I was very competitive at this game growing up, and when I would finish the game, I would always draw my opponents board in my battleship notebook. I did this without my friends knowing it.  We would take a break, or put the game away, but I made sure I did not put away my section of the board. Before I got together with my friends to play again, I would study my notebook and look for patterns my friends had used in the past, and then I would develop a strategy to win the game.

My strategy for battleship led me to love the game of baseball, which is the most data driven sport that I can think of. Everything is calculated in baseball, even the amount of time an  professional athlete visits a mature dating site. For me, I pitched in college.  If I was not pitching, I was gathering data against opposing hitters for our pitching staff to use the next time we faced that team again. We used this data to develop a pitching strategy to get their batters out.

Are you getting the picture as to why data is so important? Data drives decisions! Data drives business strategy. Data is so important that companies pay millions of dollars to collect and understand it. For this reason, data analysts are some of the most stable positions in a company.  Data analysts are needed to help executives make million dollar decisions!

I hope this post gives you another reason mastering data management is so important to a business future. Data if understood correctly can make or break a companies future.

When I was in high school I had a friend who’s parents encouraged him to put his barmitzvah money into the stock market.  It just so happened he picked ‘Cisco’ as his investment when they were on their way to becoming a gigantic tech company, so my friend made a ton of money.  He promptly spent that money on a new BMW.  A high schooler driving around a new convertible BMW – now that is the epitime of cool!  Ever since then I’ve been enamored with the idea of betting big in the stock marketing and winning (more details on that story here).

Now that I’ve grown a little older, I realized that what my friend did was pure luck (or he got a good stock tip from his dad). In the stock market their are winners and losers, and the people who tend to win typically have the most complete and accurate data and research.

I’ve been looking at Online Trading Academy reviews for a while now because learning the proper way to trade is critical to being a successful day trader.  It is so much more than hearing about a stock you like and buying some shares.  A good day traders analyzes data and trends the majority of their time, so the better you are at this, the more successful you can be with day trading.

All of this got me thinking, what is the Master Data for a day trader?  While the Master Data Management discipline typically applies to corporations, I think the sentiment can be applied to a day trader whose livelyhood depends on the analysis of good data.

In my mind, a day trader’s master data is simply:  Stock Prices (historical and current/realtime), Earnings Announcements, and other analysis ratios (such as P/E).  I tend to keep the scope of Master Data very simple, because its very easy for it to spiral out of control and encompass anything… sort of its own version of ‘scope creep’.

What would you consider to be the master data for a day trader?  Can you think of other jobs where the traditional sense of master data doesn’t apply, but the sentiment does?

Master Data management consultants should have extensive training in proper research, applications, and even some experience with marketing to understand everything that needs to be done for them to be successful.  A simple out of the box package rarely will fit an organizations needs and provide them with a path to success.

One of the best ways to ensure that your team has proper master data management skills is to utilize eLearning training techniques.  Through web based training your staff can receive custom and specific information to their job function, role, and responsibilities.  It is also extremely flexible allowing individuals to take courses when convenient to them and without delaying their day to day tasks and responsiblities.

In addition to web based and computer based training there are a number of other elearning solutions that can be leverage to help prepare and train your staff.  By helping them become better at what they do you’ll be improving the efficiency of your organization and helping to improve the bottom line.

Your organization should look for ways to make training sessions a quarterly or annual occurrence.   This will help ensure that the processes individuals learn are not lost to bad habits or short memories.  The best time to remind someone of the proper way to do something is right before they forget how to do it.

Organizations with employees trained in data management best practices will be successful in the long run.  Is your organization prepared to do what it takes to get staff and employees to the level they need to be at for organizational success?

Ants, Spiders, Rodents,and other pests often find the same type of environment as the optimal location for their home.   The added warmth that server rooms have in the winter make it seem even more perfect for rodents to find places they can call their own.  Since server administrators usually access these servers through remote or SSH connections they too rarely access the server rooms to see what’s inside.   This type of situation can lead to unexpected system down time as rodents build their home and cause problems with the electrical equipment powering the servers.

There is nothing worse for your data, or for your organization, than unexpected downtime.  Troubleshooting the problem can take especially long if your administrators aren’t sure where the problem started and have to haunt it down.  I am almost positive that checking the electronics around the equipment would be towards the bottom of their list.  And the long down time can cost your organization significant profits.

To help fight this it is a good idea to have administrators regularly check the server rooms.  Make sure that they’re able to see the systems are clean, safe, and without pest problems.  If this hasn’t been done in some time I recommend having your organization bring in pest control professionals that can seal the room and help fight off pests of of the future.  For example, I’m sure the federal government and all of their servers would be interested in hiring a pest control va company to come assist them throughout the Northern Virginia area.   I bet Apple and their giant data center employees companies like this north carolina pest control company to help them keep Siri up and running.

By keeping your physical server rooms safe you’ll keep your data safe, up and running, and organization working.

Business process automation has also become a huge trend over the past few years. Being able to manage master data in an efficient and effective way can surely help you save a lot of time, effort and money. Once you are able to integrate applications and systems, it increases the efficiency in your day to day operations, making your business a lot more profitable in the process.

In any organization, you want to be able to provide excellent customer service. The only challenge in being able to do that is when your time and budget is consumed in trying to determine how to make your processes become faster, better and more effective. There are a lot of unnecessary work that goes into production lines and integration processes. Automating master data gets rid of these problems. A master data management company can evaluate the current procedure that you have and provide realistic recommendations that you can immediately implement within your team.   

Automating master data does not only help you combine several tools and resources that will help you be more efficient. It also helps you cut back on labor costs! Automation removes the need for a lot of manual work, and you would have to hire less staff to do redundant and repetitive tasks. It also gets rid of the possibility of any type of fraudulent activity, and you can be certain that all your data is kept with confidentiality under the watch of a few key people!

This is why selling data management services can really help you and your company become more organized. Aside from the fact that it keeps your records accurate, it also prevents you from any fraudulent activity that can be brought about by human error. Let’s take a look at the following scenarios: if you are working in the financial industry and your job requires collection of money or bills, being able to publish a consolidated bill will not only help keep you more organized. It also allows your clients and customers to look at their bills in an easier and more convenient way. It prevents them from having pay disputes and negative impressions of your company.

Being able to consolidate bills is just one classic example of what master data management can do. If you are thinking of merging data from different applications into one single system, doing this using the old manual method will take you weeks, or even months to complete. Using the services of a master data management team can accomplish this in seconds! It will not only save you time, but money as well. Just make sure that you are able to choose the right company, and you will surely enjoy the financial results!

These challenges can make it difficult to organize and account for all variations of data provided by users. A simple typo can change someone talking about a “Tree” to being entered into the data entry fields as “Three”. This typo of situation can only be minimized by developing systems that have a grammar check, spell check, and format check built into the data entry fields. With these elements in place users will be able to review and check their work before submitting to larger databases of information.

The first thing a data management analyst should investigate when starting a project that includes data with open ended input is to see what checks and safety mechanisms are in place to account for possible errors. If there are not sufficient checks in place than it is the responsibility of a data manager to coordinate with project and system developer leads to push for the implementation of these checks.

If adding these checks are not possible an analyst should prepare a risk document that walks stake holders through the possible errors and impact the lack of these checks may have on their overall system. This maybe a difficult document to complete but should include the fields where data may have possible errors, examples of what these errors may be, and possible solutions to identify these errors when including the data in a higher enterprise data management plan.

Data Management plans should clearly identify all systems that have risks of including data with grammar, spelling, and typing mistakes. If this is not included in the overall data management plan than long term and costly errors can be made by systems and decision makers.

How does your organization account for these type of data management trials?

Thankfully, master data management tools have been available to most business owners and executives for the past few years. But it is never enough for one to have the tools and systems to make them successful. You also need to establish talent acquisition strategies to hire the right master data management talent.  This becomes especially critical when you are trying to find a solution to a process issue, or you plan to change something in your organization and you want to ensure that you are making a calculated risk. The right master data management or MDM expert should be able to do this for you and implement a strategy that is effective, efficient and will yield the results you need.

To say that you need someone with experience  in the field is practically an understatement. Not only does this person need to be able to generate and understand the figures in the system, he also needs to understand it and simplify it enough for a larger and broader audience. Such is the focus of this MDM point of contact. You need to ensure that his attention to detail is keen enough to notice any potential errors or flaws, and also be able to recommend workarounds and solutions to resolve specific issues. Once you are able to find that person, you can sit back and watch your company reap business results with master data management!

Master data management involves several steps that need to be executed. Some people have underestimated this process as just a simple check and balance for operations to run smoothly. What we do not realize is that it involves a lot of research, application and even a touch of marketing to ensure that everything is completed. A good master data management consultant will not be satisfied by a general, one-size-fits-all package; they should be able to conduct extensive research and investigation within your company to ensure that everything they recommend would be exactly what your business needs.

Tailor-fit and customized are two words that should accurately describe master data management. It is not just about the accuracy of information that goes in and out of your company. Everything should be right fitted to the unique processes and policies that exist in your organization. Aside from that, the right master data management company will ensure that the accountability does not fall on one person alone. Everyone should be able to play a part in keeping all your records up to date and well maintained. Being able to instill such a discipline may be challenging at first, but with the right strategy, you can truly enjoy consistency and success in the competitive world of business.

On one side of the coin, there are those that arrive to the industry with a ton of experience in information systems. They have a complete understanding of things like data integration, modeling, profiling, data quality, and all related concepts. While they have many strengths that will help them succeed in this industry, these people may have a tendency to lack operational focus. These people may have experience with data warehouses, which by nature, allow for delays and errors in timing. MDM often needs to deliver data immediately to an assortment of analytical and operational environments. In contrast, data warehouses can be updated once a day (usually overnight) without users having a lot of latitude in data consistency.

On the other side of the coin, you have people arriving in the master data management industry with extensive experience in the operational systems that either generate or use master data. This group excels in understanding the immediacy of operational issues, but they often fall short in their understanding of data profiling, integration, and quality.

How to Achieve MDM Excellence

The first objective on the path to MDM project management excellence might be a self-assessment. It is important to make sure that any gaps in experience that you (or your data managers) may have are filled with the appropriate education. You may also assemble a team, called a data governance group, to draw on the strengths of multiple people within the organization. The data governance group will be responsible for performing many important functions for the MDM.

The next objective should be labeled ‘the initial requirements gathering.’ The purpose of this meeting is to understand the targets and sources of data; it is also meant to determine where you might need master data management capabilities (like hierarchy management and workflow). In order to achieve this goal, you must have access to the data and gain control of your data models.

There are no shortcuts in these vital steps to achieving data management excellence. When the process is completed, you must have the following: historical data requirements, a target architecture, definitions of the involved subject areas, data governance roles, complete metadata on source and target systems, and conceptual hierarchies. All of these things should be put into the calendar and adjusted, if necessary, for external factors.

Whichever path you decide to choose, make sure to follow all of the steps carefully. The only way you can achieve excellence is by properly maintaining accurate master data. Keep in mind that the person you choose as the project leader is crucial to the program’s success. The best master data managers will be productive, agile, and able to work both business and technology issues. Most importantly, they will strike a good balance between their knowledge of information management and their operational focus.