Category: Business
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Data Integration Benefits? They’re Obvious.
“At least 84 percent of consumers across all industries say their experiences using digital tools and services fall short of expectations.”* That quote headed a recent article by David Roe on the role of data integration in digital workplace apps. However, the opening quote reflects the pervasive dearth of integrated data among the companies most of…
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Sound Data Culture Enables Modern Data Architectures
Modern data architectures, by enabling data analytics insights, promise to drive order of magnitude value gains across many business sectors (here, here, and here). Not so long ago, big data presented a daunting challenge. Although tools were plentiful, we struggled to conceptualize the architecture and organization within which to capitalize on those tools. Now solid…
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Leader’s Data Manifesto Annual Review: “It’s About the Lopez Women”
A year ago I recounted proceedings from the 2017 EDW World conference, which included release of the Leader’s Data Manifesto (LDM). Last week’s EDW World 2018 served as a one-year status report on the Manifesto. The verdict: there’s still a long way to go, but speakers and attendees report dramatic progress and emergence of shared…
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The PDDQ Framework: Lean Data Quality for Patient Records
For most of us it may have slipped under the radar, but in December a groundbreaking Patient Demographic Data Quality framework was jointly released by a US government agency and the CMMI Institute. In response to findings that many “safety-related events were caused by or related to incorrect patient identification”, the Office of the National Coordinator…
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A New Direction for Data at #EDW17
Obviously, data management is important. Unfortunately, it is not prioritized in most organizations. Those that effectively manage data perform far better than organizations that don’t. Everyone who needs data to do his/her job must drive change to improve data management. That was the theme of the recent Enterprise Data World (EDWorld) conference this week. This year’s EDWorld event might be the…
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Levels of Trust in Data Governance: It’s Not All or Nothing
The term “trust” implies absolutes, and that’s a good thing for relationships and art. However, in the business of data management, framing trust in data in true or false terms puts data governance at odds with good practice. A more nuanced view that recognizes the usefulness of not-fully-trusted data can bring vitality and relevance to…
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Five Thoughts On Data Management Maturity
Recently I’ve had the opportunity to dig deeply into the CMMI Data Management Maturity model. Since its release, the DMM model has emerged as the de facto standard data management maturity framework (I’ve listed other frameworks at the end of this post). I’m deeply impressed by the completeness and polish of the DMM model as…
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Three things about “Interview with a Data Scientist”
Recently, I posted “Interview with a Data Scientist” at my company’s blog site. In it, my friend and colleague Yan Li answers four questions about being a data scientist and what it takes to become one. In my view Yan’s responses provide a bracing reminder that data science is something truly new, but that it rests on…
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How To Do Well in Your Next Job Interview
Recently I read an editorial about job interviews. It was breezy and funny, but not very helpful. Given that millions are out there looking for work, I want to help by giving my perspective on how to “win” the interview. I do a lot of interviewing, from both sides of the desk. As a consultant…
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Data Governance Begins At the Spreadsheet
Data management professionals have long and sometimes rather Quixotically driven organizations to “get past the spreadsheet culture.” Maybe that’s misguided. The recent furor over a widely read social science paper may show how we can look to scientific peer review for a way to govern data, spreadsheets and all. Recently, it was found that a…