integrated.
In a data management department, the ideal is to have different expert professional profiles that fulfil each of the aforementioned functions. However, if your company’s resources are limited, it is advisable that you hire external companies or professionals to help implement the appropriate tools.
The necessary profiles are these:
- Data architects
- Data modelers
- Database administrators
- Database developers
- Data quality engineers and analysts
- Data Integration Developers
- Data governance administrators
- Data managers and data engineers
Some Trends In The World Of Data
Big Data, AI, IoT
Although Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things have been used for some years, there is still a long way to go. The rapid advancement of technology, the increase in data volume and digitalization are causing organizations to continue to face different obstacles in the application of these systems in their businesses. Therefore, these solutions remain important trends.
Data Visualization
Companies need to have access to their data in real-time in a visually understandable way. With data visualization, all the necessary information is provided in the form of knowledge graphs, tables, dashboards or maps, presenting the information that different departments need in a dynamic and aesthetically attractive way.
Democratization Of Data
Different departments must have the ability to access data without having to depend on IT. For this reason and so that these flow quickly, companies will work on a type of “self-service” that allows them to analyze and manage information without requiring specific technical intervention.
Cloud Data Analytics
The use of data analysis services in the cloud is growing rapidly, as it offers numerous advantages for companies, such as easily scaling based on the amount of data processing, helping to offload work from the internal team, and increasing the performance of the organization.
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