Data management problems widespread: organizations should regard data as their greatest asset--and invest in data management accordingly.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: ON THE EDGE: The Use & Misuse of Information

A recently published Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) study--the first comprehensive look at how data management is practiced worldwide--reveals that most organizations do not manage information well.

And there's more: despite organizations recognizing that data is the lifeblood of their businesses, "Measuring Data Management Practice Maturity: A Community's Self-Assessment" also concludes that businesses face significant data management challenges.

The study, published in the April issue of Computer, the publication of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Computer Society, assessed the data management practices of 175 public- and private-sector organizations between 2000 and 2006. A vast majority scored far too low for their own good.

According to lead study author Peter Aiken, associate professor in VCU's Department of Information Systems and the founding director and owner of data management consulting firm Data Blueprint, fewer than 10 percent of the organizations studied are using documented processes to manage data, which means that more than 90 percent are ineffective in this area.

Data Management Often Neglected

All organizations depend on data, and good data management practices are critical to many technology-based organizational initiatives, including business intelligence, customer relationship management, and data warehousing. Bad, incomplete, or inaccurate information has been the downfall of projects, departments, and even entire organizations.

To wit, the 2006 InformationWeek article "Hamstrung by Defective Data" cited a 2005 Gartner estimate that more than 25 percent of critical data within large businesses is somehow inaccurate or incomplete. In late 2005, the Data Warehousing Institute surveyed 750 IT professionals and business executives, and 53 percent of them said their companies had experienced problems and suffered losses or increased costs because of poor-quality data, up from 44 percent in a similar 2001 survey. (Alarmingly, 36 percent admitted they had not even studied the issue.)

Although data is a critical asset for organizations, the VCU study is an indication that organizations don't fully appreciate its value.

Aiken and other VCU researchers found that many businesses do not invest adequately in data management, treating data as a maintenance cost rather than as an asset. According to the study, that is a mistake that "is costly in terms of market share, profit, strategic opportunity...