By Sumit Kumar Sharma, Enterprise Architect and Head of Advisory Services at In2IT

Data is embedded into all aspects of any organisation, not just at a technology level but at a business level as well, and the number of data sources grows daily. To leverage the value of this data, we need to stop looking at it in isolation – we need to examine business processes, applications, integration points and more to identify data sets. This data forms the basis for advanced analytics and the ability to derive insight. However, it is critical to get this foundation right, because otherwise the adage of ‘garbage in, garbage out’ will apply, and any intelligence will be meaningless at best, and downright harmful at worst. Getting the data right is critical to driving business innovation. 

Not an IT problem

While many sources of data do involve technology, data is not ‘an IT problem’. Data is a strategic business asset, which touches every part of the business, and it cannot be viewed as a project on its own. Digital transformation revolves around data, but jumping straight into artificial intelligence and social analytics without addressing the data first will fail to yield meaningful results. Investing in the right data technology first is key in gaining a competitive advantage by improving the user experience, predicting customer desires and driving innovation throughout the business.  

Siloes stifle innovation

Without a complete view of data and access to the required data sets, insight cannot be accurate. To use a somewhat silly example, if our data shows us that a person is wet, the insight may be to hand them a towel to dry themselves off. However, this insight is based on incomplete information – if we had a complete view, we would see that the person is standing in the rain, so a towel will not help much, and an umbrella would be a more useful solution to them at this time. This same concept extends to all areas of data analytics. Without a complete and accurate view across our data, insight and innovation cannot occur. 

Technology is only the answer when the foundation is secure

Without addressing data issues at the source, next-generation technology will fail to add value to the business. Artificial intelligence will produce meaningless insight if it is based on false, inaccurate or incomplete information. Machine learning will continue to learn the wrong things and will reinforce processes that fail to add value or could be detrimental. Robotic process automation will only speed up the process of getting things wrong if it is based on the wrong data. It is imperative to fix data at the source, eliminate siloes, clean existing data and put processes in place to ensure future data does not continue to create problems. 

No one size fits all solution

While there are many technologies, tools and so-called best practice steps when it comes to data management, the truth is there is no single solution that applies in every business and every context. Any investment should talk to the digital transformation strategy of the business and how it will deliver competitive advantage, enable better business and empower innovation. The right IT partner can be an invaluable asset in helping to find the right solution, supported by the right strategy. Ultimately, the value of data cannot be defined by one thing. It is not one thing, it is everything – from user experience to competitive advantage to driving innovation, whatever a business needs to survive and grow, data forms the foundation.