Data management; You have to do something for that!

Reliable data is vital for any organisation. If that data can then also be accessed and shared in a relatively simple way, the basis for flexible ICT is already in place. Or is more needed?

We all agree, more and more we share data with third parties and use third-party data to simplify matters or to develop new processes or services. Implementing new applications or cloud services is also many times more efficient if integrations with existing processes can be realised quickly. We already saw during the IKS session on 28 March what this has meant for the municipality of Katwijk, for example. But to make this possible, some homework needs to be done and we will have to find answers to questions like:

• Who owns certain data and which is the original?
• Do we all use the same name for something?
• Do we always retrieve third-party data dynamically or do we store a copy locally?
  • And if we do the latter, how do we know if we have the latest version?
• If we share something with an external party, what about security and privacy?
• By which applications is certain data all used, and what is the impact of changing the data model of one application on all the others?
• Is our cloud strategy a single-cloud strategy or do we store the same data with different cloud providers?
• Who is responsible for the sometimes hundreds of integrations of all those different applications and systems?

Times change

We cannot escape it, times are changing. We are exchanging more data than ever with more and more different organisations. And this trend will continue for some time to come. In doing so, we are, if all goes well, making things a little easier for everyone and not least for ourselves each time.

This is precisely why we need to rethink Data Management. Because not only is today’s data the learning material for the AI implementations of the future, but the stoppage of entire chains due to a problem with YOUR data can become extremely painful. So strategic choices have to be made again.

Data integration and data distribution

Examples of such important choices are those about data integration and data distribution. First of all, we need to consider who actually owns certain data; your own organisation, an application (supplier) or someone else. It seems so easy to place the responsibility on application suppliers, but what if the same data is used in multiple applications? Will application suppliers consult each other on how and when to implement a change in a data model? Not to mention support for legacy protocols and formats, implementation of new standards, etc. Decisions on a Data Model and Data Management should therefore be made at a higher level, independent of application vendors, however important they may be.

Canonical Data Model

Adopting a Canonical Data Model and the integration strategy that goes with it can help you make the move to an information-driven organisation. Indeed, the model obliges you to think about all the issues mentioned above and, when used correctly, provides a lot of insights into the data that is so important to your organisation. Of course, our specialists are ready to advise and assist you, so feel free to contact us.