Tony is this the part where you can lead the horse to water, but you can’t make it drink? I love this section of the book, especially where he says “Quality is not an act, it is a habit”. How true is that? If it takes 11 time for a prospect to see a product before it is branded, then making quality a habit must take 11 times too. I can’t tell you how many companies I have seen that do not pay attention to the quality of the data. That is something happens and it now hurts the organization.
By hurting, I mean:
- Being at risk for violating a compliance regulation, and possibly being fined or worse
- Not being able to keep up with the competition, and lose a customer
- Reprocessing the same data multiple times in the organization from different programs, thus creating a spider-web of interfaces
- Focusing on rapid ROI instead of long-term success (Success requires good consistent data to make intelligence decisions)
Executive sponsorship and buy-in is critical for the success of any quality culture in an organization. Also, making people accountable for the lack of quality data would make a difference too. One way to start in the right direction is to create the critical role of data steward in the organization, and make sure they become the bridge between IT and the business users.
A DATA band-aid can only be on for so long before it starts peeling off!
My final blog about The Data Asset will discuss Part Four – Closing the Loop: Selecting the Right Technology for Your Organization.
Hope to see you in Florida at IDEAS!