Data Management and Where to Start
by Vince Guess
Ability to access the right types of data is one issue. Ability to access data which is right is another issue.
These issues are compounded by a constant state of change which is not going to stop. Ability to manage change is the first prerequisite.
Data to be used to run the business must be structured in accordance with the needs of individual users and in a manner which can best accommodate change. This is the basis for the physical item hierarchies, the administrative hierarchy and the linkages within those hierarchies.
Physical item hierarchies and administrative hierarchies are like two kinds of fruit trees. The fruit is the data to be managed. While the fruit continually changes, the structure of each tree remains relatively stable. Rapid access to the fruit is enabled through proper structures and linkages.
A combination of simple and complex changes are likely to be in work at any one time. One complex change may impact data sets residing at multiple indenture levels in a hierarchy and perhaps other hierarchies too. Proper linkages are essential.
Data is being managed when the right data always gets to the right place at the right time.About Data
If it is on the computer, it is data. The computer is an efficient place to store and maintain data and, if part of a network, get it from its sources to its users in a fast and efficient manner. If thedata makes sense to its users, it is information. That is the challenge. How to make data informative!
Efforts to achieve fully integrated systems, wherein each individual in the enterprise works with the same system and uses various combinations of the same data, have been ongoing for over 25 years.
Although many organizations achieve pockets of success, few have achieved the utopia of a fully integrated state. Getting the right data to the right place at the right time is still a challenge.
One way to have the right data in the right place at the right time is to have it there at all times. User response time must also be reasonably prompt.
Timing must also include consideration for changes to data and the associated effectivities.
Each user has their own version of the right place. Their right place is their work station or work center which may contain a variety of work stations.
Different work stations may be better suited for maintaining and accessing different types of data.
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